Audience Feedback

Comments

Those who view our opening sequence on Youtube are encouraged to comment on our video as a response; varying from criticisms to praise. Viewers are simply asked to share their opinion.

Below are the comments which were have been made on our video;

perfect :D

mehranclassic

love the underwater slow motion bits! so jealous!! :D

IAmGracesFace

Some really cool shots here, quite intelligent title placement and a great deal of suspence. Well done.

vkolzeev

Questionnaire

In order to receive accurate feedback from our audience our group put together a questionnaire consisting of questions which we thought were appropriate for our film.

Below is the questionnaire;
 

Name:
Age:
Nationality:

What was your overall reaction to the opening film sequence?

What do you think will happen in the rest of the film?

What did you think of the sound effects?

Did you think the text was legible? Y / N

What do you think of the actors’ performance?

What genre would you classify it as?

Would you go and see the film at the cinema? Y / N

TASK 7: Looking back at you preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

	PRELIMINARY TASK	MAIN TASK
THE SOPHISITCATION OF PLANNING AND PREPARATION	-Quite simplistic. -Took one day to plan. -We were working off of someone else’s storyboard and therefore didn’t have much decision making to do. -Actors and props were gathered through opportunity on the day/ the location was given to us as was equipment. -Had little freedom/responsibility.	-Very in-depth/detailed/ complicated -Took several weeks to plan actors/location/equipment/props etc. -Working at a large scale of production- we had freedom and responsibility. -We created a file in order to insure that everything was organised from equipment to permission of use for the location.
DEVELOPMENT OF FILM MAKING SKILLS	-Testing to see if we remembered our tutorial on cameras and filming. -We learnt to use a storyboard however it was not our original story. -I feel, what I learnt, mostly, from the task is how to behave on set. -I also learnt that it was good to listen to everyone's ideas.	-I learnt that you can tell a story without dialogue.  Through filming. -Filming skills had developed from classes by the time we reached storyboarding and therefore helped us come up with many ideas which we were very happy with. -I learnt that the communication between the actors and the filming crew is very important.
USE OF CAMERA	-Not very interesting/original shots just basic; wide shots, ECUs, CUs etc. -I learnt that preparation is vital for interesting/good quality shots. -Limited in shot production as we were working from a storyboard which was not created by us and we had to follow it. -We worked slowly at achieving shots as were reasonably new to cameras. -I learnt that the angle of the camera and eye-line is very important in terms of status.	-We had time to think, intelligently about our shots and new a lot more about camera shots on the day so time was not an issue. -I realised the importance of seeing the location, first-hand, before filming as some shots from our story-board were not possible to achieve. -We put the skills we had learnt from class into making original shots. -We used underwater shots which we had never done before but was a lot of fun and worked very well. -We were also aware of the importance of such things as continuity and the 180 degree rule.
DEVLOPMENT IN THE USE OF SOUND	-The element of sound in filming was new to us and therefore very basic. -The only sound which was in this task was diegetic; the dialogue and the ambient sound in the room. -The lack of attention payed to sound really lowered the quality of the film. This helped me to understand the importance of sound.	-Sound was much more complex as we used such programmes as Sound Track Pro. (STP) -We used STP to sometimes take out the ambient sound of the room as at times it was distracting. -We replaced some sounds filmed on day with recorded sound from STP to create a better effect e.g. the breathing -We also used STP to create non-diegetic sounds e.g. the eerie drone music and drums.
DEMONSTRATING YOUR ABILITY TO MASTER NEW TECHONOLOGY	-We were introduced to Final Cut Pro. To put our footage together. However we were not very creative here as we were just being shown the ropes. -Wasn’t very well edited and looking back I have many ideas which I could have used to make the sequence better. -We didn’t have much time to edit this task and therefore quality wasn’t as good as it could have been.  There was no fluidity; the cuts were very jumpy.	- We were reminded of Final Cut Pro and were introduced to Sound Track Pro and learnt to use After Effects for the title (but very basically). -The programmes which we were introduced to in this task gave our media sequence a much better quality. -Our experience with Final Cut Pro, previously, was very useful as we could no use it creatively. -We had much more time to do the editing in this task than the previous task and therefore added to the quality of the sequence as cuts were made more fluid.

TASK SIX: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

This sequence has annotations which we wrote for the task.

(To improve the quality 360p in the bottom right to 720pHD)

TASK FIVE- How did you attract/address your audience?

