Target Audience

Before creating our opening sequence we must be able to understand the audience demographic. This will help us to understand who our film should be targeted at and what elements we should include in order to present this. After conducting research we made the decision to produce a thriller film. Our target audience is mainly going to be focused on older teenagers-young adults (age 15-25). Therefore we made the decision for our film to be rated age appropriate 15 due to scenes of possible violence and strong language. There have been a number of films which are Thrillers which have been very successfully for this age category and for 18+ for example Shutter Island, Fatal Attraction and Se7en; these films have got positive reviews and a high viewer count from the youth-young adult market. We decided to choose the age rating to be 15 as it broadens the market and gives our film the opportunity to become more up-and-coming. The main primary audience we are both males/females who are 15 plus to young adults; however we are specifically targeting males due the fact males are the ones that are typically drawn to thrillers. We can see this as they commonly appear to play video games which contain this for content for example Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. There will be no specific social group/ethnicity that the film will be intended for as it would be suitable and interesting for the majority. We also have the hope it would attract people of other ages and gender who are generally interested in films of a thrilling nature. 

The secondary audience of this film would be people who watch this film with the primary audience; therefore in this case it might be girlfriends, friends or in some cases family members who are interested in the film from word of the youth. The film will essentially attract the lower/middle class as there might be some content that people from the higher class may find disturbing and may not approve of it. I believe if this film was released during winter it would be more successful due to the fact teenagers have difficulty making plans during the cold weather period so the cinema would be a good place to go with your friends/ partners at a reasonable price. 

I feel that we are targeting people under the C1 and C2 category as teenagers of 15+ don’t tend to have a substantial income and cinema is a low-priced place to go if you have a part time job. The money they earn can be spent on leisure and not for responsibilities that adults may have for example paying for bills/mortgages. I believe C1 and C2 are appropriate categories as the film may realise merchandise/commercial products which would boost the marketing of the film, meaning it is more associated with the target audience as it would appeal to them. I believe that our target audience would have common interests for example play sport, watch television and socialise with friends. By pursuing our film at teenagers who have collective interests would hopefully enhance the popularity of our film as it’s more likely to be enjoyable for all the demographics in the specific category. 

Black Swan Opening Sequence Analysis

Black Swan is an American psychological thriller/horror film starring Nateille Portman and directed by Darren Aronofsky. This opening in ways is similar to the beginning of the film ‘Se7en’ however I feel this sequence appears as a strong and powerful opening due to the use of camerawork, sound, mise en scene and editing. The main focus of this opening sequence is the drawing of an unknown picture which appears to be drawn with the use of black charcoal.

The camerawork used in this scene is a strong element which I feel making the opening sequence successful. Primarily close up and extreme close ups are used in this scene; these shots capture the detail and movement of each shot, although every shot appears as similar it doesn’t seem to get tedious as the positioning of the camera is slightly different in each shot changing the layout of the shot. There is little movement from the camera throughout the duration of the scene which focuses the viewer’s attention merely on the hand movement of the actor; there are a few tracking shots featured which follow the movements of the hand slowly. This particular movement of the camera is slow which co works among side of the music as the music appears as elegant and graceful. The sound in this scene ordinarily appears to be the same pace and tempo throughout. The use of the sound track (non-diegetic sound) is the only sound that appears in the scene as no diegetic sound is featured such as dialogue or ambience sound. This music continuously plays throughout the clip creating a sound bridge as it carries over from shot to shot emphasising continuity in the scene. This sound is well selected for the scene as it is related to the genre of the film, in addition this specific type of music could be considered as a convention of a thriller film as it creates a contrast between the imagery shown and the sound overplayed. When there is a change in the music in the scene the performance of the actress appears to become as more aggressive, we can detect this as the speed of her actions increase and the pressure applied seems to increase as flakes of the charcoal are appearing on the page. The change in pace and tempo of the music supports the change in actors performance.

