Title Sequence Evaluation Forever

Prada Nayar

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The titles in our Thriller film were an aspect which were very quick to decide upon due to our sub genre of film noir we had chosen. This allowed us to have a distinct vision of how we wanted our titles to be, creating a sense of class yet simplicity at the same time. Although we had this idea we werent entirely sure how to materialise it, and so looked back on our previous research. We came across a couple of Thrillers which simply had white titles against a black background, for example Se7en which we though was effective in presenting the tone across the film. After consideration we came to the realisation that this was also a generic convention among film noir. We immediately came to the decision of enforcing this within our title sequence, so we use a default serif font available on premier as we felt it reflected the time period well along with conveying a sense of sophistication. We additionally incorporated the feature of fading the title onto the footage as we had seen in Se7en.
The music within our title sequence is incorporated in a similar way to Black Swan. As a group we thought that the music used was played an important role in setting the tone of the film. However due to the restriction of only being able to use copyright free music we found it difficult finding the perfect track. Although we realised we had the advantage of one our group members being able to play the piano, which if played in the correct way we thought would create a mysterious, intriguing feel.

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

We incorporated a shadow in our media product as we had learnt it was a key convention within a film noir/ crime genre. We were inspired to recreate this convention after having researched the film This Gun For Hire 1942 with the same crime/ film noir genre as ours. The shadow shows a close up of our antagonist murdering our protagonist, the use of the shadow tones down the brutality of the scene. Using low-key lighting as well as emphasizing shadows, the film noir look captures the dark side of the sequence. Despite low-key lighting and shadows being a generic convention we also thought it would add a sense of volume and depth in our sequence that embodies the film noir style.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? All of the characters in our film fit into our target audience, which is a broad
15- 50 years. I think this is effective as the audience will be able to relate to the characters situation and feelings. For example our female audience will be able to familiarise themselves with our protagonist through the date experience she is having. She portrays a sense of enthusiasm and excitement to finally be on this date. However due to the antagonists ill intent, visible through his facial expressions and body language feelings of sympathy are encouraged for Shauna, which further engages the audience. We intended the antagonist to be male in order to follow the stereotype of male dominance over a a weak female which was significant during the 1950s ; the time period we chose to set our film in. We decided on a stereotypical representation of gender to increase the verisimilitude of the film. There is a stereotypical role of a female who is helpless and considerably weaker in comparison to the male character. Women are presented in a stereotypical way, the female is young, beautiful and well presented although this alters as the film progresses she is later shown dead after being murdered by the male, a scene involving extreme gore, ultimately conveying the extent of power he had. In our film we used mainly White British actors, as we felt it was required for the time period we used. However we also used an Asian British actor in order to show diversity within our film as well as widening our audience base, relating to other races. The social class of our actors is represented through various aspects of our film. We represented the Upper Middle Class, conveying an extent of wealth fitting in with our target audience. The costume is suited to the time period and at the same time reflects the social class. This is also visible through the car used within the film and also the storyline, which involves a date to the theatre, which was activity people of a certain wealth were able to do.

3. What kind of media institution would distribute your product and why?
Forever would be distributed as a television movie, being released to entertain. I have chosen this particular media institution due to film noir being a niche genre, only enjoyed by certain people. I feel if it were to be distributed by any other media institutions it would not be as successful as it would not appeal to a mass audience and not many people would be as willing to spend money to watch a film genre they are not familiar with; however if the film was on television they would be more willing to try it out. Therefore I think that this film would receive the most success through television distribution as it is aimed at a broader audience of varying ages, and so televisions are more accessible to the audience range. Being a television film, it could be viewed by a wider audience and possibly also attracts viewers outside our target audience.

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

As a group we thought the appropriate age for our target audience would be 15- 50 as we felt our film would interest a range of ages. We incorporated both male and female characters in out film aiming at an audience of both genders. However the plot of our film shows a negative representation of men, which therefore may result in a female heavy audience. The film noir genre has lead us to make specific decisions such as colour and font choice etc. For example, detail as a serif font is stereotypically considered as feminine thus appeal more to a female audience. However, it could appeal to a number of males because we have used a large amount of thriller conventions such as: sound and narrative. Men are stereotypically known to have interest in crime, violence and gore which is a major part within our film therefore would largely appeal to a male audience too. The film is set in England therefore the majority of the audience base would be English. There are a few reasons relating to the content of film regarding our choice of film certification. The plot of out title sequence includes some scenes which are not suitable for an audience below the age of 15 years. The film shows a scene of brutal murder by our antagonist, followed by a gory scene of our protagonists death, containing blood filled imagery.

