Opening Sequence Evaluation

For our sequence we had to create our own production logo. As a group we came up with the idea of creating the logo as if it can refer to a thriller movie. We done this by coming up with the name of 'Final Cut Productions' which links to the cutting of shots for movies. Also we went off to create our own image that we wanted to use to represent the name.

This is our full logo for our sequence that we have made. The image is showing a pair of scissors laying in and around blood. The reason why we thought this would be an effective picture is because the strong red blood will be able to catch the audience's attention, in addition if they like movies with blood in involved they might be interested in watching the rest of the film. Another reason why having a production logo is important is because if people have watched other films within that genre and with the production involved in, it can give them an idea of what films they like which means they will more willing to find out more about the film. 


Something that we decided to use quite a bit throughout the opening sequence is the use of black and white shots. We thought this would be a lot more effective than keeping it normal coloured like the rest of the opening sequence. The reason for this is because, by using these black and white shots it shows the audience that the girl character is thinking back or feels as though she is seeing this boy. This will be able to suggest to the audience that she cannot get over killing him and is struggling to come to terms with what she has done. I think that the black and white effect is a lot better as the audience will be able to understand more clearly and it can come across more dramatic.

 




















Throughout our opening sequence the shots are very steady which is vital for the sequence to be a better success. The advantage of the shots being steady is that it allows the audience to be able to see the shots a lot clearer and it makes it look a lot more professional. The use of the tripod has allowed us to do this.

This close up shot was used in our sequence because we find that it seems effective to when the female character spills the drink and relates the 'bloody' colour to a flashback of the male character laying on the floor dead. Also, the audience will be able to clearly see this as the flashback is linking to the colour of the drink as a reminder of what she done.

Q5: How did you attract/address the audience?

This is the voxpop video that we created as a group. We got a range of different people to watch our opening sequence and answer five different questions. By doing this we was able to see the research we had collected. We asked questions that were very relevant to our opening sequence like whether they understood what the storyline was based on as this is important because for the audience to be interested in a film they would need to have an idea of what its about.

We had created a screencast video. What we needed to do for this was, we looked at our feedback that we received from our first voxpop we created before we started filming. Then we filmed each of us within the group to explain the things that we had to done within the opening sequence to make sure that we matched up to peoples expectations of a thriller film. Even though we took into consideration all of the feedback we got, we also changed some of the conventions to make our film different from majority of films so it could stand out more and be unique.

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Target audience:

We are targeting our opening sequence of our film at males and females between the ages of 16-25. The reason why we chose this age is because the age is young but also mature at the same time and our film is based on students. We are also targeting it at thriller lovers because people who love to watch thrillers are find them worth while watching will be more engaged in the film and will want to carry on watching to find out more about the storyline. 

We have given our film a certification of 15 as we think this is the suitable age for people to watch this film, it also refers back to our target audience starting at the age of 16. Moreover, we find that younger than 15 could be a bit too young as there is blood and a bit of violence involved. 

Demographics:
Age- 16-25

Gender- Both males and female
Employment: Students at school/college and young adults starting out at work. 

This collage shows the audience that we have tried to target our opening sequence too. I have used these photos to represent the specific audience. The cinema room and popcorn shows that the audience enjoys going to the cinema to watch the latest films. The TV and remote control shows that teenagers and young adults love watching movies including thrillers. The adventure photo links to interests that the audience could have, typically boys who enjoy sporty activities. It can also show the thrilling side of being adventurous which can refer to a thriller movie. I have used photos such as shopping and socialising because as our target audience is 16-25, this is most of the ages where people want to be with their friends socialising, moreover a lot of girls this age also enjoy shopping. Lastly, the headphones represent people who like listening to music. This represents teenagers stereotypically because they love to listen to loud music especially with friends. All these photos represent the age of 16-25 and both males and females in different aspects.

Our film would be screened in cinema which also links to the target audience that we have tried to aim our film at. This is because a lot of teenagers and young adults enjoy going to the cinema with their friends. Moreover, especially for teenagers around 16-18 find that there isn't much to do which results in them choosing to go and see a film. From this screening this film at the cinema would be a benefit as it can attract a lot of the target audience.

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Prezi

Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learn in the progression from it to the full product?

Throughout media our preliminary task was the first thing that allowed us to properly use the camera and to learn how to use it in the best ways. Looking back to when I had to do the preliminary task to the full product I have now created with my group has been a big improvement. I feel as though I have become more confident and independent with using the camera to film many shots and getting them as in focus as possible. The reason why this improvement is obvious to me is because when was set the preliminary task I wasn't completely sure on how to use the camera and the tripod. Learning all this has definitely helped with creating our product as it has allowed me to get the shots as accurate as I can as I know what I am looking at for a in focus and effective camera shot. I have also learnt a lot about filming and the ways in which to make the scenes we create to the best of my ability. If I look back at myself during the preliminary task I wasn't so sure on what media technologies to look for, however during the progression I have learnt a lot which has helped.

Although there has been advantages to this and how I have learnt a lot there has been times when filming the full product has been difficult. From the preliminary task to now I have realised that filming isn't as easy as I thought it would be as you need to make sure that every shot is good and everything in that shot is 100% right. The reason why this has made it difficult is because when filming you forget about things that are in the shot and when it comes to putting it together it makes a major affect on the full product. At the start of filming for our full product once we put it together we noticed the shots were very shaky and weren't effective like we wanted them to be, however as a group we didn't give up here we carried on to make each shot better and better. We have had to re-film a few times which has been tricky as at the start we didn't display our storyline very accurate but from all of this I have learnt more about making the storyline as clear as possible for the audience.

Even though I have made improvements since the preliminary task I want to still improve on displaying the meanings behind storylines as effective as I can. Moreover an improvement I could make is the editing of the shots.

