Questionnaires: Focus Group

Questionnaire

1. Do you enjoy thriller?
2. What would you add to the script to make it more realistic?
3. What age rating would you place the film within: 15, 18?
4. Which parts of the opening do you feel should have a climatic crescendo rise in music?
5. Does it fit the genre and atmosphere that there is no dialogue in the opening?
6. What part(s) did you enjoy the most and why?
7. What parts seem out of place?
8. Would you be interested in watching the entirety of the film based upon the opening script?
9. Do you think any adjustments should be made to the opening in reference to lighting, sound, camera etc?
10. Do you have any additional comments?

Answers

Analysis

AS Media Focus Group Analysis from Dylan Koolman

Defining Our Target Audience

Gender

• The feeling of being either male, female or other defined by different aspects such as expression, appearance, social interactions etc.
• We have a female orientated cast with a female lead which is typically aimed towards females, however, the movie itself is not entirely specified in terms of the gender that it is aimed towards due to the fact that the genre of psychological horror appealing to all genders.

Ethnicity

• Population whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions.
• Due to the fact that our media text only contains credits in terms of material within the production that needs to be understood, and because there is no dialogue, this movie opening is aimed towards anyone with an interest in the psychological thriller genre.

Age

• The length of time that a person has lived.
• Due to the guidelines of the BBFC ratings, through the use of the connotations within the opening and being part of a psychological horror, the target age range is for people that are aged 18 and over. 

Region/Nationality

• An ethnic group forming a part of one or more political nations.
• Cast is Caucasian and European, but is not exclusive to this race. This was done as an unintentional occurrence due to not having females of other races able to be a part of the production. 

Socio-Economic Status

• An individual's or group's position within a hierarchical social structure and is depends on a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence.
• Our production would appeal to those from classes C1 to E due to the relations between the characters and the audiences being similar, adding to the element of suspense due to being in a position where events like the ones that occur in the movie are mimetic to those within these Social Classes.

Decoding approach

• Response against Hypodermic Needle Approach
• Shows how audiences are active
• Able to decode their own meanings from media
• Own-thinkers
• Formulate own interpretations
• Our media production adopts this theory for our audiences. This is because there are a lot of symbolic elements that cause the audience to need to decode fro themselves what the constructed meaning of them are, translating figurative imagery into literal meanings. This is how the element of a Psychological thriller are achieved, by ensuring that the audience themselves are able to relate what their prior knowledge of the world is against what they're being shown in order to create a meaning for themselves. For example, the inclusion of the wiping of blood on the third picture implies that that character is going to die. This however is not stated outright, it is left for the audience to come to this conclusion for themselves. 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• The creation of the 5 basic needs for people in order to be happy or satisfied.
• In order to convey the psychological part of the psychological thriller that we wanted to create, basic human needs needed to be taken away in order for the audience to feel fear when watching the production. The base element of safety is completely removed due to the fact that the killer preys on the victims of her choosing and successfully kills all three of the unsuspecting victims without being caught. This shows how the pyramid structure of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is very much incomplete. In removing this layer of basic human need, and through mimetic elements, the audience not only fear for the safety of the characters on screen but for themselves as they're watching an event that could happen to them. 

Makeup

Summary:
The main makeup required for this shoot is a slash down each of the victims wrists to symbolise the film title of "The Three". To achieve this effect I will be using a variety of equipment and effects makeup; I will also be organising a number of tests for the makeup.

Equiptment:

• Artex Silicone Gel
• Kryolan Death Palette
• Kryolan Cuts and Bruises Palette
• Fake Blood
• Powder (to set the Artex)
• A cosmetic spatula
• A small tool to create the cuts (for example a metal cuticle stick)
• A powder brush
• A small makeup brush

Instructions:

1. Clean wrist with solution to create a seal against the Artex.
2. Mix together part A and part B being careful not to contaminate either pot of gel as this will cause the solution to prove before it can be used again.
3. Apply mixed solution to wrist in a vertical line along the veins (keeping the majority of the Artex mixture in the centre of the wrist is vital at this point.
4. Begin to blend the Artexmixture out away from the wrists centre to create a smoother and more realistic texture using the cosmetic spatula.
5. Create a cut in the Artex mixture using the small tool this will become the base of the cut.
6. Leave the Artex mixture to sit for two minutes then dust with powder to help the mixture set.
7. Using a small brush draw a line of bright red down the centre of the cut slightly past the edge of the cut to create a more realistic effect.
8. Add a darker tone of red to make the cut appear deeper.
9. Add fake blood to the cut to give it a more realistic three dimensional effect.

Test 1

This was the first attempt of prosthetic make-up using the exact product; the product itself was Artex two part silicon solution. The solution built up and solidified on the skin surrounding the desired area which was therefore problematic as it crinkled the skin.

Test 2

This was the second attempt which was much better than the first. The skin surrounding the cut was smoother and looked less like prosthetic make-up, however, the cut was less deep than expected so this will be corrected in the final filming.

Final Test:

Props

Newspaper

Scaple

Jars

Diary

This is going to be used to show a diary entry that the killer has made about his killing of his first victim, Poppy Adams, to be played by actress Emily Wicker. Due to the fact that the frame is only going to be shown for a short while, the diary entry has not needed to be completed.

