Preliminary Task

Urban Legend Opening Titles

Urban Legend Storyboard

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media product conforms to the typical thriller genre by following several of the thriller generic conventions. At first we decided to compare our film to Final destination as it is also a thriller but decided that as a media product is more suited and follows the conventions of movies such as paranormal activity and the Blair witch project. We compared our film to The Blair Witch Product as the mise en scene of The Blair Witch Project is similar to our media product mise en scene as it is filmed in night vision with a very dark setting for the majority of the movie. Furthermore The Blair Witch Project is about a group of teenagers who decide to go into the forest to investigate the story of the famous Blair witch and carry out their own witch hunt, our media product is similar to the Blair witch as our storyline synopsis is about two teenagers who decide to investigate an urban legend of a monster in the woods.

This is where we got the idea of our opening scene where two teenage kids go in search of a legendary creature, however in this case they are searching for the blair which. Our whole idea was from this movie even our mise-en-scen of having night vision

We also made sure that we also had to make sure that our convention matched the opening of our sequence by:

Titles

These titles we used for all our credits and the name of our film is bright red with a black background. Meanwhile we used this effect to give away our convention to the audience because you red and black are colours you would associate with blood, danger, death with emphasise s that it is a thriller. We also used the red and black text because most thriller movies use it to suggest there will be bloody and gruesome scenes. However the black was mainly uses because our whole open sequence was black because it makes the scene mystifying you never know what is around the character.

Camera Shots

we decided to use a lot of medium shots because since we decided to have any dialogue so we wanted the audience to see the full movement of the characters for example various scenes in our opening scene that show this is when they decide to split up we used a medium shot of when they decided to split up by signifying hand movements. We also used medium shots because it is commonly uses in thriller films, the typical one is when someone is following someone but the audience only sees the person been followed, also in fighting scenes for the audience to see the full action a medium shot is used to emphasise on the movements.

2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group that is represented is teenage males which tend to be round ages 16-18 because we studied teenage behaviours; we found that round the ages 16-18 male teenager start to develop independent skills this is why in our opening sequence they decide to split up. However we also chose this age group because male teenagers act that age like to show an act of bravery and strength. Meanwhile we decided not to make race an issue so that our film can be distributed ethnically; this is because it will allow a wide range people of different ethnics to watch this opening sequence.

We decided to make gender in a stereotypical way due various reasons. Firstly since our genders our teen males, we did a study of teen males behaviour, what we mean by study is that we discussed in a group on teenage modern behaviour. From this discussion we found the modern teenage males like to show an act of bravery, independent skills, and courage but in the inside they are anxious but they do not want to let there emotions out, This could be due to friends and peer pressure. Where as female would just release their emotion and show their fear. In our opening film it illustrates this behaviour as they both decide to split you start to see their fear independently.

 Secondly we decided to make gender in a stereo typical way because judging from our research we knew that male are more likely to watch this opening sequence which will expand the popularity of this sequence by mouth to mouth which means when teen males are in groups it will be discussed as a film to watch, we got this data from our questionnaire feedback has you can on the screenshot.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The type of media institution that might distribute our media product would be an art house film as although it fits the conventions of some major thriller movies such as the Blair witch project and paranormal activity, as students our thriller movie is low budget and would not be something produced by a major Hollywood studio because for that reason.

A production company is a company responsible for physical production of new media, performing arts, film, radio or a television program. The company may also be directly responsible for funding for the production or may accomplish this through an emissary. The production company may be either a small company or a larger one, selling its products to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue, or, in the case of film and television, it may be the studio itself. A coproduction is a theatrical presentation or film made by more than one company or a Conglomerate of multiple companies. It is common for actors to form their own production companies so that they can have more control over their own careers.

4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience of this opening sequence would foremost be males. Because judging from our questionnaire we found out that feedback male tend to participate more because they like to get their point across when it comes to movies and they have more time, rather than female who prefer to socialise. We also chose male because the style of the film is stereotypical because it includes on male and male behavior.

The major range we decided to pick is 15-25, because in our research that specific age range dominated. As you can see on the pie chart that ages 15-25 dominated the chart so we decided to target that age group. Meanwhile we chose this age because the style of our film targets teens which dominate the age group of 15-25.

We where also able to spot our target audiences by another research method we used which was pearl and dean. As you can see on the screenshot we compared our opening sequence to paranormal activity, since the conventions is thriller we where able to make comparisons of our age and gender.

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

   From prior research from pearl and dean we found that the audience that watches thrillers the most are male aged 15-34 yrs. therefore we decided that it would be best to have the main characters in our opening titles to be male as that is the gender that watches thriller films the most also the audience would be able to relate to it.

this image is what our typical audience would be as we discovered from our research. Also the sound track we used creates suspence but also has an interesting beat which young boys of today will enjoy. 

6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Constructing this product was a fantastic experience allowed us learns new skills and what it was like to be a director. However as you know it does not all end well, there some strengths and weaknesses that overcame. The weaknesses which drew us back and did not coordinate our time management. Firstly we since we decided to have our film in night vision we had a hard time trying to navigate to this option, once we finally got it on night vision things did not work out according to our story board, this is because the camera given was old about 3 year old which is was a problem because video technologies are advanced nowadays. Meanwhile having an old camera and using it in night vision meant there was a certain distance that characters must be and this drew us back because full body language was not seen.