There are various themes/shots in our opening sequence which were used to attract/address our audience;

This screen grab is the opening shot to our title sequence. I believe this gives the film an element of mystery and eeriness which would attract an audience that are fans of the thriller genre.

This screen grab is an example of our underwater shot. These were done using a hand held camera which was placed in a “plastic bag” which was sealed tightly at the top.  To the right is this "plastic bag" which we used for the sequence.  This detail and quality of the film would attract a very Niche audience.

This shot is a screen grab of Bethany, one of the characters who is kidnapped in the film. Bethany could be attractive to a young male audience from 16-25. She is also dressed in very little cloathing, a swimming costume, which may also grab the attention of a large proportion of males.

This screen grab shows is an example of the voyeurism which the audience is made to feel by the strange angle and placing of the shots. This helps the audience to have a different perspective in the film and allows them to see danger coming. These kind of shots make a connection between the audience and the film, drawing them in.

This screen grab shows that we will attract a large audience through the swimming theme of the film. This is “social realism” as the Olympics, which Bethany is training so hard for, is in the UK in 2012 and is therefore constantly in the media. This would most definitely attract a large audience from the UK. It would also attract an audience worldwide as many countries are involved in the Olympic Games and would therefore be interested in this theme.

This screen grab of the kidnapper’s feet, again, adds a sense of mystery as we do not know who this man is. It also adds an element of danger. This was the intended effect in order to attract an audience who watch Crime Scene Investigator programmes.

TASK FOUR: Who would be the audience for your media project?

My media project would probably be rated a 15 as characters are put into life threatening situations which would involve strong violence and frequent strong language. As no-one younger than 15 may rent or buy or see a ‘15’ rated film the audience age would be 15 and above. I presume that it would attract 15-25 year olds/ young adults as it is for a mature yet youthful audience because of it’s modern edge. 

It would also attract people who watch such programmes as Criminal Minds (Produces by ABC Studios) as it contains the same theme of Investigators trying to find a serial-killer/kidnapper.

As the film fits into the genre of a thriller it would attract thrill-seekers.

As the film is related to the Olympic Games (a world-wide event) it would attract a wide audience- stretching across different countries.

In 2012 the Olympic games is being held in London, this would be convenient as it could be released close to this time as it would be a theme present in the Media and would therefore attract more people. It is also convenient that it is being held in London as it would seem that a  British film relating to the Olympics would be a hot topic.

TASK THREE: What kind of media institution might distribute your media project and why?

-       My media thriller is full of isolation, suspense and intensity as it is a modern psychological thriller.

-       Out of the production companies which I have studied (Warner Bros., Warp Films and Vertigo Films) I found that Vertigo Films would be the most suitable institution to distribute my thriller.

-       Vertigo Films is an Independent British Film Company which was created in 2002. Vertigo creates many films within the “thriller” genre which have been very successful (such as Shrooms, Monsters, The Wake Wood etc.) all of which have the same elements as Immersed. Vertigo also creates many high-concept films with a very small budget (e.g Monsters and Street Dance). They are an independent company trying to become “main-stream”.

-       I believe Immersed would be appropriate to be distributed by Vertigo as it has been designed to appeal to a mass audience. The plot for Immersed is rather “safe” as it is rather un-original meaning that the basis of the plot has been seen before and audiences have proven to be drawn to this.

The Plot

A teenage girl a with big dream of swimming for her country in the 2012 Olympics is threatened by a fellow team mate who takes her hostage and her only hope is two Crime Scene Investigators saving her before time runs out.

There are two elements of this plot which are seen in previous Vertigo Films;

1)    In Street Dance a girl a teenage girl, Carly, and her friend who all have big dreams of becoming professional street-dancers. 

2)    In WAZ there are two investigators trying to find a serial killer. This film also involves an element of time pressure as “body’s” keep appearing and every moment lost is a life lost.

TASK TWO: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Throughout life we see particular social groups and stereotypes which all seems to begin at high-school/ secondary school.

We see this in such films as “Mean Girls” (produced by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mark Waters).

This idea that we must belong to a certain social group is prominent in society, especially in youthful years, as teenagers are trying to find their identity.

Two of the social groups listed in “Mean Gils” which relate to the character of the swimmer in my thriller sequence are;

-JV Jocks (a person who actively and competitively competes in sporting events)

-Varsity Jocks (a person who represents a university/college in a sports team)

However, the character of the swimmer in “Immersed” is a female obsessed with sports. This is therefore subverting the stereotype of the male obsessed with sports as the gender stereotype is reversed.

