Progeny: PowerPoint/Feedback

  

When we presented our PowerPoint to the class we received positive feedback and constructive criticism from both our teacher and peers; some of which being our target audience. One point which we received was that we had to become more aware of what we want to portray to the viewer as currently it’s doesn’t appear as clear enough. We decided from this that Liam must appear as innocent to the viewer so he isn’t suspected as to be the abductor of his brother, we will do this mainly by ensuring his actors performance demonstrates this. We were questioned as to whether we were planning to show the close relationship between the two brothers on screen and if so how did we hoped to achieve this. We had previously planned this, our initial idea was to feature home videos in the sequence which showed the powerful bond they shared these include both brothers playing toys together and Alfie receiving a present from his older brother. We will make it clear to the viewer that they are home videos by creating an overlay on the clips which included the words ‘REC’ and a flashing red button.

We were also given advice to consider using Barthes Enigma Codes to build tension and leave the end of the sequence on a cliff hanger to encourage the viewers to self-create questions about what happens next and encourage them to continue to watch the film. Now that we are fully aware of this technique we will ensure we enforce it in our opening sequence. We also received a number of questions involving the horror/thriller conventions. We plan to follow these conventions by leaving our opening sequence on a cliff hanger; we also plan to follow the conventions by the use of low key lighting. For example when we film the footage of the abduction it will appear to be in cold/gloomy weather conditions. We can relate this to the mood of the characters, this technique is called pathetic fallacy and is a very successful method if followed correctly. We have taken the feedback we received on board and are going to use it to continue to improve our ideas and production skills needed to create a successful production. 

Practical Production Scheduele

Progeny: Roles/Script

Roles

Camerawork and filming- Abbie Toynton and Emma Slater

Editing- Abbie Toynton and Emma SlaterTeenage Boy- Liam Hurley
Young Boy- Alfie Wells
Voiceovers- David Deadman and Liam Hurley

Script
Voiceover played over home videos with the addition of eerie music 
Policeman: Liam Hurley I am arresting you on suspicion of child abduction. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
Liam: No no it wasn't me

Voiceover played over flashbacks Liam has of the day Alfie went missing 
Policeman: This interview is being tape recorded and may be given in evidence if your case is brought to trial. The time is 2100 hours on Monday 12th October 2013. This interview is taking place at Hertford Police Station. My name is PC Waters. My role today is to interview you in relation to the abduction of Alfie Wells. Can you give your full name please?

Liam: Liam Hurley

Policeman: And your date of birth
Liam: 29^th Novemeber 1996
Policeman: Can you confirm for the purpose of the tape that there are no other persons present in the interview room
Liam: Yes I can confirm
Policeman: Do you require the services of a solicitor?
Liam: No, I didn’t do it why won’t anyone believe me
Policeman: Can you tell me where you were on Saturday 10^th October at approximately 1500 hours?
Liam: Over the local green with Alfie playing hide and seek
Policeman: So you let a six year old run of on his own?
Liam: Yes urm no it wasn't like that we were playing a game, I wouldn't put him in any danger (worried/concerned)
Policeman: But oh you did
Liam: I didn't do it no! (raised voice, can sense fear in his speech)

Progeny: Shot List

High Angle Shot- Liam and Alfie playing with train set

Shot Type Examples

Over The Shoulder Shot- Liam and Alfie playing with lego
High Angle Shot- Liam and Alfie playing with lego
Long Shot- Alfie opening a Christmas present from Liam
Zoom in to Medium Shot- Alfie opening a present
Medium Long Shot- Liam and Alfie eating lunch
High Angle Handheld Shot- Liam and Alfie drawing together on a chalkboard
Zoom In from Medium Shot to Close Up Shot- Showing Liam looking oblivious 
Medium Long Shot- Alfie Riding a Bike With Liam
High Angle Medium Shot- Alfie feeding the ducks

Long Shot- Liam and Alfie playing football
Over the Shoulder Shot- Of Liam and Alfie playing hide and seek
Medium Close up- of Liam Counting
Medium to Long Shot- Alfie running off to hide
Extreme Long Shot- Surroundings
Close up- Liam’s Face showing emotions to the viewer
Point Of View High Angle Shot- Alfie’s hat on the grass
Close Up Shot- Different possessions of Alfie’s
Close Up with slight Zoom In Shot- A picture Alfie is drawing 
Close Up Shot- Showing a man’s hand scribbling out his drawing
High Angle Shot- Alfie looking up worried

Progeny: Animatic

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.