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In an opening sequence of a film there are many different conventions that are used such as; logos, titles, establishing shots, introducing the setting and the mood, close ups and many more. These conventions are used for different reasons, titles are used so the audience can understand who is in the film, company has distributed the film. In addition for example, introducing the setting and the mood can make the audience more interested and want to carry on watching the film from the sense of the mood that is given.

The important of conventions being used throughout the opening sequence of a film links to real media products as it represents certain things within the film like the genre and characters. It also shows how certain things are portrayed by the way, cinematography, mise en scene, editing and sound is used.

Our media product uses and develops the conventions of real media products in many different ways. For example we have introduced the setting of where our film will be based around in the opening sequence. This is an important convention to be used as it allows the audience to have an idea of what genre the film will be and small hints of where and what this could be based on. Also from the mood of the opening sequence the audience will be able to sense how the film will be throughout and this brings a closer interest for the audience. For the setting and mood to be introduced into the opening sequence is vital as like all other films it gives people a sense of what they are going to be watching.

This is a screenshot showing the convention of the setting and mood being introduced in the opening sequence from another film called 'Brick'. As we can see, from this the audience will be able to see that the film will be based around the setting of a bridge but also will get the feeling that the mood is quite intense as a boy is watching a girl who appears to be dead. This is effective because the audience will want to know more about what happens. 

 This is the convention of the setting being introduced in myself and my groups own sequence. This is the first shot in the opening sequence which allows the audience to see where the film could be based around or can even allow them to ask questions like, 'whats this house got to do with the film'.



 As a group we have also used conventions to represent how the female character is the antagonist. The reason why we wanted to represent this was because it goes against the stereotype of how males are seen to be the antagonist like other films and are looked upon as the stronger person. We represented this by the mise en scene that we used as blood was one of the props that we used on the male character to show that he had been killed by this female character. The reason why this would link to real media products is because like in other thrillers, blood gives off a strong sense of danger which grabs the audience's attention in many way. In addition we also used flashing images which shows the female reflecting back on what led her to kill this male character. We chose to develop the conventions to represent this because we wanted to show the audience that males aren't always the antagonist and shouldn't be seen to be the ones with the strength. This links to real media products as most films use a male as the antagonist and the female to be seen as a 'girly' girl. However, our convention of representations goes against this.

We have used the convention of a logo which shows the audience the genre of our film. This can be developed because if people are watching the beginning of the film and see the logo, if they are interested in thrillers they would be more interested into sticking with the film to see what it is about and what happens.

This is a screenshot showing the convention of logos being used in other films like the 'Sixth Sense'. This logo shows the audience the distribution company that was involved with the making of the film. The good thing with this type of convention is because some people might like the films that Hollywood Pictures produce and this could make them more interested with sticking with the film to watch more.

This is the production logo and that myself and my group have created for our opening sequence. We have used the idea of scissors and blood to refer back to our genre of our film, a thriller. We wanted to make our logo to be effective which we have tried to do by using the red blood which the audience will be able to strongly see.
The reason for this being a convention of real media products is because all films that are made need to have a production that has been involved within the making, which is shown by their logo in the opening sequence. 

A convention that is used within the opening sequence is slowly introducing some characters. For example the male character in our film is represented as a stalker of the female character. However, from what the audience will be watching they may be able to see a sense of isolation from him with not many friends as he seems to focus on one girl around school. This may not mean his her stalker in a horrible way, he may want to be her friend. This convention is used because it allows the audience to get hints of the characters and some could even feel sympathy for this boy. It could also represent the boy as being quite vulnerable. This links to real media products because every film wants the audience to get to know the characters slightly and know who is the antagonist and protagonist within the film.

This is a screenshot of where the film 'Sixth Sense' is introducing the first character slightly in the opening sequence. The audience will be able to see from this that the character is a female and she could be one of the main characters within the film as she has been shown first which could hint her importance throughout. For the audience to see this character in the opening scene they will be able to get hints with what type of character she is.



In our own sequence that we have created as a group, the convention of the characters slowly being introduced at the start of the opening sequence has definitely been used. We have also made sure that the first time the character appears on screen her face is hidden as we don't want to give too much away because this is what can appeal to the audience.

This refers to conventions of real media products as many films always slowly introduce their main character. This is an image of the main character from our sequence and as we can see she we cannot see her face but only the back of her and her hair. This can give more of a suspense to the audience as they will want to wait to see why this character is so important within the film and what actually happens. 

This image is showing that we have slightly introduced the character a little bit more by the way she likes to dress and what can seem to be her home that she lives in. By the audience being able to see her fashion sense, they might be able to get an understanding of what the girl likes. Moreover, the audience will also be able to see her face a bit more which they will be able to see more of her facial expression. The reason why this is good because the audience will be able to see that the character looks a bit anxious with the way she is looking at her phone. This is good as the audience will be more willing to find out what she has seen on that phone! This links to conventions of media products because the main things in an opening sequence of all films is trying to able the audience to be more excited and for there to be more suspense for them to carry on watching the film. 

Q3: What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

A distributor is someone or a company that is responsible for the marketing of the film. This is because they have certain roles within the making like choosing how the film should be released.

The distributor we chose to use as a group is Lionsgate. The reason why we chose to use this distributor is because they have taken part in many thriller films. Lionsgate is a big distributor with many films that are well known and popular. A lot of their films are very successful, an example of this would be the Hunger Games. The reason I think this is because this film has become extremely popular with the majority of people wanting to watch it. Sometimes, Lionsgate films are advertised on TV showing trailers of new films that are going to come out in cinema, this is a good way as people will be able to see whether they are interested in going to see that specific film. 

Some films that Lionsgate have distributed that are similar to the genre of our film are;

 

Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups? Prezi