5. How did you attract/ address you audience?

We created this title sequence, keeping our target audience in mind (15-50). Due to the broad range of ages of our audience I thought the camera work and mise-en-scene could be more varied as we werent targeting a particular age group and these aspects could therefore be used as a key tool to draw the attention of the audience. For example, varied shots such as P.O.V gives the audience an insight of what the character is seeing through their eyes and furthermore puts the audience in the same position as the character enabling them to further engage with the film. I think this is very important as our audience can therefore relate to our characters. Additionally, the E.C.U of the death scene was solely intended to grasp the audiences attention due to extent of gore. It was particularly intended to encourage a shock as it is unexpected and increases the sympathetic feelings which were created through the protagonists initial inferiority.

The P.O.V shot brings the audience into the degesis, allowing them to view the antagonists perspective. They see the antagonist wiping his knife which is the first indication that he has murdered her. This P.O.V subverts typical P.O.Vs which generally take the perspective of the protagonist. This leaves the audience with a sense of confusion as to why he has killed her, along with intrigue about what is going to happen next.

I also think the narrative attracts the audience, this is due to the unexpected murder of the protagonist without any hints of why it occurred, ultimately encouraging audiences to want to continue watching further.

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Before beginning my foundation portfolio I feel I was blind in the sense of the various equipment and editing software which were required to create my film. As a group, we were all new to these softwares and equipment so were forced to teach ourselves through YouTube tutorials as well as help from our teacher. Out of both processes, editing and filming I feel all of us were more confident with filming and using the the tripod and camera. However as we approached editing stages I was initially quite reluctant as Jade seemed to be quite good with it, but as time progressed we all cooperated and took part in the editing process. After having played around with Adobe Premier Pro I became used to it and enjoyed using it, familiarising myself with all the tools and functions available on it. I thought it was fun putting together such a big project with so many different pieces to create a final film. There were so many aspects to creating just a two minute film. I have learnt how to create the titles, adding effects to the clip and making tailoring the sound clip to suit the video.

We wanted a black and white effect across our whole title sequence however use the leave colour feature as we had come across in Sin City during our research stages. We intended to keep the red colour in the tie of the antagonist and his car, despite several attempts to do so we were unable to do so successfully because of the subtle red/pink coloring in the actor faces and body which discolored the individual red feature. During a few of our filming sessions we did struggle setting up the tripod, due to the high demand for them there was little choice if you booked them out at the wrong time. So there were some times where we had to work with wonky tripod and uncharged cameras.

7.Looking back at your continuity task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I think its fair to say that my group and I have improved dramatically from our continuity task. Our skills on camera work and editing have come a long way from where we started and I feel that as a group we have learnt vital skills for future film making. I have learnt that detailed research into the genre, planning and creating a film are all crucial elements for a successful production. Research into genre and past Thriller openings has enhanced my understanding of how to create a successful opening by comprehending the codes and conventions. In order to make a professional film for the audience we had to ensure that elements such as choice of lighting, shots and narrative were met, as these are the elements that indicate to the audience the genre of the film. I can certainly say I have made great progression from my continuity task up until the final product. I have particularly learnt the importance of organisation skills in order to achieve the most success within our film. Furthermore, I felt storyboarding in our planning stages was really helpful when attempting to achieve the best I could. We created a detailed storyboard with explanations about: camera, mise-en-scene and editing. The storyboard allowed us to visualise how the final product should turn out, and gave us an idea of what we were doing when filming and editing. When approaching filming stages, the storyboard helped us recall the shots which we initially planned and their length. Since my continuity task I think my camera, editing and organisational skills have all improved. Before having done the continuity task I lacked confidence in these areas and hadnt the slightest idea about them. For example I was unaware of how to use and stand a camera on the tripod efficiently, and during the task I still found difficulties in familiarising myself with equipment and software. However in our final task, we werent as immature as we were previously having had slight practice, although we did still struggle as this task was more challenging, which meant more time and effort had to be spent on it. Practice during planning stages I feel were a great advantage as we were preparing ourselves for what we had to do and so did them with ease despite a couple of change we made to the narrative which are mentioned previously.