Friday 13 May 2016

Audience Feedback




Here is some audience feedback I obtained from Nicola, who represents my target audience.

Thursday 12 May 2016

Final Cut


In my final cut i added the titles that were hand written and then created in illustrator 
The shots of Sarah towards the end are breaking the fourth wall by looking at the camera, this give extra intensity for the audience
With breaking the fourth wall the audience can connote that sarah is a threat to the audience 

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Final Cut With ident



Issues with this cut:

Some camera recorded audio has been left in the edit causing sound problems.
The film title is not on screen for long enough.
Following feedback from other media students and my teacher, I feel that the film ending is still a little ambiguous, so I have decided to simplify the sequence in a way that suggests to the viewer that the protagonist is about to kill the antagonist in the graveyard
I have decided to redo some of my titles so that they fit better with industry conventions.

How i created my titles




  • Initially I wrote  out the titles on a piece of paper with felt tip pen.
  • I then scanned the paper with help of Mr. Zomerplaag
  • Then putting the scanning on the computer and putting it on illustrator I edited the text to look smoother and like they are electronic
  • I used this method to get the initially messy handwriting theme that i wanted for my titles
  • I took influence from the titles of heathers

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Evaluation Question Seven

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Research
For the preliminary task we didn't do any research about the genre of the prelim because it was just practicing shots and breaking the 180 degree rule, however for our film opening we researched the typical conventions of a black comedy and we also researched actresses in the films and the music. A lot of detail went in to the planning so that we could get a good representation of what our film genre is.
Titles
For the titles of 'Neighbours' we looked into the film 'Heathers'. At first i used a sans-serif text for the titles to denote the twisted theme throughout the film. However with feedback i decided to change this because "It didn't connote the dark comedy of 'neighbours'"- Alex Vanzomerplaag.
Therefore i changed it to a red text and it was 3D, this came across as rather comical; connoting the high school location. However this came across as too happy and not dark enough for the dark comedy. 
This also didn't connote the dark comedy of the film; and focussed to much on the high school location. The audience watching this connoted that it was a happy teenage film. Much like mean girls, however our film is more based on the film 'Heathers'. Therefore i changed t again to a darker serif font. I kept it like this because of the distressed bold text it connotes dark high school.
I kept with this because it is black and bold and also connotes high school, the distressed serif text also connotes the dark high school theme. I also moved the titles around the screen to attract the audience's eyes around the screen. I took inspiration from the film 'Heathers'. I used the location of the scenes to spot the titles around.

For the prelim we didn't use any titles we just got straight on with the task.

Planning
  • For the preliminary task we planned by using storyboards to plan the shots.
First we got into partners and we filmed each other using the 180 degree rule.
  • For 'Neighbours' we planned by creating the storyboard for each of the different scenes. We also created the call list and the shot list for 'Neighbours' to make sure that everything went smoothly during filming. However throughout the process of filming some camera shots were changed or added.
  • We also created a group chat of our actresses to plan filming times and to plan when we were all free. Filming happened over a period of 4 weeks' due to there being six of us it was difficult to plan when we were all available.
  • This is an example of our group chat and discussion about when we are available for filming.
Time Management
The prelim was a brief shoot and a quick turnaround, we filmed the prelim in an hour however for our film 'Neighbours' overall we filmed for 5 hours in multiple locations. Opening for a bigger project we needed far more planning for a larger cast and more technologies were used throughout the production of 'Neighbours'. We managed multiple shoots.
Shoot one was in Izzy's house (filmed by Rian)
Shoot two was fimed in Niamh's house (filmed by Niamh)
Shoot three was filmed in Ilkley Grammar School (Filmed by Rian and Niamh)
Shoot four was flmed in Ben Rhydding Graveyard filmed by (Rian and Niamh)
Shoot five was filimed in Niamhs house (filmed by Niamh)

Our time managment for the film could've been better throughout, we had a deadline and we did stick to this deadline however we complete the filming within the last two days of the deadline. We had to complete the graveyard shoot later that planned due to us filming in December; the weather was temperamental. Initially we planned to shoot the graveyard scene in the early days around the 8th of December; however we ended up filming on the 14th of December.

Pitches
Initially we had to pitch our ideas that we had constructed in front of the class to pitch who was working with who. Me and Niamh decided to work together because both our initial film ideas involved the protagonist being female and being set in a high school. Although Nimah's initial idea was heavy based on the realism of films and mine was based on murders we compromised and our films came together.
 Instead of the protagonist being a part of the clique like initally planned she is seperate from the group and alone. Where as instead of the protagonist being a gender stereotypical girl she is a countertype.

