Target Audience

Determining the target audience was an important part of the research and planning development; films determine a target audience through context and plot.

I began my research by analysing ways in which films define and attract their target audiences.

This film is an animation about a princess and so is mainly directed at a target audience of girls aged 3-10, however the adventurous elements of the film may also appeal to young boys aged 3-10.

This film is an urban British Drama and therefore will have mature themes, so the age range of the target audience will be >15, however since the main protagonist is a teenager, the age range of the target audience will be altered to 15-19 year old. The film will also appeal more to female viewers as the main protagonist is female, providing a pathway for connection from the audience.

This film is a slasher horror and hence is obviously too graphic for younger viewers, so the target age range would be 18-25. It is mostly aimed at men as it plays on ideas of violence and protective instincts.

The next step of determining a target audience was researching film certificate guidelines. Using my research I found that the typical target audience of an urban British drama is 15-19 year olds and so film posters usually have the film certificate 15.

According to the official BBFC Guidelines, our film opening would be given a 15 age rating as Drug taking may be shown but the film does not promote drug use, there is no strong language and although rape is a main part of the storyline, it is only inferred and not shown.

Overall, I came to the conclusion that our target audience should be women (as the main protagonist is a woman, females with be more able to connect and emotionally interact with the protagonist), aged 15-19 as urban British dramas are mainly popular with teenagers.

Chosen Production Company

Revolver Entertainment was our final decision, and we chose to use this in our film opening. We chose this as it is the best company due to the fact that it operates in both London and Los Angeles as well as having distributed many UK Dramas in a similar style to our own. These include ‘Shank’, ‘Kidulthood’, ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’ and ‘Sket’.  'Kidulthood' is a very well known for its gritty uk stylistic features adding to the overall effect of the drama, therefore making this company more well known for this type of film, sharing conventions that are included in our own.

We added the 'Revolver Entertainment' credits to the beginning of our film opening using a clip from the beginning of the trailer for ‘Shank’. To do this, we used media converted to download the clip, then added the selected section of footage for the ‘Revolver Entertainment’ logo.

Editing Drum Beat

When planning our storyboards we decided we didn't want a song playing throughout the establishing shots, but instead a simple drum beat as we thought it was effective without be overly distracting. We also thought it linked in well with our film genre (British Drama) as it had an urban feel.

We used GarageBand to find the drum beat and after listening to many different tracks we found what we were looking for, however, it was too short - so in GarageBand we copied the track several times to make it longer.

We saved the track in GarageBand and then imported it into iMovie by selecting the musical note on the taskbar and then in the saved folder, finding and selecting the track. Once it was imported, we were able to copy the track to fit the duration of the establishing shot; however, we also decided to prolong the track throughout the opening toilet scenes with the main protagonist as well, as we thought the silence in those scenes in comparison with the beat didn't seem right. We were then concerned that the simple drum beat for a duration of roughly 30 seconds would seem repetetive and boring, however after watching it through we decided it flowed well and did not seem monotonous.

Editing Dubstep Tracks

When inputting music onto our film we had to make sure any tracks were not copyrighted. through sound cloud we found three appropriate Dubstep tracks. We made sure the track was saved in the appropriate format and imported onto iMovie via iTunes. When imported we could then move the track to the appropriate position, split the clip and cut parts so that only bits were played. We also wanted to add another track to make the party scene more intense. We imported another track in the same way and overlapped the track by dragging underneath the first one.

Some parts of the film needed music however there were diegetic sounds on screen that were also important. To solve this we lowered the volume of the track so we could hear what was happening on screen. eg. When the main protagonist is sick we lowered the volume.



Final Typography Design

This is the final design for the typography we would like to use as it links in well with our genre. The smashed glass effect could be linked with the girls reckless behavior, and could be connected with the idea of partying and careless destruction, therefore, appropriate for portraying our UK drama genre.

Editing Montage.

When filming the montage we filmed quite a few times as we had to make sure the lighting was bright enough to see without changing the party scene lighting. Though we filmed for a few minutes the montage was condensed into a few seconds to make it quick and easy to follow.

