Audience Research

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Storyboard For Preliminary Task

The last two pictures were not included in the final piece instead we ended it at picture No. 13 where he grabs the man from behind. This our rough sketches of our film but you can see what our intentions were and what we wanted to achieve.

Script For Preliminary Task

(Flynn walking down corridor hears conversation and is attracted)

Me: (shot of me through door)…… Im all alone now, Look at what you’ve done, you are my only friend

(Flynn looks in/close up of me)

He’s going to get what’s coming to him, he didn’t listen to me

Van: (Over the shoulder) teach him a lesson….. Gut him like a fish

Me: (As Flynn walks in) Im a nice guy I never meant to hurt him…… but he’s next

Flynn: (As camera pans): What’s going on?

We used all of this dialogue into our film as it was the best way to get across the story of our piece in such a short time, The dialogue was effective because it didn't give to much away but gave a lot of hints as to what was happening.

Mind Map Of A Thriller Film

This is a mind map of what the conventions of a thriller film are, what's included and needed in this genre.
 When incorporating this into our films we used a lot of them as it was best to build tension in the film. With props in our final film, we used a torch for the character to shine around, this was effective because a lot of films incorporate this into as it brings across a lot of fear when having the scene shot in the dark without being able to see much of the surroundings.
With locations we went with an old fashioned large house, this is typically used in most horror/thriller films as they hold a lot of mystery inside them because it's so large the audience don't know what is going to happen.
For characters we used the stereotypical 'damsel in distress' where the innocent girl in white is being chased/haunted by some sort of presence. This was used because we thought it was best way to get the most audience reaction.

Detailed Analysis Of Nightmare On Elm Street

9 Frames from the opening of The Horde

I chose these shots because i feel these are of most importance and when the tension in the scene is high.

Timeline of The Horde

9 Frames from the opening of Tenacious D

I chose these shots because i feel these are of most importance and when the tension in the scene is high.

Timeline Of Tenacious D and the pick of destiny opening scene

9 Frames from the opening of Psycho

I chose these shots because i feel these are of most importance and when the tension in the scene is high.

Timeline Of Psycho

Video Presentation of a detailed analysis on NightMare on Elm Street

Max Farmer, Emily Millet, Emma Bradshaw, Flynn Jarvis

Detailed Analysis Of Tenacious D In the Pick Of Destiny

This is the shots from the opening scene which link to the analysis

In the town of Kickapoo, Missouri a young Jack Black known as JB or Jables is punished by his strictly religious father for playing rock music, whilst shut in his room, he asks for guidance from his poster of Ronnie James Dio, who springs to life and tells him to go to Hollywood on a quest to form the worlds most awesome rock back. After years of travelling to every other city named Hollywood in America, a full grown Jables meets a guitar player called Kyle Gass known as KG or Kage who is a street performer in L.A. and begins to look up to him because of his "skills and attitude"

The first shot of the film is a establishing shot which shows the setting of the scene, from the shot the audience can see a equilibrium of a everyday house which would be associated in some sort of neighborhood. Also from them mise-en-scene you can see the walls are clear white to represent this house as pure and natural. There are also credits on the screen to show to the audience where about in the world the film is set.

The next shot shows a cross on the wall, from the mise-en-scene the audience are instantly attracted to this because the camera zooms out from the cross and also the light is directed onto the cross to lighten it up and make it stand out in front of the wall, Also this represents to the audience that this household is religious.

The shot then goes to the dinner table to show the family that live in this household, in the shot you can see the family praying at the table, this shows there religious and also by each character wearing white represents them being pure and innocent along with the house hold which is also white all over.

However there is one seat missing, this makes the audience question the film as to why another family member isn't sitting there, where is he and why isn't he praying with the rest of his family.

Suddenly the shot changes to a room where there is now a brown cross that is upside down, this represents someone who doesn't believe in religion and that there purity has gone which contrasts to the family household, also there are famous rock band posters on the wall which wasn't like the rest of the house so this might be introducing the other member of the family that may be different from the others.

Then enters this character, he is wearing casual clothes including jeans and a black t-shirt,  this shows that this character is different from the rest of his family because there not wearing identical clothes or anything white. Also the character is holding a guitar, wearing a rock band t-shirt, and doing the rock hand gesture and along with the posters in the previous shot this shows that this character loves rock and loves to perform and listen  to it.