25th January 2015

This has been the killing I had to be most careful about; I had to make sure I left no trace. For the past 3 weeks that I have been watching her, she was always on her own, staying outside of the group with the most amazing choker on her neck I’ve wanted to replace with my hands since the first time I saw her, but I knew I needed to be more careful than that. Her name is Poppy Adams, 17 and perfect to keep as a trophy to mark as my first kill. 

She was walking out of the Sixth Form. She lives in a town not too far from the school. Usually she walks with her friends for the first ten minutes of the journey, then they separate at the junction, and she carries on home. She always puts her coat on at this point and pulls out her purple and black-stripped head phones, puts them in her ears and walks flopping her head to the beat of her metal music. Then when she gets to the traffic light she picks at her skirt, burrows her eyebrows and checks her phone waiting for the light to turn red. Then she crosses the road, always left-foot first, and heads down the small slip road with bushes either side in order to get to her road. 

So today, she went about her routine as normal, however, her friends were staying behind to finish their class project or something, I don’t know I didn’t really hear very well from where I was, but it presented me with the most glorious opportunity to take her. Everything remained the same as usual, she put her coat on pulled out her purple and black-stripped head phones, put them in her ears and walked flopping her head to the beat of her noticeably loud metal music. She seemed agitated this time though, as if she hadn’t had a good day, which was perfect as I would be the one to put her out of her misery. I followed her, trailing behind far enough so that she wouldn’t suspect a thing but close enough to keep my eyes on her.

Wall Props

Brief Synopsis

Synopsis

• A brief summary of a film or potential film written in a few paragraphs and including only a general outline of events.

A killer with the insatiable need to murder plots to make Amy Adams her next victim. A psychological thriller, following the crazed mind of a woman with an exigency to satisfy her dependence on the thrill attained from killing three teenage girls. 

Company Logo

Logos from Mainstream Companies

Moonlighting Film Production

Entertainment One

Regency

All of these companies have simplistic logos that are easy to read and grab the audience's attention to the most important detail of what the company name is. this is demonstrated at the center of the logo in a clear and big font so that audience are able to know the producer of the film and remember the details. This inspired us to follow suit and create a simple but effective logo for our production:

Our Company Logo

This logo was created with the intention to draw the audiences attention to the symbolism behind having a compass as well as being called 'True North Productions'. It is simplistic so that the audience are able to remember a simple logo with a well known name.

Timed Analysis

The Revenant

The Woman In Black

Timed Analysis of 'Woman in Black' from MorganRedman

Timed Analysis of 'Woman in Black' from MorganRedman

The House at the end of the Street

Timed Analysis from EmmaWeeksMedia

Editing Techniques

Title: Do in After Effects - 

File. Adobe dynamic link. New after effects composition. OK. Save as. Effects and presets (right). Am inaction presets. Text. Animate in. Click menu from top left. Browse presets (previews titles) (requires bridge cc). Double click on effect wanted. Double click text to edit title. Editing is on the left, need to highlight text. File. Save. Drag in. Then it can be edited as normal.

How to Input Clip without Audio -

Two buttons in center of preview window once in and out points have been selected. Left is video only, right is audio only.

Adding Default Transition -

Command - D when in between clips.

Re-Sizing Clip over a Period of Time -

Select clip. Effect control (in the source window). Motion. Scale. Click stopwatch to animate it. Move mini scrub. Change size again. Can be done for scale, horizontal, vertical. Works the same for blurring (need to go on: video effects. Blur and sharpen. Fast Blur. Drag. Then carry on.)

Fading out Music -

Audio transitions on effects window. Cross fade. Exponential fade. Drag on to audio. Or right click. Apply default transition.

Dissolving One Clip onto Another -

Video transition. Dissolve. Cross dissolve. Drag in between clips.

Razor Tool -

Will make cuts in the clip that you can then delete, shrink etc.

If there's a Gap -

Right click and click ripple delete which will move all of the clips up

Editing Clips -

Video effects. Colour correction. Fast colour correction. Drag onto clip. Effect control. Edits main colour, brightness etc.

Effect over Multiple Clips -

Project window. New item (at bottom). Adjustment layer. OK. Drag on top of clips. Stretch over affected clips. Add effect as normal (effects. Drag on to clip).

Editing Audio Volume, Louder with Time -

Expand to view left and right. Select one or both. Effects control. Volume. Start point at -287 (silent). End point.

Tilda Key -

Bottom left of keyboard, squiggle - makes fill screen.

Jitter Effect 1: Keyframe -

Done by key frame. In. Move up. Out. In. Move down. Out etc until effect is complete.

Jitter Effect 2: Reverse Overlay -

Two sets of footage on top of each other. Secondary footage has reduced opacity to see both footages. Chop up clip and place around to get effect.

Jitter Effect 3: Blur Flicker -

Double up same footage on top and put directional blur on the imposed footage. Chop up and blur each.

To make Negative - 

Effects. Chanel. Invert. 

Vignette -

Luma curve. Drag down to make dark. Eclipse mask.

Production Functions -