Location Analysis

I'm back guys.  Today's just a rough overview of what locations we have, what they need, and a few pictures of one of our settings.

Location Needs: Needs have been achieved


(SETTING NO.1 - Office)

·   spacious

·   well-lit / fully controllable lighting

·   table

(SETTING 2 NO.2 - Forest)

·   dark / obscure lighting (can be controlled in the edit)

·   narrow paths

·   clearings

·   plant life

Currently, site number 1 is within our school, meaning we have a lot of access, furthermore, the fact its well-lit means that we get a wide range of shots.

However, site number 2 is harder. Located near Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, the forest-like area is open to the elements, meaning that - due to English weather - the ground is sometimes too muddy/slippery to film. Furthermore, the lighting is also difficult, as in Britain, currently we're in winter so it's darker at earlier times in the day, however, we need some of this darkness to get

This is an example of our forest scene. Furthermore, you can see some of the practical elements that help with film's ambience. The lighting - slanted, and half lit - will allow some aspects of the opening to remain hidden, especially due to the fact, this part of the scene will feature the killer (who remains anonymous), as well as the plant life, which gives the impression of an imposing presence.

Treatment: In-depth

Hey guys, what you’re about to read is a treatment:  a piece of text that provides a step-by-step layout of a film. So here’s my film treatment; camera angles, directions and script included, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it cos I truly put in WORK on this.

But before we begin I’ve gotta put a disclaimer out there - WARNING: Some of the stuff you may see may not actually be in my later film.

ENJOY!

Film Treatment

Black background, institution - KMA PRODUCTIONS - appears in bold lettering in Silver with a golden outline. The logo then fades out into a protagonist’s eyes (very close up shot). As the camera pans, we hear our character’s voice “This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out, we’d meant to be having a laugh,” and we see our character’s (Jayden Yusuf) features and surroundings: he’s in a police interviewing room, he’s clothes are shredded and covered in mud, he has a gash to his cheek, and his curly hair is saturated / soaked in blood. There is also screaming and a heartbeat as non-diegetic, incidental audio. Cut to (high angle / eagle-eye shot - camera is grainy / poor quality, symbolising CCTV at a police station) our protagonist, there is little / no audio as we are emphasising to the audience that the protagonist is on his own. Audience hears screams even though we see that the protagonist is alone (establishing shot - colour is now present, quality is good - we have incidental audio getting louder; we also see cuts of POV shots from the protagonist viewpoint, we see a view of his feet running, brief look over his shoulder, the audience also hear heavy breathing as non-diegetic sound). The incidental audio - screams and heartbeat - grows louder and louder until the protagonist screams “ENOUGH!!” - in a slightly higher / deeper voice - and he slams his fist against the table

At that moment, a police detective - DI Walker - enters… (Continue from script)


And that's a movie treatment guys. Same time next week right? :)

#1T4TS

Alex

Se7en 1 Minute Reshoot vs. The Original Se7en Opening Scene

Original Se7en Opening Scene

When we first looked at Se7en, I wasn't quite sure about it. The opening scene doesn't reveal much about the film, and there a several simplistic techniques used. The use of Over-The-Shoulder (OTS) and Point Of View (POV) shots give the audience a sense of presence - they feel as if this is happening to them whilst raising questions about what's going on.
Anyway, there's not really much I can do but say enjoy, and if you have any feedback, leave it in the comments.

Se7en 1 Minute Reshoot

I can’t say much about this, after all, especially since I helped make it, but I’d like to say we did well. The use of light and camera angles helped create a disorientated, slightly sinister atmosphere to the scene. We also used. Using the scene's original soundtrack, we (myself, Khaleem, Mateusz, and Tariq) were able to create a similar (if not better) opening scene.

And that's all for this week, see you at the same time same place in a week.

#1T4TS

Alex

Target Audience Questionnaire

They're are a lot of questions that you COULD ask you're target audience to get a feel for their likes, and dislike, but it's hard to discern which questions are the MOST relevant...

(I asked a random stranger - from our target audience demographic and wrote their response)

ITALICS is the interviewees views / opinions.

Favourite thriller film - why?
Don't Breathe. It's angles, unpredictability, audio added to the film's atmosphere to make the indie film stand out from the competition

Favourite part of thriller films?
Build up to big events. The tension created in a film is always a favourite among audiences. Whilst the drama usually occurs at the end of the build up

Possible ideas that haven't been done that you think should be?
Protagonist dies. This is rarely seen in films of any kind, regardless of genre. However, you could see the protagonist die in a sacrifice, saving others by ultimately sacrificing themselves to save others.







Anyway, that's what we've learnt: the tension is ALL about the build-up, people want something new from thriller films (perhaps a twist where the protagonist dies), and the atmosphere to a film is dependent on camera angles, audio and creative plot.

#1T4TS

Alex 

Target Audience Profile

If you're here once again then thanks, hopefully you've followed my blogs from the beginning - from humble, very sketchy beginnings, to the weekly service you've come to know and love. And if you're new, then tune in every week and see what you can learn about A-Level Media.

Target Audience Profile

Anyway folks, back to the matter at hand, if you saw my post last week about target audience then you'll know that film's also have an ideal audience profile - a perfect person that they see watching AND/OR buying their film

For my film, which has the working title "Forest Horror," there is also target audience profile:

IDEAL CANDIDATE
NAME: James Lloyd
AGE: 17
OCCUPATION: Student / Part-Time  
GENDER: Male
ETHNICITY: White (western - UK/USA)
INTERESTS: Rugby, Football, Social Media


Anyway, it's been a long day, put check in again next week if you wanna see more about A Level Media.

#1T4TS

Alex

Target Audience

Before we start, I've got to show you the Socio-Economic Scale (a classification device used to determine demographics):

A - higher managerial administrative professionals

B - intermediate administrative professionals

C1 - supervisory, clerical, junior administrative professionals

C2 - skilled manual workers

D - semi / unskilled workers

E - state pensioners with little / no income, widows, minimum pay earners, and the unemployed

Target Audience Profile

As I've said in previous posts, thrillers are quite hard to define. and reason SHOULD tells us that if they're hard to define, then they're audience should be the same. However, thrillers, due to their wide range of traits, probably have one of the easiest audiences to define.

Everyone loves a thriller, where they're good old fashioned thriller-mystery hybrids like Sixth Sense or the modern action thrillers like The Dark Knight Rises - my point is, it's easier to find a group of people that DON'T like thriller films. However, after close study it is easy to see a thriller film's target audience. In general, thriller films often target the lower end of the Socio-Economic Scale. They typically target those who are often less successful AND/OR poorer, and use such films as escapism - according to the Uses and Gratification Theory (the theory that suggest why audiences use a piece of media). As a result, my film Forest Horror targets males aged 13-21 who are situated on the C1 - E, as ... Moreover Forest Horror also has a secondary  audience of females aged 14-22 as women are shown (in some research) to be enjoy thriller films more than male counterparts, and they (in most market research) watch more commercial television and are therefore more likely to interact with our film's TV marketing campaign.

To summarise, the primary audience of Forest Horror is males aged 13-21, and the secondary audience is females aged 14 - 22.

Now it's time for me to sign off, but more next week, tune in folks!

#1T4TS

Alex