Audience Feedback

After telling several people the idea of our film and showing them the script, we asked them a series of questions:

Audience Research - Survey 2

What is your favourite genre of film?
"Horror, especially gory ones."


What do you like about that genre?
"The good ones get you on the edge of your sit. They can be exciting and make you laugh a bit too."

What is your favourite film?
"I like The Grudge and its sequels. I like the Saw films as well."



What genres do you dislike?
"Probably Romantic ones like 'One Day' or something like that. They're really boring and pathetic."

-After telling them the film idea-
What are your opinions on our film idea?
"It sounds interesting. After watching it, I think I'd admire the unexpected twist."

What do you like about our film idea?
"It sounds like it would keep your attention the whole time you're watching it. Instead of it having parts which are boring."


What do you think we could change about our film idea?
"Maybe come up with some music ideas. The film itself sounds good."


What genre do you think our film will be?
"I'm not sure. A Thriller maybe?"

What certificate do you think our film will be?
"15 or something a bit lower. "





Where do you think our film will be shown?
"I think it's good enough to be made into a longer film so it could get into cinema. Or at a festival."

Are there any films you think are similar to ours?
"There's one with Christian 'Somebody' (Bale) where you find out the story as it goes on. I can't think what it's called. (The Machinist). It's good anyway. It's not similar but it has a similar element in it.

Where do you usually watch films?
"Either on TV or DVD."


Who do you watch films with?
"Usually with my Husband."

Audience Research - Survey 1

I asked my Dad,  George Hutchinson, aged 51 - a regular film-watcher - a series of questions:

Where do you usually watch films?
"On TV or DVD"

Who do you watch films with?
"Whoever's in the room with me, usually my wife."

What is your favourite genre of film?
"Westerns."



What do you like about that genre?
"I like old-style films and it interests me how they were made. They're not made like that anymore."

What is your favourite film?
"Anything with Clint Eastwood. Probably 'Fistful of Dollars'.



What genres do you dislike?
"I'm not too keen on Thrillers"

-After telling them the film idea-
What are your opinions on our film idea?
"I'd give it a watch if it was on TV. The idea is quite unique and it would be interesting watching it for the first time without knowing the story or the twist."

What do you like about our film idea?
"It sounds quite unique. I've seen a lot of films but none that I've seen have a twist like yours."

What do you think we could change about our film idea?
"I don't know really. It's your film so I think you should make it how you think it will look best."

What genre do you think our film will be?
"Probably a psychological one. It's one that'll make you think about the story and you'll be figuring it out as it goes on."

What certificate do you think our film will be?
"A 12A or something like that."




Where do you think our film will be shown?
"It seems like one of those internet ones you get in emails. I don't think a short film would make money so it'll be free to watch."

Are there any films you think are similar to ours?
"None that I can think of."

Practice Shots

This is a compilation of practice shots which were mainly for experimenting purposes. We wanted to test out the camera as well as test what shots we would use in our film. The video contains mainly humorous clips of the crew.



We used extreme close-ups on the mock diary entry which had out of focus shots which may be used in the  5-minute film in order to indicate something is out of place or unusual. We also used extreme close-ups on the male's (Jordan C's) eyes which will be used in the film. We used Jordan C's room to film practice shots as we admired the dim lighting which gave a distinct atmosphere which also allowed shadows to be cast on Jordan C's face. We will use this room as the male's bedroom as it this effect is misleading and would cause the audience to make negative assumptions about the male's character, when the female is the one to wary of. In contrast, we will use Jordan H's room to film the female's bedroom scene as the room is a lot brighter.

Slow panning shots were also used, similar to the short film, 'Hello Again'. We also used a zoom shot of the female (Jordan H) in this clip to signify that this is an important character. The clip where the image fades out and the sound continues was used to give an example of the voiceover which will be recorded then attached to the film as non-diegetic sound. The titles used in the practice montage are very simple and won't be like the ones we'll use for the finished film. They were simply used just to give an example of titles within the compilation.

The POV shots of the female character in the library will be used in the film. We will also use over the shoulder shots of the male looking through the bookshelf. This makes it clear that this is a POV shot from the male's perspective. Placing the camera almost inside the bookshelf gives a slightly claustrophobic effect which relates to the uncomfortable feeling someone gets when they feel they are being followed. In addition to this, it causes the audience to focus solely on the female - which the male is doing.