Casting
The casting for the preliminary task was simply created by opportunity, we used the people in our class surrounding us. This is because they were all on similar time schedules and they were in the class together that day. Therefore we didn't think about the genre roles or the age and appearance. The characters didn't have a particular role therefore there was no key genre types needed or roles to play. No dialect was used therefore we didn't need to think to deeply into the key roles, it was our actors walking into the scene and sitting down on the chair.
 However for our film 'Neighbours' our casting was thought through in detail. We needed three girls that were relatively the same height so that when walking through the corridor they looked simultaneous and they looked coordinated. We also needed the antagonist to be shorter with darker hair. This helps the antagonist stand out from the clique and be able to wear darker clothing.
 We used Sarah for the antagonist because she is shorter and she also has dark brown hair helping her to look like a darker character than the clique. We used Izzy as the main protagonist due to her being taller than the other girls; helping her stand out and represent her being the leader of the clique. The two other girls as part of the clique were a similar height to Sarah therefore they can blend into the background. The girls were also wearing pink lipstick and this represents the clique staying together.
 If we had more time we would introduce a male protagonist for the secondary audience being males and older females. Introducing a male would also bring in the possibility of a romance, therefore the film 'Neighbours'; would tie into a romance genre. attracting a wider audience.
 From the prelim until producing and planning our film 'Neighbours' I have learnt that it is effective to choose your cast correctly for the preferred reading. For example for 'Neighbours' I wanted it to be
clear that Izzy was the main protagonist and that Sarah was the antagonist throughout. Therefore the height of the girls and there overall appearance was key. In the prelim we used random cast members to film, if you were watching as an audience member it may be confusing as to why there two characters are meeting.