The orange line shows that out of 1.6 seconds we only used around 0.7 seconds was we didn't need the whole clip. The different use of angles help give the image of disorientated which is what the main protagonist is meant to be like.

We made sure everything was silent so that when we filmed the montage it was quiet enough to hear the main protagonist rolling a cigarette. The volume was increased to get the full effect, this is shown below as we increased parts to the maximmum volume, so much that it is red. Alongside this we lowered the volume of the soundtrack so that the cigarette is the main thing being heard. 

By using the five short clips it is quick and having the extreme close ups make it seem more intense.

Costume Idea for Male Character

Costume Idea for Male Character


We wanted his clothing to be casual and fit with the scene as a normal teenager who is also attending the party. He is wearing quite plain clothing as we do not want to distract the audience from the on-screen action.


The hoodie suggests that he is ‘concealing his identity’, it also connotes mystery and anxiety within the character, you never know what he is capable of. As this is a cooler shade of blue, it suggests that this is a very cold character and that blue can have a tendency to cause feelings of sadness. Even though his hoodie is unzipped, he is still hiding away one part of his image, meaning that he is showing one side of his personality but there is also I darker side to him.

Jeans suggest that he is quite a casual character and as he is ‘blending in with the crowd’ and is wearing an ‘everyday outfit’, he could have a sense of innocence in the view of other characters that is covering another side to him.

His t-shirt is white which is associated with innocence, light and considered the colour of perfection. This is so that the character is giving out a set image to other characters so that he comes across as a relatively ‘innocent’ person. Only a bit of this colour is shown as the hoodie covers most of it which suggests he is hiding his identity. White can also have negative connotations of coldness, colourless and sterile which connotes a slightly different side of him perhaps. This leaves the feeling of suspicion and anxiety of the viewers to see what type of person he really is.

The dark, casual shoes add a sense of mystery to the character but are not too obvious. This could show that although he has a dark side, not everyone can tell straight away from a quick glance at him.

Final Costume Idea

We finally decided on this outfit as it suits the grunge look we were going for best.

The short dress shows her rebellious side and gives her more of a “rock chick” look. We did not want it to be too light as this could connote innocence which is not the image we wanted to portray; therefore, the dark colours give more of a mysterious, edgy look.

We chose black boots as they add masculinity to the look and show she is quite independent as opposed to small feminine shoes such as heels or pumps which would make her look to sweet and girly.

Fish net tights suit the grunge style well, adding to the edgy rock chick look.

The black leather jacket she will be wearing for some scenes also adds a little masculinity to the look and fits in with the dark mysterious image we were looking for. It completes the outfit and makes it seem more realistic to what a teenage girl would wear to a party at night.

The make up is dark so could connote a rebellious side but also a dark secret or something that could happen. The first scene will see it smudged so could instantly infer something happened. The hair will be back combed and slightly messy to have that overall will give off a grunge style look but also the messy hair could show a good or bad time. The hair is dyed however is obvious as roots showing, which could mean that stereotypically she doesn't completely worry about how she looks, but wants a good time.

Film Production Companies

For this research I need to find film production companies that are relative to the genre of our film. It is important that the production company we choose has previously made films of a similar genre rather than choosing one that focus' on completely different genres.

BBC Films

BBC Films is a british film production company who produce a range of different genres. Some of the films they produced include 'Fish Tank' and 'Street Dance 3D' which have similar conventions to our film. Also, as it is a company based in the UK, this would make it a suitable production company for us to use.

Film4 Productions
Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel 4 and has been responsible for a number of films made in the UK. They produce a variation of different genres from 'Shaun of the Dead' to 'Iron Lady'. One of their films include 'Trainspotting' which has similar conventions to our film. The problem with this prodcution company is they do not have many well known dramas similar to ours but it is not unlikely that they would produce a film such as ours.

Pathe Pictures

Pathe Pictures is a french film distribution company known for films such as 'Slum dog Millionaire' and 'Chicken Run'. 'Adulthood', another film distributed by this company, is of the same genre as out film opening, and shares very similar conventions. This creates a strong link between our film and Pathe Pictures as it would be a suitable company to choose in relation to our film.