Audience Research

As our film is a twelve certificate, the age of our audience can vary greatly from ages 12 and above. In terms of genre and audience, our target audience is people interested in psychological drama - the genre of our film. Looking at other films in the same/similar genre such as Single White Female, it is possible to determine whther audiences who enjoyed that film, would enjoy ours too.

Mainly audiences who enjoy the genre of our film would enjoy our film, also, audiences who like films with a good story rather than action scenes and special effects would like our film. Films which focus on story and character development, such as SWF, The Machinist directed by Brad Anderson and American Psycho directed by Mary Harron, are watched by a varied audience and mainly those interested in the plot and twists within the plot - which our film has.

Rather than judging our target audience on age or what other films they may or may not like, we plan to research an audience using a short survey to determine what they like about our film, what they don't like and other key information about our target audience. This will help to determine who our target audience is and what's good about our film. Though our certificate is a 12, we plan to ask a range of age groups.

Shooting Plan: Library Scene

This is the shooting plan for the library scene, it details what shots we will use and other important details.

Lauren's Costume

Lauren's costume is very casual. We originally planned on dressing this character in quite feminine clothing such as skirts and dresses but we felt this would look more perverted and ill-suited to the genre

Worn during one of the park scenes (titles)

Worn during the library scene which has already been filmed

Lauren's bag. This has already been filmed

Worn during the library scene which has already been filmed

These will be Lauren's main shoes

This will be used one of the park scenes

This will be used when Lauren is writing in the diary in order to show it's a different person writing as the shot will be used twice.

Independent Audience Research

GENRE:

With our film being a psychological drama it would be more sensible to aim at audiences over 15 years of age because of the more mature themes such as obsession which younger audience would struggle to relate to.
Our film could be shown as a short before the exposure of a feature film in the cinema, this would be obviously featured before a film of a similar genre and of appropriate age. Also the film is aimed at teenagers and early twenties people but it could also be watched by a wider audience because the plot line and themes of the film could relate to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Other films that come under the psychological-drama genre such as the social network and fight club have been particularly popular among the teenage community and have become greatly successful and respected in the film industry, it is for this reason we should market our film at the teenage part of the audience.

AGE:

Although our film is aimed at 15 years and above, I believe our film could be suitable to be certified as 12 because although there are mature themes they are not as predominant as other films that would be in the 15 age classification.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

12: Mature themes are acceptable but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.

15: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is suitable for 15 year olds.

Title design for Synergy blog

I decided to design a new title for our blog as I felt that the simple 'Synergy' text was boring and didn't portray what I wanted it to.

This image is a .png file created in Photoshop CS3 with no background, so it can be used with any background and still blend in effectively.

It was designed to be simple yet aesthetically pleasing

Click the image to expand it, or simply see it at the top of our blog page.

Title Sequence Research

For our title sequence, we want the font to be handwritten to reflect on the use of the diary. An example of titles which we have looked are in David Fincher's 'Se7en'.





The titles on this clip are in a handwritten font. They have rigid movement and fit with the genre of the film which is a thriller. The titles indicate the genre of the film quite early on. They also infer that something unusual will happen in the film as the images used are a series of extreme close-ups on fingers, mechanical objects as well as photos. As a group, we admire the use of extreme close-close ups as we plan to use them in our film. The close-ups of someone writing in a book allowed us to see what the shot would look like when we used it ourselves. 


We will create our titles in Final Cut Express as there is a lot more we can do with them in terms of movement of the titles, in comparison with programmes such as LiveType. 

Viral Advertisement

Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords that uses marketing techniques to increase brand awareness, the typical type of viral advertisement in film is usually a very short film or simply subliminal images in related films that show a website relating to the product. They are generally used to increase brand awareness and create hype for upcoming products, similar to the way the viral video was used in 'Cloverfield' which depicted the stature of liberties head disrupting a party by being propelled down the street. This created a lot of hype for the cinema release because the question of what happened sparked the audiences curiosity so the film did very successful.

Idea:

My viral advertisement idea revolves around the world of social networking. The idea is of a person looking at another persons facebook profile, going through pictures and comments. Then finally zooming in on the cursor over the poke button, the clip then abruptly ends leaving a cliff hanger style. This relates to our film because it links into the stalkerish style theme and also leaves the ending open. I also intend to use pictures of the cast so it is directly associated with our film. The film will be around 10-20 seconds and shall be for the internet for an advert that interrupts videos, such as on youtube. I may have to use some censoring to hide peoples personal details which may impair the quality of film because I do not have the skills or software to edit the text to a high level.