Mis-en-scene
The mis-en-scene throughout the film was key for the representations and for us to get the preferred reading across to the audience.
 Throughout the film 'Neighbours' we didn't use many props due to most of the shoots being outside and using clothing as strong representation of personalities. We printed off photographs of our friends and stuck them on a wall, whilst Sarah (antagonist) crosses them off, this was to get the preferred reading off the audience that Sarah is the killer and has killed this girl - linking to the graveyard scene.
 Another prop that we used was the letter and the candles surrounding the letter (the letter is being read out as an voice over in that last 30 seconds on Neighbours). We used tea candles to surround the letter to give the impression of something that isn't quite right and that there is an ambiguity behind the letter; a dark past between Isabelle (Izzy) and Sarah.
 Costume was key in our film 'Neighbours;, we used costume and make-up to portray the girls as being binary opposites and who is part of the clique and who isn't apart of the clique (Sarah). For costume for the clique (running order from left to right);
Amy is wearing a white top with blue jeans and we added a pink and purple kimono to add a feminine touch.
Izzy is wearing black jeans with a white top also, then is wearing a light blue denim jacket, this lightens up the outfit and helps the audience connote that she is apart of the clique and is more feminine in comparison to Sarah.
Rian is wearing a white top also, and black jeans. She is also wearing a clack jacket from Zara; which is a popular retailer.
All the clique members are using handbags for school bags and they are also all wearing white tops and pink lipstick. We did this to connote that they are tied together and they are all apart of the clique. When the shot pans over to Sarah we see the contrast; Sarah is wearing a dark jacket and dark jeans. Sarah is also not wearing the same dark pink lipstick. We took inspiration from the film 'Mean Girls' when they all wear pink and they have a strict dress code within their clique.
 when the clique visit the graveyard together they are all wearing black which again juxtaposing the clothing they wear to school. This is showing respect for the dead. Wear as Sarah is standing in the background; she is actually wearing a lighter coloured jacket. Showing that there is no respect coming from Sarah. Leaving the audience questioning why isn't she respecting the dead. At the end this all becomes clear; Sarah was the on to kill this girl in that the clique were visiting in the grave. Sarah crosses off her face on the wall.
 Whereas for the prelim we didn't think about costume, we filmed in the clothing that we came in, the props that we used was a piece of paper that connoted a important piece of information. We also used tables and chairs to film the shot reverse shot that we had to involve in the prelim.
 Location Scouting
For our location choices we had to choose carefully for the shoot that involved the graveyard and also for the housing section showing that these two girls are neighbours.
 For the prelim we had to choose an area within the grounds of school wear there was space to walk through a door, sit down and pass a piece of paper over to the other character. We chose the courtyard cafe. This involved a door and walking in a straight line towards the table and chair where the other character was already waiting.
 For neighbours there was more than one location that we had to choose. Overall there were four different locations that we chose.
-School grounds
-Niamh' house
-Izzy's house
-Graveyard
We chose Izzy's house because it is a terraced house on a quiet road therefore we were able to film an establishing shot of Sarah and Izzy walking out of their houses - showing that they are neighbours.
We chose Niamhs house to film Sarah waking up because of Sarahs character being indie and darker we needed the mis-en-scene of her bedroom to be darker than Izzy's. Niamh had a tie-dye cloth hanging above Sarahs bed; connoting that she is more individual than Izzy, whose bedroom was white and bland.
We chose Ben Rhydding graveyard because it is quiet, this helped with our choice because we didn't want to be disrespectful to family members buried there. We chose the grave located in the corner of the graveyard, with the most natural light, so that the shot wasn't dark and didn't have lighting issues in the editing.
We then also chose Ilkley Grammar School because it was our natural environment and it involved long corridors that we were able to use for long shots of the clique walking down the corridor. We had to wait till the end of the day to film this scene sue to getting consent of surrounding members of the school being in the shots. Therefore by the end of the day there were very view people left in the school, and also this gave the effect that the school was eerie, helping the darkness of the film.
Sample Shoots
For the prelim there wasn't any sample shots, we simply planned with a story board and then went in to our decided location and filmed the prelim. We did this due to a short time frame and the fact that the prelim only had to be a few seconds long. However from doing practice shots of 'Neighbours' i would've done practice shots of the prelim to help me created the intended effect.