An American television drama series, Make It or Break It, focuses on the lives of teen gymnasts who strive to make it to the Olympic Games (Directed by Steve Miner and produces by ABC Family). This program is centered on females who aim to be in the Olympics. This is the same social group which is representing in my product.

People like Rebecca Adlington, the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908, began swimming aged 4 and competing aged 10.

The social group, where such people as Rebecca Adlington belong is the social group which I am representing in my project. A group of girls who, from a young age, are committed, determined and obsessed with sports and hope to peruse it as a career.

As the main character in my sequence is a so obsessed/immersed in swimming she is distracted. She is therefore vulnerable.

This is also quite stereotypical, as the girl who is isolated, distracted and alone is shown to be vulnerable. We see many examples of this in adverts to warn teenagers to pay attention while crossing the road as they are usually listening to music on their IPod or texting on the phone. This stereotype of teenagers being distracted, unaware and vulnerable is also present in my product.

Below is video of this representation in tranpsot for london's advert for road safety where a girls dreams are "shattered" as she "dies before she lives" as she is unaware and distracted.

TASK ONE: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

These nine images are all screen grabs from our thriller. They are in chronological order.

         1)This opening shot, personally, is my favourite. I chose to do this when we were originally creating the story board as when I watched the opening sequence to “Don’t Look Now” in class there is a shot held for several seconds zooming into the water/ river. In “Don’t Look Now” the water shot seems to be saying “there is something beneath the surface”. In “Immersed” there is this same effect as the stillness of the water is very eerie and makes the audience uneasy. This is the same way we feel throughout the opening sequence to “Don’t Look Now”. In “Don’t Look Now” the rain is constantly breaking the surface of the water but in “Immersed” the water is completely still until the girl dives into it and there is a loud splash, breaking the tension yet shocking the viewer.

         2)The shots of the stopwatch, which are continuously being showed throughout the sequence is the element of time which I hoped would be a theme throughout the film. This enforces and adds;

-The idea that time is running out.

This is seen in many programmes and films particularly in WAZ (Produced by Vertigo) where the two investigators must find out who the serial killer is before any more lives are lost.

-Tension.

It gives the audience foresight- showing them that something bad is going to happen.

This shot also shows the swimmers obsession with the sport and her strong desire to do her fastest time yet in order to get herself to the Olympics.

         3)This underwater shot of the girl doing a tumble turn adds to the theme of isolation as she is cut off from the “real world”- literally because she is underwater but metaphorically because she is distracted by her obsession of winning.

          4)We chose this shot of the girl swimming toward the stopwatch for a screen-grab because it illustrates our choice of font. We chose to have;

-Simple, sophisticated font.

We believed that the modern edge to the scene made it sophisticated and the naturalism and lack of dialogue in the scene made it simple. Therefore we chose the font which we thought fitted well with the scene.

We also thought it would be best to keep it simple as we didn’t want to hint, through the text, that the girl was in danger e.g. by using red font.

-The title placed on the tiles and other plain backgrounds

This made the font convenient as the viewer easily read the titles. I believe this to be very important because people spend moths/years working on films and they deserve to receive credit.

         5)This slow- motion shot of Bethany doing a tumble-turn is in order to;

-Cause confusion as the audience’s view of Bethany is obstructed by splashing water.

-Show the audience that Bethany is imagining herself in a swimming competition as often in races the competitors actions, good/bad are repeated in slow-motion.

-It also build up intensity and tension as time is slowing down showing the viewer to know that something bad is going to happen, and soon.

         6)This slow-motion of Bethany coming up for a breath was done in order to add to tension as the sequence comes to a climax. We also used a recorded sound of a girl breathing as (due to the slow-motion) Bethany’s breathing was very low and almost inaudible. By putting in this recording it added to the idea of desperation as it is a strong gasp for air. The breathing also sound quite internal reminding us that Bethany is completely immersed in the swimming and is completely unaware of what is going on.

         7)This shot is the second of two underwater shots which are disjointed and add to the confusion and discomfort of the scene. It also makes the viewer feel slightly disorientated and quite nauseous, again adding to the audience’s discomfort.