Inspiration:

The idea of my film stemmed from this video of life being documented via a social network, though not similar in comparison to a film I still found this kind of media representation inspiring as a fresh idea.

Software:

I intend to record the screen footage using a downloaded software on my home computer called Camtasia, this allows me to record exactly what i'm doing on screen and edit it into a decent advertisement.

Shot list - Unrequited (unf)

FADE FROM BLACK

CU - Diary being written in

POV - Male looking through bush at girl

CU - Writing in diary

LS - Girl being followed by male (Over shoulder)

POV LS - Girl walking

ECU - Male's eyes

POV M-LS - Male watching girl in library through bookshelves

POV LS - Girl drops paper as she leaves
LS - Boy approaches paper on floor (over shoulder)
CU - Crumpled piece of paper
ECU - Boy's eyes
CU - Boy's hand come into shot to pick up paper

MCU - Boy picking up paper (over shoulder) and unravelling it
CU - Boy reading the unravelled note

Treatment - 5 minute film (Final)

Title: Unrequited

Synopsis: At first glance of the short film the viewer is given the idea that the film is yet another cliched stalker film, but there is a twist that is least expected. The idea for our short film involves two characters and possibly one or two very small extra roles. Having a small number of characters allows us to more easily acquaint the audience with the characters which are mainly involved in the storyline, this will allow them to be more easily understood as to why they do certain things; although a sense of enigma must be maintained so that the twist at the end is a shock. The film revolves around the idea that the male character is constantly stalking the female character but as it turns out the female is actually the stalker. (UPDATE: This idea is depicted through several scenes in different locations including a park and library. The film ends with the male not actually having anything to do with the female however the audience realises that the entire film is fictional and is made up by the female and written into a diary, this is shown through the final shot where the male picks up the mis-placed diary and hands it back to the female.)

Audience: The film will be a 12A as there are infrequent, if any expletives, and there is no usage of drugs. There are mature themes in the video, but these will be acceptable for viewing by a younger audience. Although we should take imitable behaviour into consideration as the audience could copy the acts in the film, although this is very doubtful. The audience will be aimed at the majority of cinema goers; the age range will be between 12-28 primarily, although the film will also be viewed by people older than that. This short film could attract both male and females, giving us quite a large target audience.

Summary: We are looking to produce a short film that is both enjoyable for the viewer and technically a good film, consisting of a variation of shots and a storyline that can hopefully be fully understood.

Duration: The length of the film should be 5 minutes, or as close as we can get to that length. 5 minutes is the time we have been given for the film's length. This is an acceptable amount of time for our short film idea but careful timing of shot length should be carried out to avoid excessive over-running. We may go over the 5 minute mark, but it isn't a set limit, just an idea of how long it should last.

The new treatment is an update on our previous idea.

Film Distributor

'Independent' is film company which produces, finances and distributes independent feature films. It has produced films such as 'Mr Nice', 'New Town Killers' and most recently, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', which has earned itself numerous awards such as the 2011 London Film Award. Independent distribute many independent films. A company like Independent would distribute our film as they focus on British, independent feature films, however, as our film is a short one, it would only be exhibited at their annual film festival.

Another film distributor I have looked at is 'Future Shorts'.

They are an independent short film label, focusing on short films which are independently made. They distribute a variety of films with different genres and would be an ideal company to distribute our short film. They distribute films form around the world but are a British company based in London. They distribute all types of films of different genres.

This five minute film looks at poverty and struggle amongst children in third world countries. Its aim is to highlight how children survive with very little resources and a complete lack of care. The sound used is completely made of music with no diegetic sounds from within the scene.

Future Shorts have produced many short films, six of which have won awards. They are one of the largest short film networks in the world. They work closely with British directors, as well as international directors to produce short films which sometimes make it to cinema. For these reasons, we would choose this film company to distribute our film.

Risk Assessment

Independent Distributors - Research & Ideas

Momentum Pictures

Momentum Pictures is one of the leading independent motion picture distributors in the UK and Ireland and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a year. They have produced several successful drama films such as PS I Love You and The Kings Speech. They are also known to produce and distribute films with a darker theme, so our short film would fit right into the ranks of films produced and distributed by momentum. It is however part of a small Canadian conglomerate knowns as Alliance, this sense of it being part of a company would make it difficult for us to convince them to distribute our short film.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rr9ccD5H3Q

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNmT_dLeSao

Diffusion Pictures

Diffusion Pictures is a very small very young independent distribution company based in London that mainly distributes indie films. Although they haven't released many films the ones they have are similar to our short film because they are based around the relationships of two people, much like the relationship between our two characters.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyaexHA9tk&feature=related

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl6oqjT85eM

Studio Canal UK

StudioCanal UK (formerly Optimum Releasing/Home Entertainment/Classics) is a film distributor company working in the UK and Ireland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland. It has produced a film that has a similar theme to ours called Tyranosaurus. A mans life gets ruined and as he begins to turn it around he meets a woman who has a dark secret.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvyqXFmV-LI

Questionnaire & Feedback - Audience Research

Questions:

Where do you usually watch films?

