5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Our target audience for our Opening Sequence was males and females aged 16 to 24. We needed to find out what they would expect to see in a Thriller Opening Sequence so we carried out a series of questionairres (which we gave to people within this age bracket)  and analysed the results that we got. The questions that we asked are as follows:

- How old are you?
- Are you male or female?
- What types of characters are expected?
- What do you expect to see in the first 20 seconds of a Thriller film?
- What sounds/music are expected?

The results that we recieved were viewed as very stereotypical approaches, as the majority of people (and the most popular answers) expected to see a 'damsel in distress' as a character, to hear what we described as 'eerie and creepy music' and to be introduced to the main characters in the first 20 seconds of the actual programme.



Final Pie Charts

Analysing My Genre Through Vox Pops.

Alongside the questionairre analysis, we also created Vox Pops which included us asking a different series of people various questions about the conventions of the Thriller Genre and what they would expect to see. These Vox Pops gave us various ideas and creative inspiration for when we went on to actually plan our Opening Sequence and then film it. Looking back on our Vox Pops, we have challenged some of the stereotypes but also adhered to some of them as well, this will help us address our audience and target the JINCAR of people we were aiming to target when we started the project.

Preliminary Task

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

What technologies have you used?

In the making of this product I have used technologies such as Blogger, the Macs, Slide Rocket, Prezi, Bubbl, Go Animate, Screen Grabbing, YouTube Annotations, Still Image cameras, a Tripod, a Go Pro camera, a HD camera, Livetype, iMovie, Final Cut, Da Font and YouTube itself. These different technologies have all had a positive impact on my final product and have helped boost my grade. They have also helped improve my creativity throughout the project.

What technologies are brand new to you?

What technologies have you developed your skills in?

I have developed my skills in camera work. I have learnt how to frame a shot properly adhering to the rule of thirds and using different techniques effectively and I have also learnt how to film using a HD camera where I have used a pan shot and a POV shot. Here are some examples of some shots I personally filmed:

 

What technologies have allowed you to produce something creative?

 

Using the Go Pro camera to film the underwater shots was creative because it created an obscured effect which emphasised the fact that it was a flashback (during the Opening Sequence) rather than in present time. Reversing a shot in iMovie was also creative because it completely changed the meaning and the mood of what the shot was supposed to mean, which was simple yet effective at the same time and fitted in with our editing better.

 

What technologies have allowed you to display your work in a creative way?



What technologies need careful use or planning?

Livetype needs careful planning because you must know the font, placing/positioning of the title, the timing of the titles etc because going ahead to do what you are doing. Final Cut is also fiddly and needs some kind of knowledge before you use it. We used Final Cut to create our Production Logo ‘Invisible Ink’ and layered the filming we took of image on top of the landscape and then added font afterwards.

Were there any times you had to do something again because you hadn’t used the technology correctly?

The Go Pro shot needing redoing because we didn’t frame it correctly and therefore could have been confusing to the audience. I also re done a Prezi before because I didn’t realise you were able to add images and illustrations and just needed time to get used to the fact that it was a new technology. Here are some screen grabs of shots that we took using the Go Pro camera:

 

What have new technologies allowed you to do that old ones wouldn't?

Technologies such as the Macs and iMovie have allowed us to push our creativity to the next level because for example, even if your shot has gone completely wrong or you feel like something is too dark or too bright, iMovie allows you to immediately change this. Another thing people tend to forget about are the thousands of websites such as Da Font and Garage Band which adhere with the Macs and also allow us to take risks and oppurtunities that we couldn't of done before.

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

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

I think a generalised age group that our media product targets are 17-25. Even though I feel that both males and females could enjoy our media product, I think it is mainly (and stereotypically) aimed at males because they would be seen to enjoy this kind of storyline and would perhaps be able to relate to it as well. When I think about the kind of person that would watch our media product, I have a certain and idealised character in mind. This person would probably be a student, and they would be interested in media and film. Their geographical location would definitely be within the United Kingdom (meaning that they, also, would be British), however they would be at University it could be based anywhere in the country.  The fact that they are at University means that they must have had a decent education and are motivated to do well. They should belong to the middle class ‘JICNAR’. The interest they have in media and film would drive them to watch other TV programmes that adhere to the Crime Drama and Thriller genre, such as Criminal Minds, CSI, Wallander and films such as The Sixth Sense, The Pact and Unborn. This person would have hobbies such as going to the Pub, going to the cinema and generally socialising with friends. However, students are the most well-known stereotypical group for budgeting their money so this person’s hobbies would be dependent on how much disposable income they have at any specific time. This person would visit websites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to keep in contact with their friends; they would also visit websites such as Vimeo and Blogger to keep up with their media and film interests. They would read books occasionally but would also read magazines about current affairs, films, the media, music and fashion. They would listen to Rock and Indie music; wear dark and very simplistic clothing which they have brought from shops such as ‘Urban Outfitters’ and ‘Size?’. They would be categorised within the ‘Indie’ subculture because of their appearance, personality and their interests. All of these things add up to be the demographic of my audience.

This person (alongside the others in my audience) would have other personal interests such as creative writing, cinematography and shopping. They would have good values which have lead them to live a good lifestyle, including being healthy and drinking appropriate amounts of alcohol. Their behaviour would be good and they would have behaved reasonably throughout their school lives in order to get to where they are today. However, they would have been easily distracted, leading them into their interest in media and film. Other popular media products that they may consume would include Fight Club, Scream and the other products that I previously mentioned. These things all add up to be the psychographic of my audience.

Draft 2

Question 3 presented supervisually

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

As a group, we have chosen Miramax Films to be our distributor as we felt it would suit the mood and genre of our opening sequence and the idea that it conveys. Miramax is a leading worldwide film and television studio. Known for distributing either foreign or independent films, Miramax was founded in 1979 by two brothers, Bob and Harvey Weinstein and was based in both New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Miramax Films is a unique kind of Distribution Company because they sell directly and license globally through strategic partnerships such as Lionsgate, Hulu and StudioCanal. This is unusual because most Distribution companies do not sell directly, and this is part of the reason why we decided to choose them. Miramax have a name for distributing films that have had previous rejections from larger and more prestigious companies such as Paramount. These films would generally have a reasonable budget. However, Paramount focus more on pleasing wider range of audiences such as families, and our film doesn’t fit this criteria and our target audience is quite narrow and niche, therefore we thought that Miramax would suit us and our general style, better.

Miramax are neither large nor small, and I wouldn’t say they were ‘indie’ or ‘well-known’ which is another reason why we picked them as although our film is mainly ‘Thriller’ is would contain elements of horror, action and espionage. So like the distributor, it is varied. Some films that Miramax have distributed are Scream, Hellraiser, Pulp Fiction and The English Patient. All of which have been very successful, not just in America but all over the globe. Being successful has been the route which many of Miramax’s films have taken, however it hasn’t necessarily been the route that all of their films have taken.

Miramax Films use similar advertising techniques to many other films when they are first released. This will include billboard advertisements, television, radio, magazines, newspapers, etc. The scale on which this is done however, will be different according to both the film itself (whether it is suitable for advertisement) and the budget that it actually has. The kind of audience that we are targeting is male and female, aged from 16 to 30 year olds.