Secondly using the tri pod, using the tripod on a muddy surface was a tough shell to crack this meant that some shots had to be done by hand this did not go according to plan but it still worked. Thirdly another issue that shackled us was the old camera equipment technology is now advanced and we would have like our film to be HD ready. Lastly I another weakness was weather conditions it snowed on our opening sequence, and due to the short working week of school because of weather conditions, the day we decided to shoot another scene the snow was clear, which we mean that we had to start again this affected our time management. . Lastly another weakness was using final cut pro editing needed hard concentration this effected our time management

On the other hand our strengths overtook our troubles, having the location opposite our school allowed time management to be kept this meant that we did not have to travel to far distances. Secondly the old camera equipment we used helped enhance our thriller conventions because it meant that we where able to shoot out opening sequence in night vision which adds suspense and tension to the viewer that we achieved. Lastly using final cut pro was an amazing experience it helped us make effects which added more quality to our work and helped us in creating our mise-en-scene.

7.Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During the planning stage we researched several different openings of movies that fitted the generic conventions such as children of men, seven panic room and final destination and then analysed and compared them. In our preliminary task we learnt to use the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and also match on action, however because of the nature of our opening we did not need to include them in our opening for example the start of our opening begins with a reverse of the opening. Also we used a tracking movement of the characters walking with the monsters point of view, which we also included a dolly tracking movement in our preliminary task.

Planning for opening scene

 Location

This is a bird view of location where we decided to shoot our movie, this location is near our college so it is easy to film there. Having this location near our college was an advantage because it meant that we would not have to travel far distances. Also filming near our school was quiet there were no interruptions, apart from people who go for a walk in the park. Secondly having the location near our school meant that we did not have to struggle to carry all equipment. What made us to pick this location is the fact that it was suitable for idea for our thriller opening do we decided to give it a chance.


Weather

To make sure everything runs smoothly and to plan we searched for what the weather would be like for the day of our filming, as you can see the weather ran smoothly and the filming when went has we planned. Although we were not actually filming in daylight but we still had to make sure the weather that day was as planned because at bad weather conditions we would not be able to film.

Actors

The actors used in this opening sequence to a thriller movie our two teens, this is because teenagers are who we did our research on so we had to make that our characters coincided with our opening sequence. However we did base our characters in a stereotypical way buy making both of them males this was to attract this specific gender.

Name: Arnold

Character Name: Samuel

Character status: Samuel is an indeendant guy that likes to do things by himself. He does is like people telling him his wrong, he likes show his bravery by accepting challenges jut like in the synopsis of the opening thriller he his dared to enter the forest of the urban myth after school, he accepts the challenge just too prove his bravery to friends.

Name: Karim

Characters Name: peter

Characters status: He is a lonely guy in school does not have much friends and spends his time in the library all break and lunchtime he is a bit of a geek. In the opening sequence he shows a lot of fear when on his own.

Costumes

The costumes used in our opening sequence are based on our target audience which is male teenagers. We told the characters to bring clothes they would wear if they are going out. We also studied modern teenage dressing based in our college which was:

A plain black hood and jeans is what peter was wearing 

A check shirt and a pair of jeans this is what Samuel was wearing.

Synopsis

Synopsis

our film the urban myth is about two teenage kids who are dared by there friends to go to the forest after school, the urban myth says that there is a living creature in that forest. The two friends then decide to go after school and check if the legend is true what they do not know is that trouble awaits them. As the two decide to split up, you start to see the real fear of these teenage kids. Meanwhile one of the friends Arnold as a suspicion that something is following him, he takes a look round the tree to see if there anything there as soon as he turns around the creature takes him. Shortly after his friend gets attacked, the creature has made his new victim which is karim the second friend. Karim the looks back only to find out that the creature is behind him, however there is a twist the monster decides to spare him leaving karim to run of

Se7en Analysis

Camera Shots

Most of the camera shots in this opening sequence uses variable close ups, to illustrate a viewpoint of what this psychotic person is doing. It is shown in fine detail; to give the audience a point of view on what this observable serial killer is doing using a range of high angle shots to conclude this. Moreover the opening scene also uses close ups of objects such as: books, needles, and pictures of people close to death.

Sounds

The sounds that you hear throughout the opening scene are non diagetic; the instrumental of the music is so technical it’s sturdy to know what kind of instruments are been played.  The instrumental is rapidly done which adds suspense and tension to the audience, the scream in this music brings a sense of death and torture. However the non diagetic sounds given of in this opening scene suits the convention, it gives the audience a graphical idea of what the film is going to be about. 

Editing 

The editing used in this opening scene are rapid cuts, they go from one shot to another rapidly, and this builds the pace of the film adding suspense to the audience.  Moreover the cuts of the pictures shown in the opening scene suggest that the thoughts of this ambiguous person are disorientated and grotesque. The Text of the credit used in this opening sequence suggest that it is the hand writing of psycho, all these effects gives the audience the generic convention of this movie.

Mise-en-Scene  

There are variable amount of non artificial lighting because the setting was dark and gloomy with obscured images of people near death. This gives the sense of seclusion and the thought that this person is up to no good. There is a contrast of colours between black and white, because the setting is dark and gloomy then a lamp appears  which brings a sudden contrast. This could imply that this psychotic  person as two sides, although  we see his bad side in this opening sequence it gives it away that he may have an emotional soft side.