Who do you watch films with?

What is your favourite genre?

What do you like about that genre?

What is your favourite film(s)?

What genres do you dislike?

***After viewing the link to the film idea***

What are your opinions on our film idea?

What do you like about our film idea?

What do you think we could change about our film idea?

What genre do you think our film will be?

What certificate do you think our film will be?

Where do you think our film will be shown?

Are there any films you think are similar to ours?

I decided to use an internet questionairre to get feedback from a large part of the target audience of a slightly mixed age. I distributed this questionairre to around 30 people and received only a few replies. The questionairre was a simple (.doc) word file where the participants just filled in the answers, saved the document with their name, and then sent them back to my email address.

Location shots (Unfinished)

Male's bedroom

The view of the bench from a tree in the distance.
A general image of the scenery where we will be filming, another shot could be filmed here.
A view of the bench from closer than the other tree.
A close image of the bench and where the potential 'Stalker' will watch the girl from.
When the girl leaves the bench she will be followed by the male.

Click the images to enlarge them.

Research Into Genre

After reviewing our film idea, we found that our film could came under the genre of psychological-drama rather than a thriller. Research into how psycho-dramas are conveyed has and will be conducted. Elements and/or techniques of some films of this genre may be applied into our film because they are more suitable for the story and plot to our film

Some examples of psychological dramas are on this website that show a list of the top twenty in that genre.

http://www.flickchart.com/charts?genre=Psychological+Drama

After looking at these films the most common way the film is structured is how there is one focal character and the audience follow their life over a period of time, usually at a time where their life changes such as Mark Zuckerberg in the social network; the film documents the rise of Zuckerberg as he creates the popular social networking site facebook. Similarly in the wrestler, the film shows the fall of the focal character as his life descends into a mess of health problems and loneliness. Our film is similar because it documents our focal characters life as he stalks his love interest and also has a twist in the film as the feelings are shared by the girl but no one else knows it.

This short film is a psychological drama which focuses on 'Angel' and her struggle to cope with losing her boyfriend/husband. It uses many close-up and extreme close-up shots. In our film, we also plan to use many of these shot types as it creates tension and suspense. The lighting used is quite dim. The use of dim lighting creates shadows which create a tense atmosphere. There are several out of focus shots used in the beginning of the film, these shots then go into focus on particular objects and things such as the doorknob. This is used to indicate something is about to happen as well as creating a distorted atmosphere - the audience become aware that something is not right. The mood is also set by the non-diegetic sound - music - which is quite at first then slowly becomes louder. This also indicates something is about to happen as tension is created.

Internet advertising/marketing of films.

The internet is a rapidly growing medium to advertise and market an abundance of different products. This is a massive audience to effectively 'sell' your products to; this market is expanding onto new media devices such as smart phones and tablet computers. The ability to market your product via the internet is a good way to enhance the views of the audience. Since the start of the internet many film companies have used the internet to advertise their films using trailers.

Product placement of films onto the internet has grown tenfold in recent years, the ability to get your product to millions of people is a brilliant opportunity to expand your customer base. Other than movie trailers alone, there are vast number of other ways how a company may market their film. There are also website's reviews and reports of the film which creates a general buzz about the film, assuming that the film gets a good rating. Websites such as Metacritic and Rottentomatoes do these analytics of the films and their ratings/reviews of these products are widely accepted as correct. If they have a high score, the users of these websites are more likely to want to view the film.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/single_white_female/

Social media is also an increasingly large audience for films, 'word of mouth' creates a buzz about the film and a desire to watch the film in question. Friends/family can also arrange a trip to the cinema using these social media websites which also encourages people to go and watch the film.

But with the growth of the Internet's proficiency to share films, so does the ability to pirate those films illegally. Many films lose millions of pounds due to the lost sales of films due to pirated copies of their product. Although the crime of piracy has slowly been brought down over the years in disk form, the intangible form has been increasing tenfold. Illegal downloading and streaming of these products lead to lost sales for the film companies.