Final opening sequence

      

CCR 4: How did you intergrate technologies - software, hardware, online - in this project?

To address this question, I created a website using Wix. on this website, I created sections for pre-production, production and post-production, in which I detailed how I integrated the harware, software and online into these stages. You can find the link to my website below: 

https://lilasturgeon.wixsite.com/my-site-3

CCR task 3: How did your production skills develop through this project?

For this task, I created a Prezi to display the development of my production skills both at the stages of learning practical skills and how my skills developed during research and planning. 

CCR task 2: How does your project engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

Our primary target audience is a male audience between the ages of 21 and 25 with age restriction of 15. We established a target audience by looking into similar products which can be found here: https://lilaa1media.blogspot.com/2022/03/similar-products-and-conventions.html

I then confirmed this in a blog post in which I confirmed my target audience, which suggested that the audience we should focus on targeting would consist mostly of young adults as these seemed to be the demographic who engaged most with the similar products: https://lilaa1media.blogspot.com/2022/03/target-audience.html

Engaging our audience through key moments

In this first key moment, the man's scientific set up is introduced which consists of a strange range of objects including a conical flask, a jar of berries, a pestle and mortar, and a few beakers, as well as a chopping board and scalpel. This engages the audience as they wonder why this strange range of objects are all on the same table together, creating a sense of tension and intrigue. Furthermore, the character's lack of face creates a feeling of suspense as the audience anticipates the reveal of the face behind these mysterious actions.

Here, the audience gets their first insight into the protagonist. Through shots that feature glasses and a syringe, a very precise measuring tool, the audience learns that this character strives to be highly accurate in the task that he's doing. This gives the audience the sense that the there might be something abnormal about the character's psychological state as one is would not typically be so precise in making a juice out of berries, which is what the audience might guess the character is doing at this point in the opening sequence. Therefore, by creating a sense that there is something odd about the character, this helps to build tension in the sequence, keeping the audience focussed. As the target audience for the film is male, the fact that the character is a man might help to keep them intrigued through the principle of identification, one of the key aspects of Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratification theory. Blumler and Katz proposed that one of the criteria that aids consumers in what media they choose to consume is identification. Therefore, by having a man as the central character to the film we have fulfilled this criteria, helping to satisfy our target audience.

Then, there are two significant shots that conjure up sinister images hinting subtly at suffering that will occur later on, creating a sense of foreshadowing. The image of the red berry juice being released into the beaker has connotations of blood and pain, hinting to the audience that the character might have cruel intentions. Additionally, the image and intense sound effect of fizzing foreshadows the fizzing of the berry mixture as it is poured into the victim's throat and this highlights violence and suffering as two of the major themes in the film.

At this point the classical soundtrack has shifted to a sinister tone and a door is revealed, suggesting that there is something else going on that has not yet been revealed. For the first time, we can see that there is something more to the location as there is clearly another room in the unknown setting. Therefore, this buildup is key to building up drama in the opening sequence and this creates a sense of suspense, keeping the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats.

The reveal of the woman is highly significant to the opening as it provides an answer to the  questions that the audiences have as to what the character was hiding. However, this moment simultaneously ensures that the audience remains engaged by creating more unanswered questions that capture the interest of the audience once again. The audience might wonder who the woman is and why she has been selected as the man's victim. Additionally, the shocking image of the funnel taped to the woman's mouth instils horror in the audience. Furthermore, the image of a serial killer, particularly male, dominating over a helpless female victim is a typical narrative convention of the thriller genre, thus ensuring that the young adult male audience who typically consume psychological thrillers remain engaged with the content of the film.

This last key moment of the film is important because it communicates even more about the protagonist, as it suggests that he enjoys the act of torturing others. This opens up the narrative as one that will explore murder.  Furthermore, the horrible image of the woman struggling through the violence is important in attracting a young adult audience in their twenties as they tend to enjoy the shock factor of violence, creating a sense of gratification, adhering to the concept of diversion as a key factor in Blumler and Katz' theory. This allows the audience to experience feelings of escapism as they wouldn't typically witness such high-drama events in their mundane, day-to-day lives.

I believe that we have been successful in reaching our target audience as we have included many of the typical conventions of the genre including low-key lighting, the use of "enigma codes" to create tension (a term coined by Barthe), as well as protagonist with malevolent intentions who is very often a serial killer. However, I believe that the method the serial killer in The Will uses to market the film is quite unique, which helps our film to stand out from the multitude of psychological thrillers that are released every year. Therefore, I believe that by following many of these key conventions which are used in many of the similar products I looked at previously, such as Knives Out. Furthermore, although we could've chosen to subvert and challenge the traditional stereotype of an evil man dominating over a helpless woman, I believe that the choice not to do so was the correct one as it ensures that our target audience have the impression that they are getting what they expect out of the film and continue watching because of this. This means that we can engage this audience later on if we wanted to, but establishing traditional tropes in the first few minutes ensures the target audience is initially engaged.

