CCR4

https://prezi.com/view/EBfUewVaVPfkvcpIduP3/ 

AUDIENCE THEORY

 

Audience theory from charlottecoppellotti

PLANNING: AUDIENCE PROFILE

 

PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE

When planning my project, and coming up with an opening sequence, it is important for me to understand what type of audience the sequence is aimed at, and how to market my project to them. Understanding my target audience allows me to create a product in which they will enjoy. I researched my target audience to understand what type of things they like and what kind of people they are, this included age, gender, ethnicity, and social class. This research will allow me to find an appropriate and effective way to reach my product to my target audience. I will show how I collected my research by answering questions.

1. Who is my primary target audience?

British females and males aged 15-34 who enjoy suspenseful, thriller movies.

2. What kind of films and television are they likely to prefer?

My target audience is likely to prefer films and television series that keep them on edge, with many suspenseful scenes and lots of plot twists that are revealed throughout the production. Some common themes from my research are obsessive stalking from the protagonist and dramatic irony, where the audience is exposed to more information than the antagonist. A television program that would fit this description is Nexflix's YOU, where a young male bookstore owner forms a crush on a young girl, however, the innocent crush becomes something even more sinister when she becomes his obsession, using social media and the internet, he uses every tool at his disposal to become close to her, even going so far as to remove any obstacle -including people - that stands in his way of getting to her.

3. What platforms do they choose to watch films and where are they likely to see information about films?

My target audience is most likely going to want to watch a movie in a niche market cinema such as Everyman or Oden, as they can experience the true quality a big screen and surround sound system. However, as my target audience is on the younger side, they will also enjoy experiencing movies online, using streaming websites like Netflix, Amazon or Sky and they may start to use other streaming services like Disney+.

4. What brands do they prefer?

5. What makes my film stand out from the competition?

To create a shock factor for the audience, as they may relate to the antagonist and create a sense of paranoia onto who may be watching them.  

6 . Why should my audience watch my film? 

My audience should watch my film as it focuses on a different type of storyline. The film focuses on a young schoolgirl who gets increasingly terrified by a stalker. My project will create eager and on edge emotions from the audience as they are grabbed into the suspense of the film.

Reaserch Title Sequences

 Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)

Title Animation Studio: IAMSTATIC

Creative Directors: Ron Gervais, Dave Greene

Production Company: IAMSTATIC

Executive Producer: Andria Minott

Art Direction / Animation: Steven Hollman, Ron Gervais, Dave Greene, Chris Crozier

Modeling: Chris Crozier, Dave Greene,

Compositors: Steven Hollman, Ron Gervais, Dave Greene

Cinematography: Roman Osin

Film Editing: Patrick Larsgaard

Casting: Rich Delia

Production Design: David Brisbin

Art Direction: Brandt Gordon

Set Decoration: Patricia Larman

Costume Design: Ruth Myers

Ratched (2020)

Production Company: Division

Directors: Heidi Berg & Felix Soletic

Director of Photography: Vladan Janković

Live Action Producers: Adam Baxter / Urška Vardijan

Production Designer: Miha Knific

—

Post Production

Design Studio: Elastic

Creative Directors: Heidi Berg & Felix Soletic

Editor: Doron Dor

Typographer: Benjamin Woodlock

Designers: James Levy, Carlo Sa, Pete Sickbert-Bennett

Animator: Sam Sparks, Trix Taylor, Laura Reedy

CG Lead: Caleb Ollivant

2D Compositor: Chris Russo, Krystal Chinn

Lighting: Scott Nishiki, Andy Wilkoff

Modeling: Michael Dupree, Jordan Gonzales

Storyboards: Arien Walizadeh, Lance Slaton

Editorial Support: Rachel Fowler

Online Editor: Andrew Young

Producers: Michael Ross, Paul Makowski

Associate Producer: Megan Rodriguez

Executive Producer: Luke Colson

Head of Production: Kate Berry

Managing Director: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Special Thanks: Milena Milicevic

Series Music by: Mac Quayle

RESEARCH: SCOOP IT!