 For 'Neighbours' we did a couple sample shoots to get the idea of how we could make the school look eerie and we found that some shots worked better than others. An advantage of the sample shots that we filmed, some went very well and we were able to involved them into our final cut of 'Neighbours' helping the mis-en-scene for the audience to get an image on their heads of what the school and other locations are like.
Audience Feedback
Audience feedback on the preliminary exercise was whether it was shot and edited correctly or not. The feed back that I got was mainly positive, we involved the shot reverse shot and we also broke the 180 degree rule. However I could edited the prelim better by adding a introduction to what the audience is about to watch; however the continuity worked very well.
 The audience feedback for 'Neighbours' was vital for the help of our production and editing of our final cut. Initially we didn't have the voice over of the letter reading out for Sarah to never come back. There audience feedback was that weren't sure about what was happening and what was Sarah's motives to kill these girls - Madeline Wormold. Therefore I added the voiceover to add the extra information that Sarah and Izzy had a background and that Sarah has come back even though Izzy told her to never come back in the letter. We also have the overlapping shots of the younger girls playing, connoting that Sarah and Izzy used to be friends.
Rough Cuts
The rough cut for the prelim task was the end task, because they were intended as rough cuts. Some shots needed re-filming because of this being the first time I used a camera, some shots were shaky and we missed out some vital continuity shots. Therefore they were re-filmed and edited into the final cut of the prelim.
 My film 'Neighbours' had 4 rough cuts, some with music, some without and the final cut then had the final improved music. Also there were rough cuts with testing the titles for the film and as we filmed more scenes we added them to the rough cuts, creating more rough cuts to upload to youtube and then embed to our blog.
Sound editing and creating original sound tracks
 We used Final Cut Pro's already downloaded music for the prelim on a loop. This was continuous and rather boring. If the prelim was any longer than 30 seconds this would have to be changed because the audience would loose interest.
 For my film 'Neighbours' I created my own soundtrack using garage band on the mac. This was my first time using garage band on a mac; therefore it took a while to understand and create a soundtrack that flowed and gave the intended sound and effect that I wanted. I used the pre-recorded tracks down the right hand side column, I put theses on a loop, with multiple tracks overlapping it added the effect that the tension was rising thought out the film. I allowed the music to fade out at the end of 'Neighbours' I did this in garage band by editing the sound volume by double clicking on the track that I wanted to fade out. Overall I changed the music around three times to get the intended sound for the effect of building tension. I wanted there to be a sudden change in the tone of the music when the audience began to understand or get the preferred reading that Sarah and Izzy had a dark background. This soundtrack is playing throughout the opening two minutes of 'Neighbours'. This is non-diegetic music throughout.
 We also used another type of non-diegetic music at the end of the two minutes. The reading of the letter aloud by Izzy (ready by Niamh). This is the only dialogue in the opening two minutes. There is no diegetic dialogue because I felt it would take away from the soundtrack created on garage band. From the prelim I have learnt how much of an effect music can have on the reading of the film by the audience. Showing an audience my film without any music, the feedback was that is became quite boring and the timings of the shots happened too quick to realise what is happening. (Alex Vanzomerplaag). Adding the music to the beat of the interlocking shots in the begging played well and already brings the audience into the film more than without music. If we had added music to the beat of the shots in the prelim we could've emphases the importance of the piece of paper. However I just used the same music all the way through;  keeping the tone and intentions the same all the way through even though this wasn't my preferred reading.
Company Idents
We didn't create idents for our prelim, however for my film 'Neighbours' me and Niamh both created ident that appear in the final cut of the film. The ident shows that you were apart of producing the film. Niamh's ident is a light bulb being smashed and brightness studios appearing. My ident is a cake with icing sugar powered over it saying 'Scaife Studios'.
Range of FX used
 Effects that I used in the preliminary task were limited, I added sound effects of footsteps as we filmed the close shot of Alex's feet walking toward the camera.
 However in the film 'Neighbours' I used a variety of effects. Including; split screen, double exposure, opacity and different transitions to create the sense of Sarah's thought processes. 
I initially used double exposure to help the audience connote that there is a history between these two protagonists (Sarah and Isabelle) and help to get the preferred reading. I did this by added the clip of two girls and overlapped them to Sarah overlooking the three protagonists in the graveyard scene.