The character then goes on to sing a rude, inappropriate song that the parents are appalled by, this shows the nature of this character how he is rebellious from his family and doesn't follow their beliefs,     

The father suddenly gets up and starts to take off this belt, these leaves the audience uneasy cause they can expect what’s going to happen, that the father is going to whip this boy because he doesn't do what he is told, this also shows to the audience what type of household this is, that if they don’t abide to their parents rules then they will be extremely punished for there actions.                              

The father then begins to punish the boy, he has bent him over his lap to represent his authority and higher status over him and begins to whip him, and the child does not like this but has to do it because he has no power over the elder. Also by the room, the mise-en-scene shows you can tell this is the kids life style, he is a fan of the rock genre because his bed covers are black to show his rebellious evil side, it’s messy and there are rock posters everywhere so the audience already pick up information about this child.

The father then begins to shout at the child in a two mid shot for what he has done telling him why was he born if he disobeys his father’s orders and he’s obsession with rock music has made him a ‘mindless puppet’, the child doesn't seem to care about this he seems to be more angry and what’s to do something about it but he can’t due to his lack of power.

His father then begins to rip down his posters and turns the cross the right way round, this shows how his power is over throwing the child’s ambitions and beliefs because his father wants him to live the way he tells him to.

When the father leaves however strangely the child starts to pray, this confuses the audience because they believed he was a rebel and didn't believe in religion, however in the next shot it shows he is praying to a poster that his father didn't pull down which is surrounded by fire and skulls which then puts the audience back to believing the child is a rebel because he is praying to demons.

The poster then becomes animated and starts to sing to the child telling him he must run away from home and disobey his parents, this follows the rock genre because rock is associated with rebellious behavior etc , also when the poster comes alive this adds to the humor of the situation because this would never happen in real life.

The child then starts to run away from home, in the shot you see the child climbing out of his window, this however makes the audience worried because he is only young so they believe he will not be able to cope living on the streets by himself.

The child then starts his travels and instead of following him it just shows a cartoon map of where he is going, this in a way shows the setting of the film and establishes the scene because it showing the different places and by the Hollywood California sign it shows this place is in America.

The audience are then reassured of their worries because it now shows the child fully grown up now but he is still wearing the same type of clothing which signifies that he is in a way still immature and a child because he has had no education because he ran away and he still resorts to casual clothing.

Detailed Analysis of The Horde

This are frames of the opening which link to the analysis

The horde is a French horror film based on a zombie apocalypse in modern day France. The main story line is a posse of crooked cops, malevolent gangsters and a horde of zombies. Penned like animals on the top floor of a deserted high rise block, these two opposing gangs find that they are not alone in the lair of bloodthirsty corridors of death. Joining forces to survive, they must reach ground level together or perish. Loaded with heavy weaponry, bad attitudes, axes and extremely creative hand to hand combat sequences that project the fears and paranoia that are the fighting forces behind the need to survive when caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time situation.

The first shot of few shots of the film are the names of companies that have produced the film, this lets the audience see who created the film and know if the reputation of the company will follow with the film.

The first character we see is someone who appears to be dead, this instantly makes the audience guess, has the apocalypse already started? Has this man been murdered? Is he a zombie as well? This automatically hooks the audience straight from the start due to the mise-en-scene

The next shot we see is a close up of the dead man’s hands, this changed the opinions of the audience straight away and more questions have risen, is this man in prison, was he kidnapped and murdered, why is he tied up, all this is questioned but nothing has been given away by the film which makes this very effective

The next shot instantly wipes away all the questioning about what happened to the man when the camera zooms out to show a man’s arm in front of the man, this shows that this unknown man did this to the dead body, you do not see the identity of the man except for his tattoo, this might lead on to something in a later date so this gives the audience something to remember as the story progresses.

However the shot cuts instantly changes to a grave yard where all characters in the shot are wearing black, this shows that these people may be related to the guy in the previous scene and are going to bury him after his death, Actors and Crew members are shown in the scene to give the audience information into the film.

