Audience feed back

The last thing we did for the build up for our thriller was to get audience feed back, this was a very useful exercise as after working on our thriller for such a long time we started no to notice the mistakes or obvious problems, for example the plot of the thriller, to us it would be obvious but to an audience it might not be as clear.


FEED BACK ON PLOT:
most of the feed back on the plot was actually positive as they seem to understand it well. Some people said it was an apocalypse thriller which is what we aimed for. They also said that they were clear in what was behind the door which is we wanted people to think, we wanted them to all have a different idea of what was behind the door, some said; 'murder', 'alien', 'someone or thing', 'zombie invasion', 'someone has been trapped'. All these feed backs are positive as wanted them to be not clear on whats going on- like a 'cliff hanger'

FEED BACK ON STRENGTHS:
The main strengths we found were to do with the title sequence and the string, 'focus pulls with the titles was effective'. They said that the placement of the titles was effective as the were in the right place, they also liked how some of the titles moved along the string or were line up on the string. Another thing that was brought up was the tension build up of the strings and cans sequence created tension as for a lot of the time they were sure what it was about because all they saw for the beginning part was string and cans and mess, they also said that the tension was caused by bot a lot of sound. The feed back on the strengths was very positive as they brought up all the parts which we spent the longest time making and creating which is a good thing.

FEED BACK ON IMPROVEMENTS:
Some people said that we could have used music rather than just using background sounds and download clip sounds, this they said would have created eere feelings. We were told that quicker editing would have also made piece a little more spooky and would build up tension



SOME EXAMPLES OF FEEDBACK:

NAME: Alex Wadstein

PLOT: The world may have recently gone bad (still normal objects ie coke cans) Therefore, for some reason , a man has to sleep in a tent that is ripped so that if anyone comes he knows, could be an alien thriller?

STRENGTHS: I like the focus on the string in the beginning, it supposes normal everyday items (coke) it makes a seemingly normal object seem abnormal

IMPROVEMENTS: Shot with more slow ‘artistic’ shots with an eree background i.e shot in a big field. But good!

NAME: Charlie Feeney

PLOT: A man is hiding in a tent, threat from outside. Something tugging on a string. Goes to see what is it. Apocalypse or weird creatures?

STRENGTHS: The silence, it builds tension and makes you feel on edge. Also I like the colours, pale on dark.

IMPROVEMENTS: Some creepy music or more drone sounds

NAME: Seb

PLOT: Is about a man being hunted by something or someone and is trying to hide or get away. A murder is behind the door?

STRENGTHS: The tension building and sound

IMPROVEMENTS: Quicker editing to create more tension

Evalutation task 7

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the product?

After watching through my prelim task I've realised that the shots we used in it were basic and simple easy shots to do for example we used, over the shoulder and close and mid shots. Personally I feel the smoothness of the the sequence was choppy and didn't flow well. There are also a few places in the prelim which I have noticed that we haven't thought about where we are filming from , for example when filming through the blinds you can see us filming from the opersite window.

In our thriller I found that we used a lot more complex shots for example, extreme close up, movement shots and point of view shots. The whole flow between the shots were more flowing and instead of doing easy long shots we did shorter and more complex shots which makes it more interesting to watch.  We also included focus pulls and other techniques that we learnt on the day which I think made a big difference to our thriller.
















The  Mise en scene in our prelim was vary basic and we only used one prop which made the whole sequence very clear about what it was about. I think we could have come out with a lot more other ideas for using our prop as we only used it in one shot. We didn't really focus on the clothing or where it was set either.

In our thriller we used a vast amount of props for it including; a tent, string, rubbish and other general waste products which made the area look lived in, we also boarded up the windows with cardboard to make it look like he is hiding. We also focused a lot on the clothing and dressed him up in dark baggy clothing, made his grow his facial hair and he wore big boots. I found that small things which we thought about make a big different even if you don't notice them quickly I think miss en scene does make a difference.

The editing on our prelim is vary basic as the shots don't flow from shot to shot they were jumpy and looked slightly awkward, I think we should have blended the clips more when editing which would make the sequence better but as it was our first time using final cut pro we were very inexperienced and didn't know how to do a lot of these things.
Our editing obviously improved a lot more for our thriller as we were more confidence with using the program and we had longer to edit it which made a big difference as we got use to it over time. we included a lot new things which I didn't know how to use from the prelim such as adding titles and blending tools which made a big difference and made our thriller look more natural.
For sound in our prelim we literally just filmed whilst recording the sound at the same time, this made the voice sound weird and echoey. For our thriller on the other hand we dud various different things to make the sounds right, although we didn't have a script we had to build a base using the back ground sounds of when we shot on the day. We also used a recording muff which made the sound more clear, and then downloaded various different sounds which we needed off line and merged them into the background sounds so they were so crisp and loud.

evaluation task 6

What have you learnt about technologys from the process of contrusting this product?

open link to see annotated video of our thriller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoSlU7KsvFY&list=PL_P5ZEHuHS2aaO3m5EpbF2Oso2mlvqt6b&index=11

evaluation task 5

 How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation task 5 from hurtwoodhousemedia5

evaluation tast 4

Who would be the audience for your media production?


Our thriller is aimed at teenagers and young adults between the age of 15- 20, this is because it would give the film a wide range of viewers.

For research I found 3 very different twitter accounts of people who are interested in films.
I did an interview with all 3 of them to see what interests them about films. 