 

In order to research and get ideas for my own project, I created my own SCOOP IT! account to collect various film trailers and openings that are based around the genre of horror/thriller. My group wanted to steer away from the supernatural aspects of some horror films and instead focus on the slow suspense that comes with these films. I researched films that were based around psychopaths and murders to help brainstorm ideas for my own project. 

Digital Storytelling

In class, we watch the FutureLearn video about Digital Storytelling. The video was by Frank Ash who is the creative consultant for the BBC. To create this research project, I used Comic Life.

From this FutureLearn video, I learnt that storylines from films are designed to specifically be directed to an audience's emotions. A story plot should be able to fit into one sentence; this is called a TOP LINE. Suspense and anticipation are used in order to grab the audience's attention and get them invested in the story plot. Films are made for a specific target audience. 

I will use this research to help me in my own project, I will focus on the audience's that enjoy the slow suspense that comes with Horror/Thriller films, this will be the target audience. 

TREATMENT:

In our own project, the story is set around the main character Sarah, a girl whose life is brutally interrupted by her stalker. Who makes themselves apparent in Sarah's life whilst continuously taking and producing pictures of her. Sarah is a prominent player in her Lacrosse team and is excelling at her new position in a photography company as an assistant. A mysterious figure continues to appear as Sarah and her share various encounters which develop into meetings and even one on one exchanges. The distinctive features on her hand, such as a ring and a birthmark are constantly shown without her face being revealed to identify the stalker. Slowly Sarah begins to realise an unsettling presence in her life and she becomes warier of her surroundings. Although she doesn’t pin-point a person, she sees a camera flash from outside her bedroom window. Sarah begins to discover various pictures of herself with constructive comments written at the bottom. Finally, towards the end, Sarah is using the developing room and a picture which she has previously received is lying in the tray as the door opens and footsteps are heard. 

TOP LINE: A mysterious figure is quietly stalking Sarah's everyday activities, the motive of jealously quickly turns to an unhealthy obsession.

BIG QUESTION: Will she ever discover her stalker's identity?

CCR2

 

Made with Visme Presentation Maker

RESEARCH: FILM DISTRIBUTION

On the Film Distributors’ association (FDA) website I watched a presentation on how distributors work to create a successful marketing campaign for each film, by Kezia Williams – head of theatrical distribution at Pathe. It was also explained by Chris Besseling, Director of Marketing at Pathe, that distributors market a film's USP (Unique Selling Point) such as its star cast, its provenance, its awards, and good reviews to bring positive attention to the film.

I decided to research the film THE TURNING, a 2020 American horror film directed by Floria Sigismondi and written by Carey W. Hayes and Chad Hayes. It is a modern adaptation of the 1898 ghost story The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

The story follows Kate Mandell, who takes a job as a nanny for two young orphans at an isolated Gothic mansion in the Maine countryside. She soon learns that the children -- Miles and Flora -- are emotionally distant and unstable. When strange events start to plague Kate and the siblings, she begins to suspect that the estate's dark corridors are home to a malevolent entity.

I researched all the different aspects of a marketing campaign and ways of distributing this film. This consisted of film posters; the film website; film trailers; social media such as Facebook; Twitter and Instagram as well as news articles; interviews; award ceremonies and cross-promotion.  

Entertainment One UK has released the sinister new UK quad poster and spine-chilling trailer for DreamWorks Pictures’ upcoming supernatural horror, THE TURNING, out in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 24th January 2020. The film stars: Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, Brooklynn Prince, and Joely Richardson.