I then used double exposure again to create the effect that the world is spinning and everything is happening quickly. Using the panning shot of the graveyard and the tracking shot of Sarah following the three protagonists in the graveyard. I also increased the speed of Sarah walking to 50%. This creating the sense of urgency and the fast pace added some tension for the audience

 Finally I used double exposure to get the preferred reading form the audience by adding the panning shot of the letter to Sarah crossing off a face on  her wall. Then I had the letter being read out by Isabelle to make it clear for the audience to understand the letter and why the girls have a history. But still leaving some ambiguity for the audience as to what motives Sarah has to kill these girls. 

 Another effect that I used was split screen of Sarah and the three protagonists walking through the main entrance of school. I used the split screen to show that Sarah was following the girls with her eyes. An issue I had with this was that the timing was different between Sarah's eyes following the girls walking. Therefore to get around this issue I slowed down Sarah's shot so the timing was correct. It also added dramatic effect for the audience

 Finally when Sarah and Isabelle were getting ready I used split screen and quick interlocking shots to show the binary opposition between the two protagonists. This showed how they got ready and how they are very different. The mis-en-scene helped with this. Helping the audience connote clearly how the girls are different. It also helped the denote the mis-en-scene of the girls. 
 Another effect I used was transitions in the graveyard scene when focussing on Sarah's face. The close shot of her fact combined with the double exposure gave the effect that this is in Sarah's memory and she is deeply thinking about the past as she looks at Isabelle in the graveyard.
Range of shots used
 Focusing on the graveyard scene we used a variety of shots to add tension and a sense of ambiguity to the scene; as to why Sarah is there and why the clique are there looking over the grave. We used a variety of non linear shots because in the film 'Neighbours' overall it's linear however in the graveyard scene there was no necessary shots that needed to be before each other. We used close shots of Sarah's face to pick up the detail of her face and this enables the audience to connote her eyes and how she is focusing on the three girls wearing black at the grave. I then then shot some medium shots of Sarah to show where she was behind the girls. Over the shoulder shots were also filmed to get a perspective of Sarah on her view of the girls. This added a sense of tension and darkness to the film. Finally we also shot a panning shot of the whole graveyard to give a view of the mis-en-scene and where they are in perspective. Also I filmed a tracking shot of Sarah following the girls to give the audience the perspective of Sarah again. The variety of shots helped the audience understand where the girls were and how Sarah isn't apart of the group, otherwise she would be standing with the group.
Holding the shot steady
In the preliminary task it was a quick one hour filming shoot. Therefore we had to film shots in a short space of time; not thinking about how steady the shots were or whether to use tripods or handheld and the different effects this would give for the audience. I was an inexperienced camera man therefore wasn't sure on  the different effects of whether the shots were handheld or used with a tripod. Due to needing to break the 180 degree rule I often used handheld throughout the prelim task; enabling me to get a variety of close shots.
 Whereas in the film 'Neighbours' I used a variety of filming on a tripod and handheld to give the intended effect. For example in the tracking shot of Sarah in the graveyard scene I used handheld and it was shaking. I did this on purpose to get the effect onto the audience that Sarah is following these girls and everything is fast pace. However in the first shot of 'Neighbours' I used the tripod to film Isabelle in bed. This gave a still steady shot which was perfect for editing the interlocking shots. In this shot I also used handheld camera shots for the close shots of Isabelle's face. I did this because I wasn't able to use the tripod over her face ; therefore using the close shots in the interlocking shots during editing needed to be faster so that you weren't able to notice the slight shakiness of the camera shots.
 Form the preliminary task I have learnt that different handheld and use of the tripod give different reading for the audience. Generally from audience feedback, handheld tracking shots built more tension than the steady shots. This is keeping tot he typical conventions of action films.
Working on the film 'Neighbours'
For the production of 'Neighbours' I worked with Niamh (Brightness studios), we shared the different scenes to film and worked together on a couple of scenes as well.
Scene One (Sarah; filmed at Niamh's house) - Niamh filmed this
Scene One (Isabelle; filed at Izzy's house) - Rian filmed this
Scene Two (outside houses; neighbours) - Rian filmed this
Scene Two (School) - Niamh filmed this - Rian played a protagonist
Scene Three (Graveyard) - both Rian and Niamh filmed this
Scene Four (Sarah's house; filmed at Niamh's house) - Niamh filmed this
However after the filming we decided to edit and create our music separately; sharing the footage. We made this choice because both had different ideas and so that we could both show what we put into the production and editing of the film.
 For the prelim we all worked in a group of four, with little discussion of who had what roles. I took part in the acting and editing; whereas Niamh took role of filming and editing. Although we didn't really discuss this and there was minimal acting to do. Whereas in the production of the film 'Neighbours' we decided on the roles and shared them equalling between us. By the end we both had our own edited film of 'Neighbours' using the same footage but in different ways.
Conclusion
Overall what I have learnt from the preliminary task to the filming of 'Neighbours:
  • The different effects of handheld and tripod filming.
  • How to use garageband and create my own soundtrack.
  • I have learnt how to finalcut effectively and change the opacity therefore overlapping the clips giving double exposure.
  • I also learnt how to apply a split screen and add two clips of the film to one shot.
  • From the prelim I learnt how to use slow motion editing, I applied this to the film 'Neighbours'.
  • I learnt that working in a group and giving out roles is far more effective than not planning who does what roles until we are filming (like we did in the prelim exercise.
  • I learnt the different effects of a range shots throughout the film. In the film 'Neighbours' there is a variety of shots at different lengths, enabling the audience to connote the tension between the protagonists.
  • I learnt that it takes far longer to film a full two minute opening in comparison to a ten second shot.
  • Using the people around you for cast is far easier than asking people who fit the character profile for the intending reading of the film 'Neighbours' was far more difficult.
















Monday 21 March 2016

Evaluation Question three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

http://prezi.com/9bqzzetg944i/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

This is the link to my 'prezi' on evaluation question three; What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Overall from answering this question, the media institution that might invest and distribute 'Neighbours' would be a distribution company such as Studio Canal. From the information gathered they tend to invest in films which they are intruiged in, even if they don't do well at the box office, their films; such as 'This Is Egland' did very well in DVD. Also a distributor such as New World Pictures. They invested in the film 'Heathers' and even though the film didn't do well in the box office (much like an indie film may not), the film did well on DVD.