1.
 Name: Dwaine Jones
Gender: Male
Age: 18 
Nationality: British
Profession: School
Studying: Media Studies, Geography and Physics

INTERVIEW WITH DWAINE:

Me: what do you do in your free time?
Dwaine: gaming, and going to cinema with my friends and playing my guitar

Me: what is your favourite type of film?
Dwaine: definitely thrillers, I prefer apocalypse or 'end of the world' thriller films the most

Me: do film trailers for films influence your decision of whether or not you would watch it?
Dwaine: yes, I think the trailer is the most important part for selling the movie, but I dislike it when a trailer gives away the plot

Me: do you like thriller films with special effects?
Dwaine: yes, I think special effects make the film more interesting as they can make films more scary or gripping. 

Me: what music are you into?
Dwaine: rock and alternative, music is an important part to a film 

Me: name some of your all time favourite thriller films
Dwaine: 28 days later, I am Legend, The day the Earth stood still, War of the Worlds, End of the World, and other films like that. 

Me: how do you find out about the newest films whether they are high or low budget?
Dwaine: usually from cinema trailers, word of mouth, or from online social networks such as twitter, i follow a lot of production companies or film directors who talk about their latest films, i also watch a lot of online interviews to give me an idea of what the film could be like.

Me: from watching our opening title sequence what do you make of it?
Dwaine: It looks interesting and quirky as it doesn't give anything away and finishes on a hanger which makes you want to watch on to see what is behind the door. 


2. 
Name: Jodie Simpson 
Gender: Female

Age: 15

Nationality: American

Profession: School

Studying: Art, geography, textiles

 

INTERVIEW WITH JODIE:
Me: what do you do in your free time?
Jodie: hang out with my friends, go shopping and go to the cinema

Me: what is your favourite type of film?
Jodie: I like Rom-Coms, scary films and general comedies 

Me: do film trailers for films influence your decision of whether or not you would watch it?
Jodie: trailers should give you the basic story line and leave you wanting to watch the whole film

Me: what music are you into?
Jodie: I like listening to pop music and music that i can sing along too


Me: how do you find out about the newest films whether they are high or low budget?
Jodie: Normally from trailer sequences from the cinema, posters, or word of mouth 

Me: what is your opinion on thrillers
Jodie: I enjoy watching thrillers but not on my own, i also have to be in the mood and depends what time of day

Me: from watching our opening title sequence what do you make of it?
Jodie: It has made me want to watch on because it has left the viewer hanging on what happens after he opens the door, it also leaves me with a few questions which makes me want to watch on. I would definitely watch it with friends or family



3. 

Name: Henry Rydon

Gender: Male

Age: 20 

Nationality: British 

Profession: student (university)

Studying: History

INTERVIEW WITH HENRY 

Me: what do you do in your free time?
Henry: spend a lot of time working but try and get out to watch the latest film that has come out 

Me: what is your favourite type of film?
Henry: i like action war, and science fiction 

Me: do film trailers for films influence your decision of whether or not you would watch it?
Henry: Yes i think trailers are the biggest seller for the film i don't usually watch a film at the cinema without watching the trailer 

Me: what music are you into?
Henry: i like alternative and indie rock

Me: what is your opinion on thrillers?
Henry: i really like a classic thriller, nothing can really go wrong with a thriller whether they are cheesy or gripping 

Me: how do you find out about the newest films whether they are high or low budget?
Henry: usually online, word of mouth or from cinema posters and adverts. If i film is big enough it is usually hyped up a lot from advertising which makes you want to watch it more

Me: from watching our opening title sequence what do you make of it?
Henry: I really enjoyed the opening title sequence and definitely would watch on because it leaves you hanging and not knowing what is going on which i like about a film, this draws you into it more.





The target audience depends on the type of thriller. Some thrillers are borderline horror films and these tend to attract young females who want a scare. Legal thrillers tent to attract the slightly older teen. For our film the age range would be between 15-35. Most likely a student with no real bias toward a particular subject. The male audience would be the quieter type and content with their own company whilst the female would prefer other company whilst watching the film.

Evaluation task 3:

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

The opening sequence is made for an apocalypse film, about a man who is inside a room in a tent which various different strings and cans attached to it, at the end of the opening scene the man leaves the tent and follows one of the strings with a bell on it which is ringing which leads to a door this is meant to make you think that there is an enemy or someone/thing outside the room who is trying to get him.

Our thriller is a low concept but because of the many special effects that would be used throughout the film it would make it a high budget film because of the expense of them.

Our thriller would do well with a production company such as DNA films, this is because they have produced well known films such as 127 hours, Slum dog Millionaire and 28 days later- which is a lot like our thriller. The company has worked with well-known producers like Danny Boyle who produced 28 days later. A Production company as well known, as DNA films would benefit on our thriller because it would bring it would publicize the film a lot especially in other countries.

Another potential company that could produce our thriller would be Warner Bros this is because they have also produced films which are similar to ours such as inception, I am legend, dark knight rises are many others. Having Warner Bros produce our films would be the best as it is so well known and therefore we would get a lot of views and publicity.

Spider man opening sequence is also similar to our opening sequence because they have the screen cut up by close up shots of the spider web, this reminds me a lot of our string opening credit parts. It is directed by Kyle Cooper who we have studied before and as we found out is an extremely well know director.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f5ykkGJvMU

28 Days Later had a budget of 6 million, which I feel would be an suitable budget for our thriller too. If we had a budget from a film from Warner Bros we would benefit from it a lot because our special effects would be even better and therefore more entertaining to watch, because it is an apocalypse film it would need to specialize in the special effects side to make it realistic and worth watching, this is why it would benefit with a higher budget like I Am Ledgend’s budget which was 150 million, but comparing the two films our concept is much lower to I Am Legends and therefore our budget would be suitable with 6 millions like 28 Days Later.

We also looked in to other productions such as Vertigo which we know a lot about to but we decided as a group that DNA films is more well known than Vertigo and therefore it would be an advantage using a production company that I well known that we know would get us the amount of views that our thriller needs. 

http://www.dnafilms.com/