Film poster design

Below is my film poster design that would be used to spread awareness about the film prior to and during its release:

The slides below highlight how the film poster will engage the audience with the story and help to sell the film:

  

How would The Will be distributed as a real media text?

Established in 1989, Strong Heart Productions is the distributor of a few films including Silence of the Lambs, which appeared in my research into similar products, and was directed by Jonathan Demme. The film explores the story of a young female FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, who is set the task of interviewing the notorious serial killer Hannibal Lecter in prison, with the hope that he might solicit some information that might help them catch another serial killer who skins his victims alive. The film was originally based off the novel by Thomas Harris and its book cover was later changed to the same design as the film poster, helping to spread a memorable visual representation of the film, as well as encouraging its readers to watch the film. Additionally, Jodie Foster, who played Clarice Starling appeared on several talk shows helping to market the film. These included Jim Ferguson and Entertainment tonight which helped to spread awareness about the film across the United States. Furthermore, critical reviews were another key factor that helped to market Silence of the Lambs. For example, the film was reviewed in the New York Times who claimed it "could well be the first big hit of the year", along with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95%. Additionally, it became one of the only three films to win five of the most sought after Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Therfore, to market The Will, I believe the best method would be to attend film festivals in order to ensure the film gains critical acclaim, as well as display movie posters and billboards worldwide in order to make the audience aware of a recognisable image, ensuring that the audience remember to watch the film and spread the word about it. 

The Rotten Tomatoes Review can be found here: 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silence_of_the_lambs

The film was released on 14th February 1991 and the film's gross was $272.7 million, $14 million of which was generated through the box office over the president's weekend in the United States. The film's premiere took place at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival. Then, in June 1991, the film premiered in the UK at the Odeon, where within its opening week, the film the film managed to generate £290, 936. A week later, the film was distributed to a total of 281 screens. It became the fifth highest-grossing film of 1991. Following its success in the box office, the film was then released on VHS in October 1991 by Orion Home Video and in 2001, it was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment, as well as by the Criterion Collection. In 2018, a BluRay edition of the film was released. Like Silence of the Lambs, I believe The Will would enjoy a similar cinema release, but this would be limited to the UK, given that our film does not feature any A-list stars or high-end technology, such as CGI that help a film to be distributed to a worldwide audience. Furthermore, due to the fact that The Will would be released in 2022, and unlike in 1991, watching VHS tapes is no longer a common practice I believe that after a cinema release lasting around four weeks, the typical length of time that films play for in UK cinemas. Roughly six months after its release, DVD and BluRay editions of the film would also be released. 

Additionally, I believe that the film would enjoy high success and therefore given the emergence of streaming as one of the main forms of viewing a film in 2021, the film would be released on a streaming platform to ensure that it generates revenue long after its initial release. Shudder is a streaming platform that for films of the thriller and horror genres. Shudder allows its customers access to a whole range of content, including classic favourites as well its own original content, at the cost of £4.99 a month. Many psychological thrillers are available for streaming on Shudder and therefore I believe that by releasing The Will on Shudder the distribution chain could be distributed, allowing Strong Heart Productions to continue generating revenue from the film to fund future releases. 

CCR task 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

To answer this question, I created a Google slides presentation detailing how I used and challenged Psychological thriller conventions and how my opening sequence represents both social groups and issues.

Post Production: Part 2

 After taking a day to consider the music choice, we settled on Bach's "Cello Suite No.5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: V. Gavottes I & II". We felt that this fitted the mood of our opening sequence quite well as it was neither too dark or cheerful which we think has a nice effect as it keeps the audience guessing as to what will happen next. Initially, we decided to keep the music running throughout the whole sequence, and with the help of Matthew's music software we added bass drones to shift to a more sinister tone from the point where the man picks up the beaker and takes it into the room with the woman. However, we decided that it this point in the music it became a bit too melodic and so the soundtrack didn't fit quite as well with this part of this part of the sequence. Therefore, we decided to take a different approach. We decided to cut the music once the fizzing shot started and then shift to a new soundtrack made by Matthew using his software. To do this, Matthew first added an EQ to the soundtrack in order to boost bass frequencies. This helped to give it a more ominous tone. Since we decided to stop Bach's music when the fizzing started, we replaced it with a horror soundscape and added sub kick booms on  some key parts where the shot changes towards the end of the sequence, in which the man is poisoning the woman. At first the shift from fizzing to the new part of the soundtrack seemed a bit sudden and so we decided to fade out Bach's piece during the fizzing to resolve this issue. We are quite happy with how the soundtrack as we feel that the different elements it contains has enabled us to develop tension gradually throughout the sequence. 

