Evaluation: Question 5) How did you attract/address your target audience?- Miss Begum

 

Question 5: How did you attract/address your target audience?

 

Importance of secondary research into existing films

Carrying out secondary research is an important process when producing a film production as it allows the researcher to gain information about existing films from the target audience before making important decisions about the conventions and characters. It was extremely important for my group and I to carry out secondary research before creating our final production. This was because we wanted to get the target audiences opinions and responses about their expectations when watching a thriller film and what conventions provoke their feelings and emotions. This made it easier for us to make the right and conventional decisions based on our film and the content surrounding it.
 

The target audience of thriller films and our chosen target audience?

After completing the secondary research we identified that the most common target audiences of thriller films were generally teenagers both males and females, from various ethnic groups including English, Bengali, Albanians and French, aged 15 and upwards who were still in education and young adults up to the age of 25, who were also in education and in employment. This is due to the excitement and tension that the young audience experience in comparison to the older generations who are unlikely to experience the same emotions and feelings of excitement as they do not find the storylines believable. The target audiences hobbies included going to the cinema regularly with their friends to watch films, going out with friends and having movie nights at home on the weekends. This was the audience we needed to attract. 

 

What the thriller audience enjoyed in terms of conventions and emotions and how we had to ensure that we were following these conventions in order to address a similar target audience and their expectations.

The thriller audience enjoyed seeing conventional characters including a protagonist, antagonist and victim as the relationship that takes place between these characters evokes emotions from the audience including sympathy and excitement. In order to address a similar target audience I ensured that I also used conventional characters including an antagonist, protagonist and anti hero allowing the audience to evoke similar feelings. Furthermore, our research confirmed that the audience enjoy and expect to see low lighting in thriller films reflecting the negative events and atmosphere therefore, we also used low lighting regularly during most of the events that had negative interpretations such as the murder scene that took place and in the presence of the antagonist promoting their negative intensions. Moreover, the audience expect to see frightening and reflective iconography such as blood, mirrors and guns supported by dark settings such as empty and small rooms and dark alleys which reflect the thriller genre and create suspense and tension for the audience. Therefore, we also used iconography that is threatening such as a gun, a red rose and a chair and dark settings including a small, white room and a dark road in order to evoke the same emotions and feelings of fear and threat from the target audience and encourage them to watch our thriller production.

The audience we wanted to attract for our thriller

Following the research we carried out into the genre and the BBFC guidelines, we identified and decided that the audience we want to attract for our thriller film is teenagers, both males and females aged 15 and upwards from various ethnic groups. We also want our target audience to enjoy watching thriller films and enjoy going to the cinema on regular occasions. This is because this is the audience that are likely to watch my thriller and obtain numerous emotions including tension, suspense and excitement.

 

Types of primary research we carried out and the importance of it?

Within our group, we each carried out a questionnaire in order to obtain as much information from the audience regarding what they like about thrillers and what they want to see in future thriller films. This was important for my group and I as we wanted to know what the audiences response was regarding thriller films and the conventions they enjoyed seeing which evoked their emotions. This was so important in attracting our target audience because we wanted to recieve direct, specific and quick feedback In order to plan decisions from early on in the planning process and take action accordingly. 

 

Key questions we asked to help make key decisions

Below are some questions that we asked our target audience: 

Multiple questions:

•  What subgenre of a thriller film interests you most?

Crime         Psychological        Action          Sci-fi             Other   

•  What type of lighting do you prefer to see in a thriller? 

Low key lighting       High key lighting 

Open ended questions:

• What appeals to you most about thriller films?
• List three common feelings/emotions you experience when watching a thriller film?

These key questions allowed us to make specific decisions regarding our thriller production and the conventions and characters within it. It also allowed us to attract our target audience and understand our target audience expectations and desires. 

Quotes received from our open ended questionnaires and how it helped to make key decisions

•  What appeals to you most about thriller films?

"The thing that appeals to me most about thriller films is the distinctive narratives which create excitement as the audience are unable to make predictions about future events and how to the storyline will unravel." - John, Aged 17 

 

• List three common feelings/emotions you experience when watching a thriller film?

" When watching thriller films, I experience excitement, fear and nervousness". -Lily, Aged 20

 

This helped me to make key decisions as I knew I had to make the narrative distinctive in order to allow the audience to experience excitement and uncertainty about upcoming events, and I had to ensure that my thriller allowed the audience to evoke feelings of excitement and nervousness. Therefore, the audience response has allowed me to understand what the audience want and from this, I was able to make decisions regarding my thriller in order to suit the audiences needs and expectations.

 

Below is images of my questionnaire with the questions I asked my target audience: 

Images of questionnaire

 

Results of key graphs

 

 

The importance of primary research and how It helped attract and address our target audience

 

Overall, primary research was important to carry out in order to receive first hand information and understand what the audience wanted and expected from our thriller in order to watch it. Without primary research we would be unable to be sure what the audience want to see and we would be unable to make the film meet their requirements. Carrying out primary research has been helpful as it has allowed me to directly attract and address my target audience by allowing them to complete the questionnaire and give their opinions about what they enjoy seeing in thriller films and what they want to see in future thrillers films, which can help us with decisions regarding it. Overall, the primary research was beneficial as it gave us a greater insight into the target audiences opinions through a quick and effective method. 