CinemaNX
CinemaNX is one of Britain’s leading film finance, production and distribution companies. It is responsible for 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed', 'Albatross', 'Heartless'. These are all UK dramas, some include a mixture of the thriller and psychological genre. This would be a suitable production company for our film opening for this reason as it is both British and known for producing dramas.




Revolver enterntainment
Revolver Entertainment is a film distribution company which operates in both London And Los Angeles. It has distributed a number of British dramas, similar to our film opening. These include 'Shank', 'Kidulthood', 'Exit through the Gift Shop' and 'Sket'. Its wide selection of dramas sharing similar conventions to our own, as well as the fact it is based in London makes it a suitable company for us to choose.


UK Film Council
The UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour Government to develop and promote the film industry in the UK which is relevant to our chosen genre, which is also set in the UK. Some of its films of a similar genre to ours include 'Fish Tank', 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' and 'Attack the Block'. As it is strongly based in the UK and includes many films influenced by British culture, it is a suitable company for our film.

Editing clips.

When filming we made a few mistakes and filmed for a longer prolonged time than sometimes was needed. when we returned to the MAC it meant we could upload the footage and pick parts of a clip we needed, condense it into a few shots, or simply split the clip.

This shows a simple clip we have put onto the film reel. We filmed for much longer but only used this one clip as it was all that we needed, so we selected this part and dragged it onto the film, this meant the bit we selected was the only bit that showed in the film, instead of unwanted bits from the rest of the clip.

This shows a split clip where we have taken three different parts of footage and placed them together to create a match on action effect. This means its quicker and only shows the relevant footage to the film. By not having the three clips as one also shows we have edited three different clips and merged them together to create one, as the other part of the footage was not needed.

When a piece of footage was on the reel and it was too long we could split the clip and remove one part. The good thing about splitting a clip also means we can add transitions in between one clip, without effecting the way it plays. This gives an added effect and shows we can use different parts of editing to our advantage.

Editing.

We used the MAC computers to edit our film. This was useful as it had the facility iMovie which meant we could put our movie clips onto the application. we could manipulate it into any sequence we wanted and rearrange the clips.

These transitions are available on the the MAC and this editing technique helped as it gave a better effect to the part of a film we wanted.

We used the the fade to black as it represented the fact that our main protagonist was passing out, however when fading to black it wasn't always long enough so we filmed just pitch black for a few seconds (see below) so that our main protagonist passing out was shown more effectively. We placed the clip after the fading out so it is longer.

There were also other options to use which included the fade to white, which we used as well, it was used to split the film to show a change in the story line. This makes the finish clip seem more realistic and professional as it isn't one straight forward clip, jumping to the next one. It has transitions which make it flow easier and gives an added effect.

Other transitions could be included for example, one could make the picture blurred to add a drunk effect,or changed the contrast to make it brighter or darker. This meant it wasn't down to lighting when filming, it could be altered when editing, which was useful as sometimes the lighting had not come out as hoped. So when we edited on the MAC it could be changed to fit the rest of the clip.

Film Title

We did some research to find suitable titles we could use and why they would be relevant to our film. After narrowing our choice down we chose what one we thought would be best and portray the right ideas for our film opening.

• Last Night – This suggests that things have happened the night before but its very vague, similarly to the fact that the girls memory of what happened last night is also very vague but there is some underlying certainty of specific events.
• Notion – A notion could mean a vague understanding or impression which relates to the film as she doesn’t fully know what is going on due to the drugs and alcohol but she can understand that something bad and unwanted is happening to her. When watching this film opening we only get a vague idea of the storyline as we are seeing it from her point of view at some points in one big messy montage of events. It could also mean a sudden desire or whim which shows how she is living in the moment and drinking/taking drugs whenever she desires them, fulfilling her needs there and then without any consideration of the consequences.
• Intoxicated – To be intoxicated is to be under the influence of drugs, alcohol or other substances. This is suitable for our film opening as throughout most of the film she is intoxicated by drugs and alcohol which is an important factor as it is the foundations to the story line to follow and a constant theme throughout the film opening.
• Addicted/Addiction – An Addiction is to have a great interest in a particular thing, usually without having any control over it. In our film opening she is taking drugs and drinking alcohol irresponsibly to the point where she loses control.
• Bad Medicine – Medicine is usually seen as a positive thing that will improve someone’s life in some way but, although she is using drugs to make her feel better, like a medicine, they have a negative overall effect. They changed her life so drastically in a negative way on this one night.
• Cut Off – This title is effective as it shows how she is cut off through what has happened to her causing her to appear quite isolated throughout our film opening.
• Victim – Throughout the film opening the girl is a victim to drugs and alcohol, unable to control herself. Eventually she is also a victim to a serious crime when she is raped. This is the best title for our film as it is simple and relates well to our film content. 