A number of shots in this opening sequence appear as overplayed this could be to keep the viewers’ attention fixed as otherwise they could begin to lose interest as many of shots appear as similar. The cuts at first appear as slow and steady however when there is a change in the music and performance of the actress the speed of the cuts increases. The titles which are featured in this scene are written in black serif font to support the theme of this thriller. They gradually fade in and out layered over the camera shots. This sequence follows aspects of ‘Barthes Cultural Code’. The Hermeneutic includes the entire sequence as it avoids giving away any vital information to the audience for example who this mysterious character is and what is drawing. We aren’t given clues either as the camerawork is close up so we never see the full outcome of the image created. The Semantic Code indicates to the viewer that the film may be mystery based due to the fact there is a mystery created in the opening sequence which is only a small snippet of the film.

Initial Practical Production Ideas

Se7en Opening Sequence Analysis

Se7en is a psychological crime Thriller from 2012 directed by David Fincher. There are a number of elements in an opening sequence which make it appear as effective. The purpose of the opening sequence is to make the audience question what is happening during the clips due the fact there is little information revealed to the audience. This technique reals the viewers in and encourages them to continue watching the remaining duration of the film. For example in Se7en we are unable to identify who the character is and what the papers are etc. By little evidence being given away it intrigues the viewer and encourages them to continue to watch the film to find out the answers to their questions which they have self-created. The conventions shown reinforce the genre of the film which is a psychological thriller.

For example the use of props such as razors and records are iconography for crime. As there is no dialogue or no recognition of the man in the scene it makes the viewer asks who he is, what he is doing and why, this is greatly effective as it adds upon the idea of a psychological crime thriller. There are a variety of shots used throughout the sequence including; establishing shot, point of view shot, close up, point of view and extreme close up which appear from both high and low angles. The different range of shots engages the viewer as it’s dynamic and not repetitive. The use of these shots appear as effective as they give away minimal information about the film, the setting of these shots aren’t exposed to the viewer which further capture the viewers’ attention and places them in a thought provoking mind set. There is no movement of the camera in the opening sequence and the camera remains in a fixed position for each shot, which focuses the viewers’ attention of the object being shown.

The transaction between the shots is relatively fast, this compliments the music as they fit in together. The type of transactions used could indicate it’s a quick pace film which includes action, this would support the genre connections of the film. We are unaware of the location of the room where this scene is filmed which further adds upon the idea of the unknown and absorbs the viewer’s attention more. Throughout the sequence there are different types of lighting used. At points there is the use of chiaroscuro which reflects evil/sinister, at other points the lighting is dark and only key props are highlighted for example books, and photographs etc. this can indicate to the viewer that these props are a key essential to the film, however the shots shown don’t appear as long/close enough the reveal the full reality of the object. Although we as viewers aren’t aware of whom the character is the sequence provides us with a number of clues. From the hands of the person we can tell it is a male. The condition of his hands also tell us that the character isn't clean as dirt appears on them, this could also indicate he is a care free character or has pays no attention to hygiene or appearance. Particular shots also reveal the character has a plaster on his thumb which could slightly indicate how he is a involved in fights and corruptions.

The main actors/title of the film is placed on top of a plain background to stress their importance, whereas other actors/producers who are of less of a contribution are overlapping the footage. The pace the shots are fast and change quickly to other shots. There is mainly continuity throughout this sequence however it is broken at times when some titles are placed. There is no diegetic sound in this scene as it is overlapped by music throughout (non-diegetic). The music links well to the scene as it sounds mysterious. This sequence follows aspects of ‘Barthes Cultural Code’. The Hermeneutic is the whole of the sequence as the scene avoids giving the audience information about the character/what the documents are, but we are given clues for example photos, scans. The enigma in this sequence is the ending of the scene as you left wondering the relevance of the previous clip to the film, and throughout they are trying to pair the information together. The Semantic Code tells us that the film will involve mystery solving as by first glance it doesn't look like something a person would do every day.

Opening Sequence Research Record

Friends With Benefits (2012)
This opening sequence is effective as we as viewers believe the conversation was between Jamie and Dylan, However we learn at the end of the sequence we learn it is separate. This is achieved through the use of shot reverse shot. The type of music is correct for this sequence as it is upbeat and rushed however it stops when they get dumped. 