Tuesday 15 March 2016

Evaluation Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Mine and Niamhs two minute introduction (Neighbours) is a black comedy and it involved two main characters; Isabelle and Sarah.
 Sarah is what is seemingly the protagonist, however the preferred reading is that by the end of the two minutes our audience has understood that Sarah is the antagonist throughout the film, (if it were to continue).
 Isabelle is seemingly the antagonist; the leader of a powerful girl social clique. However, (much like Sarah) the preferred reading is that we find Isabelle being the protagonist.
 Sarah's character (Sarah) is on the outside of the girls clique and doesn't belong anywhere. She mainly keeps herself to herself if at all possible. Where as in a typical teen film, Sarah would get tormented by the clique; this doesn't happen. Sarah has a sense of ambiguity throughout the first two minutes. The preferred reading is that that audience aren't too sure on what her motives are throughout. We get a sense of the meaning behind her character, when she is following the girls and she crosses a face off the wall.
 Where as the character Isabelle we denote that she is a typical leader of a powerful social clique. As the film progresses our idea is that the audience can connote that she isn't all that she seems. She isn't the girl who inflicts pain on others for her own satisfaction much like Regina George in "Mean Girls".
 The character Rian and Amy are part of the clique and they may not have a major role in Neighbours however they also represent that looks aren't all of someone and that you never really know anyone until you meet them.
 There are many factors that influenced our representations. Heathers has had a very large impact on Neighbours. In Heathers there is a red scrunchy that the leader of the clique has. Each time one Heather gets murdered the next heather ends up wearing the scrunchy. By the end Veronica ends up wearing the red scrunchy. The scrunchy represents power and the colour red represents the clique sticking together. The audience could also denote that it is the colour of blood therefore connoting that there is a darkness to the girls. The colour isn't pink unlike in Mean Girls. Because mean girls is a light hearted film in comparison to heathers we can compare and connote that Heathers is a darker film. Much like in Neighbours the clique wears a dark pink lipstick; representing that they are one. Where as Sarah isn't wearing any; she is alone and left out of the clique. Me and Niamh wanted to make it obvious to the audience that the girls were a strong clique and that there was no getting in or out of their clique. Sarah has no chance. The girls are intimidating and possibly a threat to Sarah; the reader learns later on that it isn't the clique that is a threat; but Sarah that is a threat - people aren't all they are made out to be.
 The film Donnie Darko has also influenced the representation of our film. Donnie Darko is a dark film that focuses on a boy that is having hallucinations about his surroundings. There are quotes such as 'i have emotional issue as well' that give the audience the impression even though it is a dark film there is also some humour.
 When the clique of girls enters the school they are walking in a triangular formation; this represents their power and how they stick together. It also connotes that because Isabelle is in the front she is the leader of the clique (the protagonist/antagonist). We got this representation from the film mean girls; leader 'Regina George' is the leader walking in front of the other two actresses.
 Both characters are stereotypically dressed. However throughout the film we begin to connote that both aren't all they seem to be. For example; Isabelle is wearing lighter clothes (eg. denim jacket and a white top). Denoting that she is girly and into her fashion much like Regina George in 'Mean Girls'. Where as Sarah is wearing darker clothing; denoting she is individual and doesn't fit into a clique. Denoting this could lead to the audience assuming that Sarah may get bullied by the clique for being individual.