Filming-Sophies house.

Group members present: Libby, Mandy and Sophie


We also had to shoot a 2 second clip of Sophie getting ready. We did this in her house, we had to consider mise en scene and lighting especially.

• The shot was at low angle from behind looking at Sophie through the mirror, so we saw her front through the mirror and her back normally. She was dressed in one dress and we filmed three clips; one of her looking at the dress on, the second holding up a dress, and the third holding up another dress which she would later wear. Her hair and make up was half done as though in the process of getting ready.
• During filming we had to ensure that there was enough light so that when putting it on the mac it wasn't darker. We closed her blind and had her light on so that it was very light.
• Mise en scene was the biggest issue, we had to make sure her bedroom didn't have connotations which would contrast the type of girl we wanted her to be. We laid guitars in view and nail varnish was placed in view. Anything pink and too girly was moved as well so it didn't have mixed connotations.

This part of shooting was a success and looked very good. We made them into jump cuts so that they were quick and snappy. None were longer than 0.7 seconds.

The icture shows the room, however we moved some things around so it wasn't as girly, and laid nail varnish and guitars in the cameras shot to help give connotations of rebellion etc.

Establishing shot- The bridge.

Group members present: Libby and Mandy

• For this shot we wanted a run down bridge to help set the scene of a run down place.
• We did a long shot showing the whole bridge, as it was so wide we had to go further back.
• However there was graffiti on the wall which we wanted to include which enhances the ambiance 
• We adjusted the camera until we could see most of the bridge but also the graffiti.

Requiem for a Dream Drugs Montage

• This montage from 'Requiem for a Dream' is what influenced our drugs scene at the party.
• We think this is a powerful way to convey the drug use and build up a more vigorous effect.

Sound

• The audio is simply the sound effects of the actions on screen. This is effective as it isolates each clip, whilst enhancing each action.
• Also, there is no other audio but the sounds of each action (some of which seem to have been edited e.g. made louder, heightening the effect) which helps to make the montage more dramatic, focusing entirely on the drugs. 

Editing

• The clips are short and snappy. This helps the montage to flow and puts an emphasis on the extreme use of drugs. This would be a good technique to use for our own film as we want to show how careless our character is being and how she is doing everything in the moment.

Camera Angles

• Every short clip is a close up or extreme close up. By using close ups and extreme close ups it adds to the whole dramatic effect of the montage and helps to focus on and accentuate the drug use. We should consider this use of camera angle for our montage to make each action pop out and look more extreme.

Mise en Scene

• As this montage is made up entirely of close ups and extreme close ups, there is no need for mise en scene and each clip appears to be against a dark background which highlights the action. This helps to draw all attention to the drug use, having a powerful effect on the audience and conveying the extremity and intensity of what is going on.

Establishing Shot: Canary Wharf

Group members present: Libby and Sophie

• For this establishing shot of Canary Wharf we wanted to set the scene in London.
• We decided to use a higher quality camera for this as we wanted to zoom in far enough to have a clear image.
• The camera was positioned on the tripod at the top of a hill with a clear view of the city skyline. We zoomed in and left the camera filming for a few seconds.
• We adjusted the position of the camera several times to make sure we had a level shot that we were happy with.