Love Actually (2002)

This opening sequence is effective as it shows different clips of different types of people showing love and affection towards each other which presents the film to what it is. This shows different variety of people (old, young) who show different types of relationships (boyfriend/girlfriend, friend, family) through the use of different shots which keeps the viewers interested so it’s not repetitive. 

Armageddon (2010)

This opening sequence is effective as it zooms in from space it shows the impact of the meteor hit. The facts and figures given by the voice over set the mood of the film and emphasis's the impact/effect the meteor hit has on earth. The zoom shot towards earth from the galaxy further emphasis' the effect and the scene. 

Sinister (2012)

This opening sequence is effective as it immediately shows the genre of it is being a horror film by the use of hanging. The quality of sound and footage of the clip shows it is old which tells the viewer the film is over a period of time. There is no dialogue which further makes the scene mysterious and makes the viewer’s feel uncertain as its the fear of the unknown. 

Lost (2006)

This opening sequence is effective as the music in the background and the body language/gestures create the sense of the unknown which relates to the title. The final shot of the shoe hanging on the tree further emphasises the danger as it makes the viewer’s question whose it is.

The Notebook (2007)

This opening sequence is effective as it shows it is a calm atmosphere, this is shown through the setting and the music in the background. Through  the use of no dialogue it makes the viewer question the relationship of the two people and how they are relevant to the film.

Grease (1978)

This opening sequence is effective as it shows the two main characters of the films relationship. They are placed in a romantic setting and show romantic gestures etc. holding hands/kissing. There are different shots used throughout to keep the viewer interested. 

Perliminary Task

When creating our video for our preliminary task we used the ‘Canon Legria Camcorda Plus’ camera. During shooting our footage we had to be conscious of the brief of the task and consider the: camera movement, angles, focus, framing, and shot types, as well as Mise en scene and sound. When filming our shots we had to be aware of the 180 degree rule and the rule of thirds. We also had the opportunity to show off numerous skills we had learnt such as the Shot Reverse Shot (SRS) and Match on Action. We originally planned our preliminary task with a different storyline, which was sci-fi themed. Our animatic storyboard was drawn according to our first idea which we shot and edited using ‘Adobe Premiere.’  However once we did so we learnt we didn't have enough footage to fill the 30 seconds which were required as the minimum, and the story line didn’t appear as that interesting. We then made the decision to re film and change the story line  This time we based our idea around ITV2 Reality Show ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ which we thought would be more fun to film and interesting for viewers to watch.

I thought our production held many successes for example we correctly used several Shot Reverse Shots. When filming our material we filmed each piece of the conversation separately although once edited they appeared to flow together and shows continuity between the shots. We successfully used the 180 degree rule; as all characters appeared to remain in the same positions throughout filming which further shows continuity in shots. The performance of the actors reflects the theme of our video as they appear to have Essex accents. However on the other hand I feel as if we could have spent more time adjusting the sound when editing our film as I think at parts the music (non-diegetic sound) overpowers the speech of the characters. I also feel some cuts could be shortened to make the length of the film shorter and closer to 30 seconds. When editing our task we made sure we used the best shots we had e.g. a steady camera, clear speech and no laughter. We found the sound in the drama studio was clear and there was no non diegetic sounds to distract the audience from the character speaking. However when we filmed Ellie walking along the corridor there were unnecessary sounds coming from doors opening and other students, but I feel we recovered this quite well by overlapping it with the music we chose. I think the music we chose to use fitted well with the footage, as it was upbeat and quick paced. We stopped the music when Ellie arrived at the table this indicates tension and a change in mood. I thought we showed this very well. We didn't put any transitions between the shots as we thought it would break the continuity and not appear as natural. If we were to re do this task again I feel we could have spent longer editing our footage together as we only spent approximately an hour. I would spend more time carefully selecting the clips and shortening them to the shortest they could be. 

Preliminary Task Animatic