Other alternative posters were created that were digitally and hand drawn. The first poster shows the characters involved standing by the window. Outside the window the weather is gloomy and dark, which craetes an eerie atmosphere for the film, the dark fade around the edge of the poster also adds to this. This catches the eye as the bold red curtains, clothes and title contrasts against the dark fade. This would collect a target audience because at first glance it is clear that this film's genre is horror/thriller, and so that target audience would be attracted to this. By closer look, you can see the eyes of the characters are completely white, and their facial expressions are very solom, which also adds the the sinister mood. 

The second poster shows an ariel shot of one of the main characters which the film follows. The character is shown to be upsidown and hanging over the mansion the film is based in. There is the same dark fade around the outside the edge of the poser and the little light shown onto the character and house is the signiture bold red colour. The two other main character's faces can be seen at the bottom of the poster, either side of the upsidedown woman. Their faces are ghost-like as their is no real defined details on their face, creating a supernatural atmosphere, perfect for the target audience. The facial expression of the characters are eerie and scared, with the character's eyes completely black, which is similar to the first poster.

As the posters have similar themes such as the colour red, the blocked eyes and the facial expressions, it makes it creates an image for the film, and when the target audience sees these posters they associate a theme for the film, which encourages them to go see the film and promoting it to other people. 

The Turning had its world premiere at Los Angeles Film Festival on January 23, 2020. 

The Turning was theatrically released on January 24, 2020, domestically and in select international territories. Universal Pictures had originally scheduled the film for February 22, 2019. In September 2018, the film was moved back, with DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World being slated in its place.

The trailer was released on the 9th of October 2019, by Universal Pictures. The trailer has 10,431,825 views. 

For even more promotion, the cast of the movie, featured on the BuzzFeed Celeb youtube channel. 

SOUND DESIGN IN FILMS

Sound design is a long procedure of research to create an audio setting that supports the action and engages the spectators. Sound is typically distributed into three essentials: the dialogue, the music and the sound effects. Typically, almost all sounds and/or music will be added in post-production.

The dialogue should be recorded as cleanly and crisply as possible, with a tweak of background noise, usually recorded with a boom. After getting a locked shot, directors usually hire a specific sound designer who crafts pre-defined effects for the film’s genre. Music is important in film as it can engage and manipulate certain emotions from the audience. Such as anxiety, pleasure and fear. Putting music over shots enhances the desired emotion from the shot, this could be racing heart, empathy etc. In the genre of horror and thriller, these effects are used extensively within sound design. Shock effects as well as frightening build-ups are very standard and work great.

 

DUNKIRK (2017) – sound design

Director – Christopher Nolan

Sound designer - Richard King

The soundtrack in Dunkirk is completely composed by Hans Zimmer, and the main goal is to keep up high tension throughout the whole film, from start to finish. In order to keep the audience engaged and on the edge of their seat, the challenges and emotions of the characters in the film are portrayed through the soundtrack. Hans Zimmer use of a continuous ticking noise in ‘The Mole’                              ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEc1uhdKRko ) over an overwhelming orchestra in order to create tension. Zimmer takes advantage of the Shepard Tone, which is an auditory illusion which makes the tone seem like it is constantly rising higher and higher, without actually rising at all. This creates the illusion of rising tension that carries the screenplay forward.

Nolan’s films are usually all about time, and Dunkirk focuses on the little time the soldiers have left, as the soldiers are left helpless as all they can do is wait, stranded and surrounded by the enemy. So constantly using the Shepard tone throughout the film makes the tension that comes with the context of the film intense.

In the film as a whole, there isn’t much dialogue in the script and this was because Christopher Nolan wanted to “approach the storytelling very much from a visual point of view, and an action-and-suspense point of view”. The fact that Dunkirk has very little and simple dialogue allows Nolan’s use of camera angles, body language, facial expressions and staging in Dunkirk’s storytelling to be even more highlighted. By just watching the events onscreen allow the audience members to really put themselves in the shoes of the soldier, due to great use of visuals both in portraying minor conflicts as well as in telling the story as a whole.