Re-Filming Section of the Toilet Scene

Group members present: Danni and Sophie

• We decided to refilm the last section on the toilet scene as the lighting did not fit with the time of day we wanted our scene. We originally filmed it in the afternoon and it was still quite bright outside. Although we tried to hide this by only filmin inside the toilets, we thought it would be more effective if it was actually dark. This way we would not have to restrict out angles or edit clips to make them look darker, making the scene more believable.
• There were onle two short camera shots needed for this clip. The first was the victim running into the toilets. For this we panned the camera as we followed the girl walking into the toilets to end on a long shot of her leaning against the wall. We did this by positioning the camera on the tripod and using the tripod to pan. After many attempts, we decided on one we were happy with to use in our film.
• The second shot was a close up of the girl crying. We set the camera up on the tripod, making it as low as possible to be level with the girl sitting on the floor. After recording a few seconds of footage, we could cut the section we wanted in editing.

Filming Alleyway Scene

First Try
Group members present: Sophie

• For this section of our film we originally only wanted to use two camera angles. The scene would start with the rapist walking past the camera (set at a low angle), and down the alley way. The second shot would be handheld from the victims point of view, as the rapist attacked her.

• Each clip only needed to be about 5 seconds long and we would have a selection of shots to choose from in the editing process.

• We chose this alleyway as it has the correct mise en scene for our storyline and fits with the run down and secluded look we want.

• When filming this we did not think any extra lighting was needed as it was set by a lamp post and the alleyway seemed well lit. Once we had put this footage onto the Macs for editing, we realized it was too dark and we would need to use extra lights to make the on screen action more visible. 

Second Try
Group members present: Sophie

• Using all the same camera angles and techniques, we re-filmed this scene, but made sure we had some extra lighting. For this we only used a bright phone light. For the first shot we stood it next to the camera to light up the alleyway more and for the second shot it was held with the camera so the light was coming from the same point of view as the victim.

• Although when watching the footage back on the camera, the lighting seemed successful, it was still too dark when we watched it during the editing process and decided we would still need to find more light to use in this scene.

Third and Final Try
Group members present: Libby, Danni and Sophie

• For this final try we changed the camera angles as we thought they would be more suitable and would allow the scene to be more visible, giving the audience a better view of what’s going on.
• For the first shot of the rapist walking up the alleyway, instead of doing a low angle shot, we did a long shot by placing the camera on the tripod and leaving it there. For lighting in this shot we had three phone lights, held by two members of our group, shining on the alleyway. When looking at this on the Mac, there was a big improvement and we decided we would not need to re-film this shot.
• For the second shot, rather than doing a handheld camera angle, we position the camera on the tripod and did a high angle, focusing closer on the scene. For this, again, a member of the group stood nearby, shining the three phone lights on the characters. In editing this was also successful and we decided this would not need to be re-filmed.

Establishing Shot: Exterior of toilets

Group members present: Sophie

• Although we filmed this already on the same day we filmed inside the public toilets, after editing the footage we decided it was not level and needed to be re-filmed.
• We only needed to focus on this shot for about 3 seconds as it is a short shot to give the audience an idea of where the film is set.
• We chose this location as it looks run down and secluded which is the impression we want to create as it fits the convention of our genre.  It also shows the exact location of where the following scene will be set.
• As the following scene inside the public toilets will be set in the morning, it was necessary to film this at a suitable time of day when there was enough natural light for the shot.
• For this shot the camera was stood on the tripod and left still for about 5 seconds. Experimenting with slight changes to the angle of the camera meant there would be a choice of shots to choose from when it came to editing. This meant we had a selection of shots to pick from, deciding on which looked best.

Misfits Deconstruction

These pictures depicte a rape scene in Misfits. The girl is in and out of conciousness so they use a fade in and out of black and it being blurry enhances the fact she isn't aware of what's going on or able to stop it.

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Camera Angles.
1.This print screen shows a close up which is also point of view of the rapist. This adds an effect, that we are part of this inappropriate behavior. it is also a low angle as though he is inferior to the woman.
2.This shows a point of view shot, as though we the audience are the rapists victim. It is also a mid shot, so is rather intense especially as you only see the rapists arms.
3.This is an extreme close up of the rapist, he is looking straight at the woman and as we are looking at him it's as though we are intruding on what he is doing. It also again seems intense.

