CD FRONT AND BACK COVER
Magazine article Poster
Audience Feedback
I created a questionnaire in order to establish if my music video was well received by my target audience but before any analysis took place I asked a group of 10 students (boys and girls) to watch my video and then handed them each a questionnaire to fill out.
The most important questions were:
Did the story line make sense?
Did you enjoy the video and why?
After watching the video would you buy the album?
The majority of the feedback we gained was positive with only 3 of the participants saying they did not understand the story line;
‘I was not sure what was happening at some points such as which girl was which and who he was seeing but the captions helped a lot’
‘I did not know what was going in parts as I was not sure what were the memories and what was real life’
‘There were some effects on the video that confused me such as a blurred screen in parts I was not sure where those parts fitted into the time line’
This was a problem we knew about already as we had had trouble distinguishing between memories and real time as well as finding enough clips to fill the song. To fix this problem we decided to add captions in order to make it plain who had broken up who and what people were getting together we also used an effect on iMovie called dream in order to show what parts were memories. If we were to re-do our video we would definatly take into account what effects are most appropriate and try to keep the story line simple and have less flash backs.
The rest of the responses we very good with only 2 people saying they would not buy the album and every one at least saying the video was ok. This feedback has made us feel like we succeeded in our aim to create a music video that appeals to teenagers aged between 13-19.
Positive Quotes:
‘I really enjoyed it and would definitely buy the album, it was really cool’
‘I liked it a lot as it was like real life and something that would happen to any of us’
‘The story line was really good I could relate to it so it was good’
‘Yes I would buy the album’
‘Probably I liked to the song and the video matched it well’
There was not an obvious link between positive quotes and gender as our of the 3 people that said they did not understand the video 2 of them were boys but the 2 that said they would not buy the album were both girls. This leads me to the conclusion that the video appeals to both males and females.
Summary
Overall I feel my product has been completed to a high standard as I was able to work effectively and efficiently with new and old software. I encountered a many problems whilst filming, such as not being able to schedule the actors as they were not always be available, having to change the location of many scenes and having to add captions to some scenes as the initial story line was too confusing. To keep on top of the changes I changed my synopsis as we went along and despite encountering these problems I was able to complete the video and ancillary texts on time making sure they filled the brief and made sense. If I did do this again I would take more time to plan out a theme for the video making a detailed notes on what was going happen and how to ensure it would make sense and appeal to the target audience before filming began.
Evaluation of our film
Conventions:
The conventional way to shoot a thriller is to have the audience asking questions throughout and never knowing what is going to happen. In our film we decided to do this by making a ‘who dun-it’ plot for a murder. Normally this would be done either by showing two different people carrying out e.g. a murder, thus signifying a schizophrenic or by having multiple plot twists which make it feasible for more than one character to be guilty. There are also conventions in relation to the title of a film, typically they are rather predictable (depending on the genre) , so for a thriller you’d expect something sinister/intriguing or a title that implies the plot/moral of the overall film. A good representation of this type of convention would be the ‘ The Exorcist’, this not only sets the genre as horror/thriller but also gives the viewer the knowledge that violence will occur.
Rather than having a conventional schizophrenic story line (were two ‘different’ characters carry out the same thing but in a different scene) we constructed a film which consisted of ‘two’ people carrying out the same activities in the same scene. We devised this by having two characters standing in the same frame over a body at the top of the stairs and alternating the shots in quick succession (reverse shot). We did this twice in our film, once after the murder and a second time when the girl is drinking (this is not a reverse shot). Alternatively from the archaic way of formulating a title, we gave our film the title of Compassionate, so instead of choosing something related to murder or betrayal we decided on an ironic one which did, however, have relevance to the overall plot.
Social Groups:
Our film focuses on the younger generation and how they deal with bereavement, jealously and secrecy. In our 2 minute intro, you see the start of the film where a girl has committed a treacherous murder, however despite the viciousness of her actions her state of mind appears to be, shockingly, aloof and calm. This is clearly the opposite reaction and attitude that most teenagers would portray when having to deal with serious issues and problems in their lives. We did this to give an insight into the minority rather than focusing on the popular ‘normal’ teens as is regularly done.
We purposely put the teenage actors in fashionable, relevant clothes and gave them typical, recognisable names. We did this to ensure the film is believable and to make it easier for our young audience to relate to them and follow the story. By doing this I feel we have managed to connected with our target audience and thus fulfil our original aim.