2001: A SPACE ODESSY – opening shot analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QFj59PON4

The long-shot begins behind the moon, in the empty and lifeless part of space. The shot is very dark and only the top half of the moon can be seen. The camera pans upwards, Earth can now be seen, and the sun is rising above it. The shot resembles the dawn of mankind, and creates a general plot idea for the audience; the shot is not of a character or a group of people, it is of all civilisation, therefore allowing the audience to recognise that this is about humanity as a whole and not only one human being.

As the shot continues the sun rises up from the earth, the sun is important as it is the only form of light in the shot, and is a symbol of life. As an audience member, you are watching part of the cycle that happens every day. The sun rising in the shot doesn’t only represent the start of the day, but the start of mankind.

The music (composed by Richard Strauss) gives an epic and large scale sense of weight to the shot, highlighting that as an audience member, you are an outsider looking in on earth from the perspective of space. As the camera zooms closer in, the view of the moon is lost and focuses on the earth and sun. This shows the film is focused on earth and not just space as a whole.

As the title appears onscreen, the audience knows from the word ‘ODESSY’ that the film is about a journey; possibly the journey that mankind has been through. As the climax of the music reaches, the sun fully rises above the earth and becomes the main focus of the shot. 

PRODUCTION PRACTICE: MONTAGE/TABLETOP SEQUENCE

Our brief was to create a title sequence using only a tabletop and props with a small part of live-action at the end, using a soundtrack. This was completed in 2 sessions.

In class, we began by watching various tabletop openings suggested by our teacher to inspire us. We watched the openings on  Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1991) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan 1962). We also listened to music which we could use in our own opening. 

I worked with Jess and Preesha, and we decided to base our tabletop scene around an investigation of a mother (Olivia Blake) who had gone missing. Our tabletop theme was Drama/Horror. 

In session 1, we set up our tabletop presentation, in order to create a neutral background, we placed a black cloth over the table and layered our props over the top. Our props consisted of newspapers; a briefcase; an investigation board; a passport; lots of dollar bills and a screwdriver.

Using fake blood, we smeared the dollar bills and end of the screwdriver in order to suggest the idea that she had been murdered or hurt. With a printed picture of Olivia's face on a homemade newspaper, Jess covered her hands in fake blood and placed the screwdriver down on top of it to heighten drama and tension.

CONTINUITY EDITING

With this continuity exercise, we wanted to explore the idea of camera shots and movement. My group used the idea of 'who wants to be a millionaire?' to base our short film on. In order to create an idea of what camera movements and actions we wanted and in what order, we created a storyboard to plan the camera angles and shots.

I played the contestant while Tom played the host and Jess played the friend who I call for help.

One of the challenges we faced was that the green screen we used in order to set the scene in the 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' which we would edit later on an iMac, was not wide enough, and therefore we weren't able to film a shot-reverse-shot. However, we overcame this challenge by taking turns to switch seats, in order to not break the 180-degree rule.  

PRODUCTION PRACTICE: MONTAGE/TABLETOP SEQUENCE

Our brief was to create a title sequence using only a tabletop and props with a small part of live-action at the end, using a soundtrack. This was completed in 2 sessions.

In class, we began by watching various tabletop openings suggested by our teacher to inspire us. We watched the openings on  Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1991) and To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan 1962). We also listened to music which we could use in our own opening. 

I worked with Jess and Preesha, and we decided to base our tabletop scene around an investigation of a mother (Olivia Blake) who had gone missing. Our tabletop theme was Drama/Horror. 

In session 1, we set up our tabletop presentation, in order to create a neutral background, we placed a black cloth over the table and layered our props over the top. Our props consisted of newspapers; a briefcase; an investigation board; a passport; lots of dollar bills and a screwdriver.

Using fake blood, we smeared the dollar bills and end of the screwdriver in order to suggest the idea that she had been murdered or hurt. With a printed picture of Olivia's face on a homemade newspaper, Jess covered her hands in fake blood and placed the screwdriver down on top of it to heighten drama and tension.