Sound.
Throughout the scene there is a non diegetic beat, which is slow and eery playing parallel to what is being shown on screen. It gets louder when she is awake and quieter when the woman goes unconscious which enhances the situation.

Mise en scene.
The dress she is wearing is gold which has connotations of wealth and optimism which is contrasting as she is being raped. The fact the dress is bright and sparkly and the background a dark they contrast each other.
The man is shown with half his face shadowed which could be inferred that half of him has a dark side, which is evident in this scene.

Filming Establishing Shot 1: Underpass

Group members present: Danni

On this day of filming, I filmed roughly about 3 seconds worth of film focusing on the establishing shot of an underpass tunnel. This part of the filming was successful at first take and did not need to be re-shot.

Why?

• This is to get a idea in the audiences mind about where the protagonist is and what she near to and what the area is like. Filming an underpass meant that the scene is quite gritty and would be perfect for a typical British Drama.

Mise en scene

•  The graffiti on the walls show that individuals/gangs have been there before and could suggest that they have 'marked their territory'. This makes the area look more gritty and eerie. When I reached this destination to film, I didn't expect to see leaves and little rubbish on the floor. But, when I shot the scene, it turned out to be an advantage and the rustling of the leaves and sounds of empty drink cans rolling on the floor made more of an effect to the fact that the area is very silent, eerie and empty with no one around.

Sound

• Although the sound in this scene was effective, we have decided to use a soundtrack in the background of our opening scene so the sounds of the drink cans and leaves cannot be heard. The soundtrack has much more of an effect and reaches our expectations and suits our opening scene.

Problems

• Some problems during this filming were that I had to wait sometimes for members of the public to pass through which was quite frequent as It was filmed during a busy time when people were returning home from school and work.
• As time went on, the lighting got darker outside but I managed to shoot this part before it got too dark. This ended up as an advantage as it did look like it was shot very early in the morning when the sun first rises.

Re-filming a section of the party scene

Group members present: Libby, Danni and Sophie


Why did we Re-film?

We decided to re-shoot the part where the main protagonist staggered out of the house after the main party scene as, last time, there was not enough lighting to shoot the scene to its best. When we re-shot it, there was more lighting including more lamps and spotlights.

Lighting

We shot this successfully as it came out lighter on the camera than it did before which means that the scene can be seen more clearly to the audience showing where and what the protagonist is doing. The lighting was not a problem this time as we chose to film at the right time of the day and had all appropriate lighting on stand-by.

Camera Technique


For this scene, the camera was hand-held by the protagonist to get the shaky camera feel which suggests that the character is staggering along after the party. This added a great effect and impact to our opening scene.

Filming Party Scene

Group members present: Libby, Danni, Mandy, Sophie

When we decided to film a party scene it meant that a lot of specific mise en scene was required and also extras. We started planning the scene in advance to make sure that when we went to film it was as simple as possible.

This Photo shows us setting up the camera and getting the extras into place. In this scene the main issue was the amount of extras we had; which weren't many, this meant that we had to make it look like we had more people, we did this by zooming in lightly and by having a high angle showing their heads it looked like there were more people.



Mostly the party scene went without a hitch. The lighting wasn't a problem mostly as our main source of light had a dimmer switch so could go darker for more effect. We also used lamps around the room so that when doing handheld shots it was still bright enough to see extra's faces.

We also had to film a montage of our main protagonist rolling a cigarette and her sniffing some drugs. We did the drugs scene from a low angle looking up through a glass table, this had a good effect as we could clearly see what she was doing. There were also other types of drugs on the table for extra mise en scene. When doing the montage it was quick shot with no sound except that made from rolling. The light was dim so that it seemed more secretive, and at the end when she lit it, it lit her face up, showing us exactly what she was doing.
At the end of the scene the main protagonist was meant to stagger out of the house, however there was not enough light to shoot, it came out darker on the camera. We re scheduled with more light prepared.