         8)This tracking shot of Adam’s feet again builds up the tension as he gets closer and closer. Along with the animalistic/tribal drumming the audience is made to feel uncomfortable, again, and possibly even fearful.

         9)We chose this shot as a screen grab as we spent a while using After Effects to make a very subtle ripple and reflection of the title. This adds to the theme of swimming/water-sports which is continued through the plot of Immersed as people from British swimming teams start to go missing.  

My Media Opening Sequence- "Immersed"

The Shoot Day

-When we arrived at the location, on time, after creating a “shot list” (which helped us to organise ourselves for the day ahead of us) and gathering together all the equipment we needed for the day.

-For the "shot list" we went through our story board writing down the number of the shots which had the camera in the same position as another shot so that we wouldn't have to repeat the same shot several times. 

The Shot List looked something along the lines of this;

1 (shot of water)

2 (above shot of girl diving)

6, 12 (swimming along pool from side)

4, 17, 18, 24 (underwater shots)

3, 9 (Close-up of girl’s face while swimming)

10 (close up of feet kicking)

13 (wide shot of girl swimming towards stop watch)

14, 16 (of girl looking at stop watch from side of pool)

15 (POV from girl of stop watch)

19 (close up of bottom of opening door)

20, 22, 23 (following shots of Father’s feet and of father standing)

21 (wide shot of girl swimming)

25 (head on shot of girl coming to end of pool)

26, 28 (POV from father)

27 (POV from girl)

29 (girl getting out of pool)

31 (girl putting on towel- medium shot)

The photo above is of us using our shot-list which is in the folder we created. The folder consisted of the story-board, the cast-list, location photos, letters of permition, the plot etc. 

-We began as soon as we had set up the equipment and had the team and actors were “standing by”. 

The above photo is of the tracks which we layed down for our tracking shot.

The above photo is of me setting up the tri-pod onto the track for the tracking shot.

When we did a practice shot we realised that the camera was much too high for our ideal shot.

 We then decided to tape the camera to the bottom of the tri-pod in order to get the shot we'd hoped for. However, we found this shot diffiuclt as we wanted to assure that there was balanced camera movement and wanted tothat the actors feet were in frame the whole time. Finally, after several takes we finally got the right shot.

-I enjoyed filming as I could remeber everything we were initially taught about camer-work. It was also very exciting as I learnt how to create a slow-motion shot.

The photo to the right is of a wide-shot through the camera.

The photo to the left is of me filming the wide-shot of Bethany swimming in the pool.

-We were happy with our choice in actors as Bethany, in particular, was very easy to work with. Even though she had to do a lot of continuous swimming she worked her hardest in order to not waste shooting time. 

The photo above is of me talking to bethany whilst the group is preparing for the next shot. I realised the importance of assuring that the actor knows what the crew's intentions are, before the shot, in order for them to give it their best effort. I learnt that communication between the actor and the crew is very important.

 Above is a photo of bethany. We assured that she was comfortable/ ready to begin the next shot as it can be very tiring swimming length after length without a proper break. By giving Bethany this time for a "breather" it allowed her to perform her best leaving Bethany and crew very happy with her work at then end of the day.

-On the day, as we were seeing the location first-hand for the first time, we came up with lot of new ideas for shots which we were very happy with.

e.g an ECU underwater shot of Bethany's hands (as shown below) and body as she is swimming which was very disorientating to the audience and added to the unnerving aspect of the sequence.

-We worked very well together as a group and found that our planning helped us hugely in terms of organisation as we finished with time to spare.

The photo above is of us planning which shots to do at what time and when would be an appropriate time for breaks. 

Problems which we experienced on the day were;
- Some shots which we had originally planned to do wouldn't be possible as we were seeing the location, first hand, for the first time.

e.g an underwater shot of the girl diving into the pool as the length and width of the pool wasn't large enough to create the sought after shot.

- The lighting in the room constantly changed as we were using natural lighting (the sun).

e.g we had difficulties with the exposure setting on the camera as the lighting could change mid-shot and then the exposure would be too high. We also noticed that this would create problems for us later in editing as the lighting would change throughout the sequence.

This is a picture of a friend who we asked to hold a towl up to the window in order to block the sunlight so that the exposure didn't change during a shot. This was a done as a last resort because we hadn't thought about problems with natural lighting in our preperation.

In Conclusion, I learnt many things, some of which to do again and others never to do again. It was a great exeperience and I am looking forward to editing the shots to creat my thriller sequence.