ON THE SET

I will be describing a brief description of the terminology and camera handling my group and I learned. 

 

Camera and Tripod work:

My group and I learned how to handle and correctly set up a camera and tripod. We did this by passing a camera around and all practiced how to handle it; this included inserting the compact flash card, turning it off and on, replacing the battery, and sliding it securely on the tripod. When passing the camera on from one person to another, you say 'yours' to 'mine', in order to minimise the risk of the camera dropping. We were given a compact flash card and a battery, learning the proper place to insert them, as well as how to secure them into the camera and how to charge the battery. I learned how to set up the tripod, loosening it to fit the camera and adjusting the height. To make sure the camera is level and secure; you use the spirit level. I learned how to use the camera and explored how to adjust the focus by turning the dial up and down, how to zoom in and out by twisting the lens.

On the Set:

I learned the correct terminology and some common phrases that are used on a production set by the crew and director. When the camera is set up and the director is ready to shoot, the director will shout 'Stand by' to the crew on the set, to which the crew will shout back 'standing by' if they are also ready. this way there will be a minimised risk of false starts and bloopers. Once the crew has indicated that they are ready for the director to start shooting, the director will shout out 'Rolling' to indicate the camera is recording, and from this moment the crew needs to be silent. Then the director will shout 'Action' which indicates the actors to start moving. Once the scene is over, the director will shout 'Cut', to indicate the scene is finished, then will shout 'Strike the Kit' which signals for the set to be packed up, footage uploaded and the cameras charged. 

White Balance (WB): 

I learned that the WB is the process of removing unrealistic colour contrasts, in order for an item to look white in a photo the way it does in real life. The WB allows the camera to acknowledge the colour temperature, which decides how cool or warm the white light should be, resulting in all the other colours being displayed correctly, which creates and more realistic effect. You can do this by choosing the tone and adjusting the WB on the camera.

180-degrees Rule:

The 180-degrees rule is a cinematography guideline that allows two actors in a scene to keep the same left/right relationship with each other. There is an invisible line which the camera will pass over, and then the shot is referred to as a 'reverse shot'. 

PRELIMINARY EXERCISES: CAMERA TECHNIQUES 

I learnt different camera techniques by reading the website: The Grammar of Television and Film by Daniel Chandler. 

By studying this website, it gave me insights into how I can vary the sizes and angles of my shots to focus the viewers attention onto specific objects and/or people and depict certain emotions and feelings. The camera I used to explore different camera techniques was an iPhone 11.

HIGH ANGLE:

- angle from above, aimed down at the character

- makes the viewer feel more powerful than the character and suggests detachment

LOW ANGLE:

- angle from below, aimed up at the character

- exaggerates the character's importance 

CANTED ANGLE:

- aimed at the character at a rotated angle

- helps to create tension and a sense of unease, suspense and mystery 

BIRD'S EYE VIEW:

- view from above the character

- allows the viewer to have a full range of the scene as it is above all the action

OVER THE SHOULDER:

- angle shown from over the shoulder of the character

- shows a point of view of the character, exposing their view in front of them

WORM EYE SHOT:

- angle from below the character, aimed up

- highlights power and authority in a character as the viewer is looking up at them.

CLOSE UP:

- zooms in, focusing on head to shoulders

- shows their face in great detail and exposes their reactions and emotions in a scene

EXTREME CLOSE UP:

- zooms in and focuses strictly on the face

- allows the viewer to see the emotion of the character and cuts out context in the background

MID SHOT:

- frames the body and face of character

- gives a greater view of the character, whilst still showing detail in their face and emotion 

LONG SHOT:

- shows most of character and some of surroundings

- allows the viewer to have some context as to the location of the character

EXTREME LONG SHOT:

- captures the character and its surroundings

- provides a sense of distance to the character