Narrative Theories:
In our film we included binary opposition, this is first introduced when we have the calm music at the beginning combined with the camera anxiously and cautiously searching the house. There is more binary opposition when the murder is committed as you see the lifeless body at the base of the stairs, then the girl calmly walks down the stairs and drinks a cup of tea as if nothing has happened. The final case where we have included binary opposition is when the girl angrily rips up and throws away the picture of her and Tom but then she gleefully smiles.
Channel and Audience:
The channel we have decided is best to show our film on is channel four as we believe the usual films they broadcast are similar to ours and it is able to captivate a wide range of viewers. The fact that the films they normally show are aimed at young adults and teenagers (our desired target audience) and it is known to show a variety of films from comedy to horror, we have the impression our film would not be out of place there. Also we believe it would benefit from the popularity of channel four (ratings) and could use the channel to further advertisement and raise interest in our film. The time we wish to show it is 9 p.m. as this is after the watershed and would mean the violence in our film would create any animosity with parents and means it can be enjoyed with out being censored.
We chose our target audience as teenagers and young adults as we believe that there is a niche in the market for our type of film within that age group. Also it allows us to be more creative with the plot of the film as we understand that teenagers like a wide range of films from horror to comedy. This means we were able to add violence and romance into our film without restricting the range of viewers that would watch.
If we had to choose how to broadcast our film we would prefer if it was released on Channel 4 first and then on DVD, as we have the belief that this will not only increase popularity but DVD sales also as it allows our film to become well established in the market first.
Questionnaire:
In order to assess if our film appealed to our target audience we created a questionnaire with questions which not only asked the viewers opinions on our film but also their preferences on film genres and Tv channels. We chose 10 people some from our own age group 15/18 as well as couple of adults.
How likely are you to watch a film on channel 4 at 9 p.m. ?
What is your preferred Genre of film?
I put some of the results from the questionnaires into a graph, this made it easier to analyse the information and make any quick changes.
The results from the first graph shows that our proposed time and channel to show our film would be watched by the majority of our target audience and so is the prime choice. There was one person that put they would never watch this film, he was a 16 year old male. This result is not worrying at all as all the other results from people of the same age group are positive and prove this is an anomalous result.
The second graph shows what the preferred film genre is for our entire target audience, this meant we were able to analyse whether or not a Thriller would attract and above all appeal to them. Even though Comedy came top of the polls this was somewhat expected with the huge popularity boost it has achieved over the past couple of years so was not a huge problem for us. Thankfully Thriller did came second meaning that although it may not be peoples favourite type of film to watch it means the majority would switch it on and it also gives us the chance to change peoples mind, views and even their preferences.
Extra Notes:
All of the participants said that they enjoyed the film and that it fits the criteria for a thriller which means we have not only achieved our original goal, to create a thriller, but we have also appealed to our target audience well. The proportion of boys to girls that took the questionnaire is 6 boys and 4 girls. The feedback from some of the boys was not very detailed for example they only gave one word answers. However we got some good feedback on what improvements we could make for example one person said that when the screen goes black after Tom falls down the stairs the flash was a little late. Also it was suggested that we could have had a voice over throughout to give a few clues as to what to expect.
All of the comments from the questionnaires and the graphs means we are positive our film would be successful and our target audience will react to it well. As well as this these statistics helped me when writing my evaluation, for example what changes I could have made as well as what I was happy with.
Technologies and Preliminary task:
Before starting my film I had not used a video camera before let alone iMovie. So before we began filming I had to learn the best way to hold the camera in order to get the best shot as well as learning all the different angles. To help with this we did a practice movie where we had to film two people walking into a room, sitting down and then having a conversation. During this task and final product we used a wide range of shots some of which included:
- Close up
- Mid shot
- Wide shot
- Top shot
- Tracking
- Panning
- Craning
- Over the shoulder
I learnt how to steady the camera when tracking and panning as well as during a static shot. Also whilst filming compassionate I got to use a counterweighted steady cam which allowed us to track without having a shaky shot. Also i discovered that during initial filming it is best to shoot the same shot at least twice so you can choose the best one. After filming we moved on to the editing and this was the first time I have ever used imovie. Learning how to edit two different shots together as well as adding on sounds and credits was very difficult at first but then once we had completed our practice film it was very easy to edit our final product. During post production and editing of our practice film we used a lot of cutaway shots when transitioning between shots to ensure the film flowed smoothly. We made sure that at the end of all shots we kept a small shot of the actor (an arm or leg) to make it even smoother.