 

Audience Feedback

After producing my thriller opening, I held a focus group asking my target audience which were people aged 15 and over to view the production and give feedback regarding their views giving me a clear insight into how I met the target audiences expectations and how I didn't. Below is some of the criticism I received.

 

Focus group images...

 

 

1) One bit of positive feedback I received was from Stacey, aged 17:

This feedback made me feel pleased as I was able to attract my audience through the successful use of fast editing which evoked emotions for the audience.


2) Another piece of positive feedback I received was from Layla, aged 16:



This positive feedback made me feel glad that I pre-edited scenes as it attracted the audience, and made them enjoy the portrayal of the narrative to a greater extent.



3) Moreover, I received negative feedback from Mia, aged 16:

 

This feedback has made me feel more conscious about attracting my target audience as more edits could have encouraged a greater audience to be attracted.

4) Finally, I also received criticism from Jimmy, aged 15:
 

This feedback allowed me to take into consideration that the credits should have been on screen for a longer period of time as this would ensure that the audience were attracted to a greater extent. This has made me feel more assertive as I know for future productions that I must engage and attract a majority of my target audience.



Evaluation: Question 4) Who would be the audience for your media product?- Miss Begum

 

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning: Storyboarding- Miss Begum

 

 Storyboarding

 

Introduction:

 

A storyboard is a graphic representation of how a film will unfold, shot by shot. It is made up of illustrations or images representing each shot that will be included in a film which is supported by important notes for each shot including the camera shot, location, props, lighting, actors, sound, dialogue, editing and narrative description. A story board is vital to have when creating a film as it used as a plan will be extremely useful as it will help us to understand what we want to achieve and is used as something for us to build on. When it comes to making the film we can use the storyboard to guide us with the film making and it will be less time consuming as we will already know what will be involved in each shot. 

 

Advantages of storyboarding

 

Storyboarding the final idea is advantageous to production companies as it helps bring their film to life and gives them a clear indication of what to expect when they create their film, it allows them to identify the importance of particular elements and allows the director to understand what each scene sets out to achieve and the response it wants to achieve from the audience.  Storyboarding was also advantageous for my group and I as we now know what we must do in order to make our production come to life in the expected form and it helps us to imagine our film making it seem realistic. It also allowed us to have a clear idea as to whether our idea was realistic and what we think we can achieve and what we cannot. This then allowed us to make improvements based on the storyboard.

Images of my storyboard 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

Overall, a storyboard is vital to create before making a film as it allows you develop ideas and insert all the important information for each shot that you want included. When creating my storyboard I added all the important details associated with each shot therefore, when it comes to making the film the director can use the storyboard as a guide and ensure that it is being followed step by step. 

 

 

 

Preliminary Task:Preliminary Task-Mr Smith

 Preliminary Task 

What is the purpose of the preliminary task?

The purpose of the preliminary task is to be introduced to filming and editing gaining new skills and becoming familiar with the process. It also allows the group to prepare and have an insight of what the final filming task will consist of. By completing the preliminary task the group will be able to understand how to make improvements based on the weaknesses we experience. When it comes to filming our final production each group member will be more confident and we will perform to the best of our abilities ensuring that we do not make mistakes that we made in our preliminary task. Therefore, the preliminary task is extremely beneficial as it will give the group a feel of what is expected of us and will allow us to understand our roles. It will also help us to gain experience of working together as a group.

This is an example of our preliminary task:

 

The scenario

As a group we made suggestions about a scenario which would last 30 second, we decided to create a scene between Mohydin and Suweda who act as students who like each other and have a conversation about going on a date together:
 

 

 

The scene starts off with Mohydin asking Suweda what she will be doing later that evening and asks if she wants to go out to the cinema with him. During this shot an over the shoulder shot was used in order to see the characters facial expressions clearly. When taking this shot the camera was handheld in order to see everything that was needed to be seen.

 

 

 

Suweda accepts Mohydin's offer to take her to the cinema. During this shot an over the shoulder shot was also used in order for the audience to see the characters response clearly.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After confirming their date, Mohydin offers to walks Suweda her to lesson and they are seen to be walking down the stairs. First a medium shot is used with the camera on a tripod allowing the audience to see both the characters and their body language clearly. Then a panning shot is used to show the characters walking towards the staircase making the shot look effective.

 

 

 

 

When Suweda opens the door to go to her lesson Mohydin confirms the time by saying he will pick her up at 7.00pm. Here, a medium two shot is used allowing the audience to see the female characters facial expressions and the male characters body language as he is at a distance in comparison to the female character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, after dropping Suweda off to her lesson, Mohydin is then seen to walk down the stairs. A high angle is used to show the male character walking down the stairs allowing the audience to perceive his actions clearly and ending the scene with a clear narrative.