Once the soundtrack was complete, we revisited the titles with fresh eyes. We decided to change the font as we thought that it made some of the letters slightly too curly. For example, the "y"s had curly ends that jutted into the letters below, which we didn't like the appearance of. Therefore, we changed the font to Bodoni 72 Oldstyle which avoided the things we disliked about the last font but still maintained a similar style. We chose to include only some of the titles that are typically displayed in an opening sequence. We wanted to have titles appearing until the end of the fizzing shot, as this is when the mood changes, which meant that we had to limit our titles and time them so that they would fit into this time. We included titles for the funding, production company, and director's film at the start of the sequence, using my name for the director's film given that my role on the shoot day had been director. We followed this with two actors' names which we came up with as a group, as well as Ezra Hjalmarsson and Susannah Robertson, the two actors who appeared in our opening sequence. We then included the editor, which we used Matthew's name for, followed by production designer, whom we gave the fictional name Vanessa Huld, Meadow as Director of Photography, another name of our own creation for the executive producer, followed by my name which appeared again for the director's title. We confirmed our choice for the name of the film, which we decided to name "The Will", encapsulating the link between the two characters which the audience would later find out during the rest of the film. We put the title of the film on a black screen after the lost shot with the sound of the coughing and choking continuing over the top of it as we felt that it created the effect of a lengthy torture, leaving the opening sequence on quite a dark and sinister note urging the audience to continue watching the film.

I feel that our target audience, which is both male and female and aged fifteen or older who enjoy films of the crime thriller would enjoy our film. We feel that we have edited the sequence in a way which makes the audience seem close to the antagonist which makes the audience feel uncomfortable once his dark intentions are brought to light. We also feel that the way in which the dark soundtrack complements the opening sequence fits in with the audience's expectations of dark subject matter. This makes the opening sequence quite dark, meaning it is suitable for a more mature audience. 

Lastly, today we worked on the colour grading. We made only a few minor techniques as most of the colours appeared as we hoped they would. We turned the exposure up to about 0.7 on the shot of the berries being laid out on the table and the man's face as he looks down on the chopping board. Overall, I am very pleased with how the opening sequence turned out. I feel that our opening sequence displays our camera work skills quite well. In particular, I am happy with how some of my pans turned out. I feel that our opening sequence is effective as it creates establishes characters and a plot, whilst also leaving a sense of mystery which leaves the audience wondering what might happen next. In terms of continuity, we did not face any issues which made it much easier for us to create seamless transitions from one shot to the next. I think we have worked well with the footage that we filmed on the day to create an opening sequence of the appropriate length. Personally, my favourite part of the sequence is the intense fizzing sound which is followed by the change in soundtrack as I think it has a very chilling effect, in-keeping with the theme of our genre. 

Post production: Part 1

Last Monday we began editing our opening sequence on Adobe premier pro using the skills we had learnt in the editing workshops we did a few weeks ago. We started by watching through all the footage in the rushes folder. This allowed us to select which shots we liked the best and we named them so that we remembered which was which. For example, we named selected two versions of our opening shots that we liked. There were some shots where we had made some errors. For instance, in some shots the pans up and down were either too fast or too slow.  Additionally, we had to crop some of our shots. These included one shoot where wanted to give the illusion that the belt was tied around the woman's neck but her arm could be see holding it. Additionally, in some of the shots with the woman with the funnel inside her mouth you could see a fire exit at the top of the door which we cropped out as we wanted the set to appear as if it was part of the man's house, and not a boarding house. After doing this, we went through our shots again and narrowed our choices down even further. With all of our shots chosen. We started dragging them into the timeline and cutting them down to our desired length. We had to choose which shots we were happy not to include given that the opening sequence had to be under two minutes.

On the first day of editing, we had already made many important choices in regards to visual aspects of our opening sequence. Firstly, we decided not to include some shots that we had filmed in order to keep to the time limit of the opening sequence, which needed to be between approximately two minutes and two minutes and thirty seconds. One of the shots we chose not to include was a shot of multiple berries chopped up as we felt that it wasn't necessary in advancing the narrative. Furthermore, we wanted the title sequence to be in a wide screen format and so we added cinematic bars in order to do this. We did this by adding an adjustment layer and then going through each shot and cropping it accordingly. We filmed one wide shot at the end of the day when the lighting was much dimmer from the perspective of the man's desk looking towards the man at the table making the poisonous berry mixture. However, we were unable to adjust the colour in a way that meant the shot would fit seamlessly into the sequence and so we decided not to include it, which also helped with making the opening sequence shorter. We also made the choice to keep the fizzing shot at its full length as we felt that this shot was visually pleasing, and that it was crucial in indicating a mood change.

Once we had finished the picture cut and we began looking at potential music for our soundtrack. We decided that we we wanted a classical cello piece. However, we didn't want this to have too much of a sinister tone or upbeat tone in order to maintain a sense of mystery at the start. We looked through pieces by Bach on Spotify and created a playlist consisting of a few that we liked.We finished the day by creating a list of titles following the traditional format, in the font Didot. We inserted our own names for the roles we took on for the shoot and then made up other names for the rest of the titles and began experimenting with different positioning. When adding the titles, guidelines appeared on the screen which helped us with positioning. We made sure to keep all the titles in the inner box in order to ensure they wouldn't be cut off when watching the sequence on a screen with different formatting.  We weren't completely set on the timing and positioning and font of the titles and so we decided to revisit the titles in a few days after we had finishes with the soundtrack.