To improve our film and the schizophrenic story line we decided to include a couple of reverse shots. Neither of us had done this before and the chance came up rather luckily, as we used some of our practice shots that initially we were going to cut out. We decided to switch between a shot of Tilly (playing the murderer) and a shot of me at the top of the stairs twice. Both of the shots were over-the-shoulder and as we both had blonde hair the reverse shot added to the sense that she was loosing her mind. Another technique I used was a black fade-out, we did this in order to add to the suspense and intrigue of the film. The fade-out took place between two shots, when the camera spins around to face out of the kitchen and when you see the dead body. This idea was initially proposed because there was a bit of a jump between these shots where they had been cut, so we chose to accompany the slow black fade with a white noise to make sure it looked authentic and fits it with the style of our film.
Improvements and successes :
One thing that I believe worked well in our film is the music we added, for example during the filming the washing machine was also on. We only found out we could hear it on the film when we came to edit it, but instead of getting rid of it we decided to leave it in as a loud screech from the washing machine sounded just before Tom is thrown down the stairs. We feel this synchronous sound adds great dramatic affect and makes the ‘accident’ more shocking. Also we used only three different pieces of non-diegetic music during the film but the differences between them are huge. The first piece is quiet and slow and the final one is fast and high pitched as more gets revealed. Finally the other piece of music I think worked well was the white noise sound which we used as a theme. Originally it was used to compliment a black screen we used to fit two shots together. But we then decided to use it as an ambient sound throughout the film because it added a sense of mystery and keeps the audience intrigued.
Something I feel didn’t work well was the first minute of our film when we tracked around the downstairs of the house hand held. This is because the shot gave the effect that someone was looking around,which we originally thought was a good thing. But it became a problem when the over the shoulder shot from on top of the stairs shows no one below when moment before it seemed as though someone was looking up. To try and overcome this we re-shot the tracking sequence with a steady cam in order to try and make the camera more steady. This made a slight difference as coupled with the black screen after the crash as well as the white noise we managed to make it seem more ghostly than just a person looking around.
Film extras: Additional Information
Non-diegetic and Diagetic sound FX, (for scene one):
At the start of the film looking round the house we used a piece of music from The Shaw-shank redemption, ‘Inch of his life’. When your walking around the kitchen the washing machine starts to sound then after a loud thud the music stops. We did this to add tension and give the impression of someone holding their breath. When the camera tracks towards the dead body and tilts up the stairs, a girl starts to walk down, here the music fades into a sinister piece from Alien called Alien Autopsy. When the camera tracks the girl walking through the dining room and sitting down at the table the music stays the same but goes slightly quieter. At the end of the scene when the audience sees the girl smirk and the title appears music from Sherlock Holmes ‘The Gamecock’ starts. We did this to initiate the end credits and the title appearing and specifically this piece of music adds spectacularly to the sense of danger and suspense.
At 1:16:08 the sound of the ticking clock starts and carries on till the 1:48:23
Actors and their roles (for scene one):
Tom plays the dead body Tom and Tilly plays Alex the murderous girl.
Titles:
At the start when camera is panning around ( approximately 5 seconds in) our production name appears. The Director’s names appear next when the camera is moving toward the kitchen (18:23 seconds). The producer’s name appears when in the kitchen (30:23 seconds) and then the editor’s name appears at (38:20 seconds). Actors names come on screen in order of appearance so when you first see the body (57:18 seconds) Tom’s name appears then when the girl walks down the stairs (1:09 minutes) Tilly’s name comes up. Finally the title ‘C ompassionate’ appears at the end when the girl smirks (1:46 minutes).
Props:
The only props used were 2 cups of tea (One in a white cup the other black and white) and a picture of the actors Tilly and Tom (Alex and Tom)
Opening Credits
Starring Tom Wiltshire
Tilly Davis
Directed by Charlotte Harrison and Tilly Davis
Edited by Tilly Davis
Produced by Charlotte Harrison
A Loiro production
compassionate
Friday 12th June:
Today we started our lesson by writing down our initial ideas for our project. This included making a list of what genre of music we wanted to include in our music video promo, as well as the actors and props we may need to use. Due to the fact we are working in a group of four we all agreed on the using a comical and upbeat song. After searching many music videos on youtube we made a collective decision to do Hairspray. Once this decision was made we started writing down an brief but overall scene plan:
Starts with camera following girls legs. There is then a ‘Tracy’ dance off. Link then comes in and dances with each of them as they both fight for the spotlight. Presenter announces Miss Hairspray is Ida Stubbs. Both Tracy’s are annoyed and one throws their shoe at her. Both Tracy’s then dance away with Link
We also began searching for two music videos that we have to analyse and compare. I chose Kanye West’s Heartless and Gwen Stefani’s What you waiting for.