 However their personalities are counter types to a very stereotypical teenage film; such as 'Mean Girls'. Isabelle may be wearing light colours and be the leader of the clique; however we denote throughout the two minutes that she isn't the dangerous character. Sarah is. Sarah is the potential murderer in 'Neighbours'. By the end we can connote that Sarah is a threat to Isabelle and her friends, as she crosses a girl off her wall.
 Our film is based on a teenager girl in a typical high school setting; with a dark past. Our target audience is teenagers of any ethnicity. We are using caucasian females. We chose these actresses due to them bring available; using the opportunities around us.
 Socio-economic groups have a large range. They were created to help the government group the population into categories. We are aiming our target audience to be in the category E - Casual labourers, the unemployed and pensioners; for example people who live on basic benefits or students. Seeing as our characters are in group E. This means that our audience can relate and identifiy with the characters. This is going to be highlighted by the protagonist being a caucasian student girl. This is so that teenage girls can empathise and connect with the protagonist and antagonist of out film. She will be wearing typical girl clothing - clothing brands such as; H&M and topshop.
 Psychographic profile fits into groups; much like socio-economic groups. based on personality, beliefs, values, interests and lifestyle choices. The government also uses this grouping to see where different people fit into different categories and compare them. Much like demographic but instead of focusing on the work they do they focus on the behaviour of the audience and their actions.
For example a group of 16-18 yr olds staying at home and a group of 16-18 yr olds leaving home and having to live for themselves for the first time would be very different audience's. For example if we were aiming the film at a group of 16-18 yr olds that are leaving home, the film could focus on independence.
 Our film is aimed at a teenage audience and a young adult audience, between the ages of 13-22. This is because we believe teens enjoy our genre and theme more , which is teenage murder. As out opening was mostly filmed in a school setting we belie that teenage benefit from this , they can relate and understand the context and setting. Our cast were 16 or 17 and i believe having a cast at the same ages our target audience has benefited our opening , our audience can relate more to our story line, they also feel some kind of connection and relationship as the cast as they have similar features which in this case is age. We used fast pasted editing in our opening , due to the increase in youtube and music videos , fast pasted editing in time with music and beats has become increasingly popular , therefore we used this is some parts of out opening to appeal to our audience , we belive this swill help our opening look up to date. The music we used as a basis for ideas and influences was chosen as its peopler and well known in the younger society. therefore we though basing our music on music that is already popular would give us an advantage and create a more up to date and on trend look to our opening. We would give our opening a rating 12 based on what i read on the BBFC’s website. 
 I think the genre of our audience will be fairly split between males and females. Our female actors draw both a female and male audience in but mainly attracting guys due to male gaze. The aspect of violence also attracts a male audience as wifi and horror films are traditionally and stereotypically seen as "male films". The issue of conflict between the girl and the scene in which they get ready draws in a female audience and the aspect of teen conflict also will appeal to a female audience.
 Our opening is english that means that our audience will be english speaking. We hope that our audience will become a UK-wide audience and we hope that we would make sales worldwide and over sees.
Our settings include traditional looking english school settings , i think this will appeal to american as it fits the stereotypical image american have on England and i believe that this will appeal to them.
as films such as wild child become very popular due to the english boarding school setting.
 Typical audiences for our genre would be teenagers. Our genre of teenage under and crime is very popular in the movie industry at the moment sue to the break out of series such as scream queens and going back to films such as heathers. The typically audience for the genre such as scream queens is young teens and there is an equal divide between males and females. Typical audiences for dark comedies such as, 'Heathers' are teens and girls going into their 20's . Heathers was released into cinemas in 1988. It flopped. Heathers did best through video players. The distributor 'New World Pictures' failed to reach out to the correct audiences and the marketing for the film was poor; there was minimal posters and TV ads. Many people weren't too sure about the film due to it addressing such raw subjects; eg. eating disorders, date rape and suicide. If the film were to continue we would take inspiration and focus on raw topics such as teen mental health and what it's like to be a teenager in the UK in 2016.
 Our representation challenges the normal conventions of a teen film due to the main two characters being extremely different than they really appear. Isabelle challenges the stereotypical conventions by being innocent instead of being the bully. Our representation of the lipstick binding the clique together fits well with the typical conventions. Letting the audience denote that they are a clique and stay together. Our costume designs also fit the typical conventions of a high school film. We took inspiration from 'Mean Girls' and 'Heathers'. With the clique wearing a certain type of outfit and the "protagonist" (antagonist in Neighbours) wearing darker indie clothes; standing out to the surrounding people. Our film also takes inspiration from the TV show 'Pretty Little Liars' (American, teen drama). Created by I. Marline King. In this show a typical popular group of girls are tied into a continuous line of murders and deaths. Even though they may look like stereotypical girls they have been through a lot. They have been involved in murders and kidnappings.
 If we had had more time we would've added more stereotypes to show the juxtaposition between the characterisation. A male protagonist would've been added; this would have showed the binary opposition between Sarah and Isabelle. the male figure would've had been attractive - bringing in more of the female eyes.
 Overall our film shows that not all social groups are what they seem to be; just because you look like a stereotypical girl group, doesn't mean that you act like one. We want to break the typical conventions and thoughts that our audience have about high school social groups. The audience will be influenced by past film that they have seen; such as 'Mealn Girls', 'Scream Queens' and shows such as 'Pretty little liars'. Neighbours will show our audience to not judge a book by it's cover. We represent different social groups by making them sterotypically binary oppositions, however by them both waking up and getting ready in the beggining of 'Neighbours' it shows that even though they act and look different they are really more simmialr than they think. So are there really different social groups in high school?






Friday 11 March 2016

Target Audience

Evaluation Questions 4 and 5 plan

4. Who would be the audience for your media project?
5. How did you attract and address your audience?

4. The audience for my media project:

1)
Primary Audience - Teenage Girls
Secondary Audience - Teenage Boys and girls of an older age

2)
AGE
Our original thoughts were teenagers - high school students
In 1015 there was an increase from 26% to 35% in admissions of teenagers (15-24) going to see films
15-24 watch comedy and action most often - bfi

SOCIAL GROUPS
DE - (15-24)
films such as Duracula untold - over the average 25% of 15-24 watch this - bfi

GENDER
Greater female audience if there is a female protagonist - bfi
They can identify with protagonist
What we did on our holiday - daily female - romance
hunger games didn't have a genre difference between male and female due to there being a male and female presence during an action film

SEXUALITY 
Appealing to all sexualities. Mainly female characters therefore many a female audience.

FANS OF HEATHERS AND SCREAM QUEENS
Fans of the film heathers may be interested in Neighbours.Because heathers was filmed in 1988 the fans may be intruguided that there is another ilm of similar variety.

3)
National BBFC rating would suggest that our film is a 12
-mild violence
-suggestions of bad language
-heathers is a 12
-pretty in pink is a 12

4)
Izzy and the two side characters ar wearing pink lipstick - female audience could get the impression and understand that they are girly girls; where as sarah isn't wearing any make up.

5)
Active audience research - filming people on their opinion of themes.