 

Group Roles

Within the group we allocated our roles according to the final production roles. We decided that I should be the camera operator as I will be taking on this role when creating the final production, therefore this allows me to have a clear understanding of how to use the camera effectively and learn how to overcome issues that I may have when completing my preliminary task. Furthermore, we decided that Mohydin and Suweda should be the actors as they will have the following roles in the final production, Mohydin has the role of location manager and story boarder which is not appropriate during the preliminary task and Suweda has the role of hair, makeup and costume and lighting which is also unnecessary during the preliminary task. Finally, Lara took on the role of editing the preliminary task as she is will be the editor in the final production therefore it will help her to gain experience and learn to use new software to edit effectively, when it comes to the final production she will not be new to the process and will be able to complete the editing to an expected standard.

Difficulties you encountered whilst filming

 

Whilst filming we encountered the following difficulties:

 

• We experienced other pupils and teachers walking past which caused the camera operator, director and the cast to keep stopping and having to restart filming the same scene. In the background of the evident shot there is a student while the cast are being filmed which makes the scene look unprofessional, therefore this was a difficulty and we must ensure that we do not experience the same problem when it comes to filming the final production.                                                                     
• Furthermore, we experienced the difficulty of sound echoing as the location we filmed created lots of echoes when others opened of shut the door or walked up the stairs, and trying to avoid this was extremely difficult as the location is a very busy area.             

• Moreover, another difficulty the camera operator experienced was positioning the camera in the correct place and moving it in the correct direction according to each shot. When the camera operator made the mistakes the shots had to be repeated.                
• When filming the actors found it difficult to act professionally without laughing which resulted in the shots having to be filmed multiple times in order to make the scenes look realistic and professional.
• Finally, another difficulty we experienced was being unaware of whether we filmed enough footage in order to make the film last 30 seconds. Therefore, we had to film more footage to ensure that we had enough.

 

Difficulties you encountered whilst editing

When editing we encountered the following difficulties : 

• We was unable to edit the lighting making the scene brighter and clearer, which resulted in the male actor not being seen clearly making the scene look unprofessional and hard to see.

• Furthermore, we found it difficult to edit the shots with the shots emerging into one another smoothly, and instead the editing looked choppy and unrealistic. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Another difficulty we encountered when editing was removing the sound of the echoes from the background which was caused when we were filming. This made the scene lack professionalism and made the scenes sound unrealistic as the sounds interfere speech.

 

What have you learned?

After completing the preliminary task I have learnt about the actions I must take in order to make improvements and complete the final production to a high standard. After taking the role of camera operator and filming the preliminary task, I have learnt how to use the camera properly and how to use the tripod effectively to make the movements look professional and smooth. Without completing the preliminary task I would be unaware of how to use the camera and tripod properly and effectively making the final production look unprofessional and of a low standard. Furthermore, the preliminary task has helped me to learn to work with my group members and understand their abilities which will be useful when it comes to producing the final production as we can work together each taking on the roles that we are confident with and can complete effectively. Therefore, the preliminary task has taught me to work with others in my group understanding their abilities and weaknesses which will prevent disagreements and people experiencing difficulties. Moreover, after completing the preliminary task I have learnt about what is expected of me when it comes to making the final production which is dedication and patience as the process can be difficult and take long to complete. Overall, I learned about what I must do in order to be successful in completing my final production and I have learnt to use and move the camera and tripod appropriately.

Conclusion: How has the task been beneficial?

 

The preliminary task has been beneficial for me as I now have a clearer understanding regarding the final production and how to make it successful and professional. Furthermore, it has been beneficial as it has taught me important skills such as team work, and working effectively together, being confident and motivated in order to make my production look enjoyable and professional sending the right message across to the audience and making them respond and react accordingly. Overall, the preliminary task has been beneficial for me as I have gained experience preparing me for the final production, and I now have a clear understanding about what I must do better in order to avoid making the same mistakes I made when creating the preliminary task.
 

Planning: Shot List- Miss Begum

 

Camera Shot List

Camera Shot List 

The camera shot list consists of the shot size/angle and movement of each shot that we intend on using during our filming. This should contain all the information about he shots that will be used in the production to ensue that the storyboard manager, director and camera operator are aware of each one avoiding problems occurring when filming. This is an example of our shot list:

 This is advantageous as it allows us to understand the shot sizes and movements that will be present in our thriller film. It also allows us to make a decision on whether we have a variety of the angles and movements allowing the thriller to be more effective. 
The shot list will be beneficial from the camera person as they will know what shot/angle and movement is necessary for each shot preventing them from experiencing confusion and filming different sizes and angles in contrast to the plan. This will also be helpful for the editor of the production as they will be able to understand if each shot has followed the plan and helps them to edit particular shots making the movements and angles more effective using the editing software.