8)
Audience for this back comedy is the audiene for heathers and donnie darko and scream queens.

9)
Nationality of our characters. Working title appeal to USA audiences and UK audiences where as warp focuses on the UK audience. Our film attracts to the British audience by it being set in a typical British school - British females can identify with the characters.

10)
Even though are main audience and characters are females. The violence and ambiguity of the film helps us bring other genres.

12)
secondary audience = the violence and the murders bring in the male audience and the older females - the school atmosphere will bring back memories for the older girls of their past education nd they will be able to relate to the protagonists.

5.  How did you attract and address your audience:

Attracting
We told our friends about the film and what it involved - the fact that other friends were involved in the film attracted people to see their friend in the film.
We posted it on Facebook - a page to attract the general public
Posting it on tube for the work rot see
having a blog - people all around the world can view the blog and find out about the process and the film
Updating the blog about what we ave done every week - more than 8 posts a month

Addressing 

  • Portraying the the protagonist and anagonists with some ambiguity 

Sympathtic towards sarah - on her own - not apart of the clique
assuming the clique are the anagonists
However sarah is the antagonsit killing girls
there isn't a protagonist due to the symbolism of everyone having dark secrets in high school.


  • Narrative enigma - about sarah; not who you think she is
  • Humour - speech going to be sarcastic, overall the situate of how you think that it is all a normal typical high school film with a twist
  • For a preferred reading the audience would have to have seen mean girls - or a typical american high school film; also they would have to understand that the girls have had a dark past that is the reasoning to whether is tension
  • there is no dialect in the first two minutes; however the accents will be british
  • Representations such as the lipstick that the clique wear suggests that the girls are staying together no one can enter or leave their group - tying them together.
  • The audience can see more than one character in the first two minutes (privileged prov). We see sarah and izzy. Both are the main antagonists. We also see the remaining clique walking through waking throguh the school and at the graveyard.
  • Focusing on the body - the clothing and how it fits the girls body is different i contrasting. showing their different personalties. 
  • the genre of music is indie - i used the pop rock guitar 
  • Sound is being used to build tension. the music changes when sarah comes into contact with the girls walking into the school - she spots them and then the it goes to a slpit screen and music increases with ease. Eventually the music builds up an there is a tracking shot of sarah following the clique and the music page increases and another sound in added building the tension = feels like more happening.
  • The male gaze is brought in by attractive females and there is a suggestion of violence - when sarah crosses of a face on the wall = suggesting murders and more murders to come.
Intertextuality 
We didn't use intertextuality throughout the film however our film is heavily based on the film heathers and Scream queens. 

Things that didn't work that well:
  • Sarah was wearing boots in one shot and then trainers in another shot
  • some shots are blurred instead of being in focus 











Thursday 10 March 2016

My Ident




  • This is my ident for Scaife Studios. I decided to use a cake because it brings the audience's eyes to the centre of the screen. Other idents such as version at the beginning of Heathers also is round and int he centre.
  • The look of my ident has a retro theme. I used a retro theme because it was based on the retro theme of Heathers
  • I also used the retro theme and music because i feel that the ident should represent me, i like cake and i like retro films such as heathers and the breakfast club

Wednesday 9 March 2016

Screenplay and shotlist

Scene one 

Girls getting ready Sarah in Niamh's room and Izzie in Tia room. Shown alarm clock , two on screen ( split screen ) then the screen showing Sarah widens , we then see a sequence of her getting up , to the bathroom , makeup , clothes breakfast. Though out this show glimpses of Izzie getting ready , not showing faces through hole thing.

Scene two 

Walk out of their houses we then see that the live next to each other , leave walking opposite directions.

Scene three 

( in school reception )
Pink girls walk into school , flick hair shots and on phone shots. No diegetic sound involving laughter   and the sound of phones going off. Sarah then walks in late to the slow and loud sound of a clock ticking that matches her footsteps. we then see the girls sat in a class together all talking , and Sarah looking through the door window at them , she follows them and listens in to their convocation.

Scene four 

We see a funeral and Sarah hidden in a bush around the church , dressed in normal clothes showing no respect. while we are shown the funeral we see flash backs of girls in a field and old photos that give us the indication that they used to be friends.



WE shot in the order of ; scene five , scene 4 scene 1 scene 2 scene 3 and then the extras.
This was because a lot of our scenes were based outside and therefore weather dependant. We also had to take into consideration the timetable of the girls , as they had revision and personally matters that may have propound our filming. The "extra bits" were bits that i included to give the opening more narrative enigma and signifiers through the opening they also helped the reader to understand clearly.