Then enter these characters, the camera are specifically showing these individual characters to show these will be important throughout the film, also these people look out of place, there costume isn't fully black outfits, there more casual and relaxed to show that these are rebellious, don’t stick to rules kind of people which may hint there part of some gang or they had something to do with the passing of the dead guy.

Suddenly the shot changed to this run down, dark, horrible look apartment building, this establishes the setting of the film and shows that the story line will be based here, This shows to the audience that even without the zombies this isn't a nice place to live which makes them feel uneasy about the story and what kind of things they’re going to see when the characters enter this place.

The character from the previous scene are then shown from a boot of a car loading up on guns and ammunition, this shows that this will be an action packed film with a lot of fighting and violence and also that these characters are expecting a fight of some sort with the people there going to kill, this shot is a worms view of them which gives off the effect that these people are big and powerful and you wouldn't want to mess with them because of it,  Also due to the armory and heavy guns the audience may think these people are cops that are doing a job to find whoever killed the man in the previous scene which makes the audience go on their side and start empathizing with them.The mise on scene shows this.

However in the following shot that assumption is quickly removed because they are now wearing face masks to hide their identities which stereotypes criminals which shows to the audience that these people aren't meant to be in that place, which now changed the opinion that they may be criminals going to commit crimes against the residents living in the apartments so the audience are left guessing.

A fight scene in a 2 person mid shot then occurs and it shows one of the characters not using their weapon which may show a little sympathy for the people they are attacking and how he doesn't want to kill anyone while doing the job, this makes the audience sympathize with this certain character because he seems like a man with a conscience so they can relate however his team mate comes along and stabs the guy he just attacked which automatically shows that some of the other characters do want to kill people which goes back to the audience feeling intimidated by these people and shows even though there the main characters, they still aren't nice people.

Title of the film is then shown to the audience in big bold colours surrounded by a black background, however the colours of the title has red in it, this represents blood and death so this shows that there will be horror and death involved in the story 

The Grudge

Another group from my class that consisted of Hannah Edwards, Zak Rodgers and Van and they analysed the opening for the grudge and gave us feedback on what they found.

The first few scenes are the credits that show the names of crew and actors however there are surrounded by drops of blood and there are loud noises in the background to scare and make the audience uneasy.

The language of the credits show the setting of the film and in this case it is in Japan, Then suddenly the writing is covered in a red background which represents danger and death to show the setting isn't pleasant.

You get a glimpse of the girl and her wet hair, this shows to the audience what film this is because that look is iconic because viewers have seen this in the past.

Then a scene occurs that is in black and white to show a flashback in the olden times, but also alternates between credits and a fight scene involving a young girl and a older man presuming its her father, he appears to be angry and starts to attack her, he then breaks the girls neck and you get a close up of her face to show her innocence and sadness in her face. there are also disturbing scenes of the man killing a cat and his son which makes the audience extremely uneasy whilst watching the scene.

The scene then become modern day by the shot type and the house is shown, its a unpleasant looking house with chains around the gate to show something bad happened here and no one should go inside, a girl is then shown creeping down the stairs which is her trademark and which the film is most famous for and it then shows her killing other people which knocks the innocence that the viewer thought about her and they now dislike her for what she is doing.

The Ring

Another group in my class consisting of, Zoe Woodhouse, Kelsey Duffy, Max Canning and Ellie Bull analysed the opening of the ring and gave feed back to the class of what they discovered.

The film starts with the company who produced the film, DreamWorks, the style in which the logo is shown is in a static style and this contrasts with the theme and genre of the film because the static relates to the television screen where the horror takes place.

The first shot of the film we get a establishing shot of the house, the house seems to be isolated and very dark with only one room with a light on, this makes the house seem vulnerable which fits with one of the conventions of horror where the setting is a unpleasant looking environment.

When the shot switches inside the house, at first the bedroom seems quite cosy which is opposite from the out side of the house but the television is on which causes flashing and images to be projected behind the two actors watching it which makes the viewer think they saw something move which builds tension.

The two characters then begin to have a conversation, while this is taking place, the camera starts doing a shot reverse shot when switching between them both, also there is a dark doorway behind one of the characters which adds to the tension of that there might be something behind them and watching them.

When the conversation reaches its climax the camera starts to zoom on one of the characters to show the tension coming off while there having this conversation, this makes the audience uneasy but then there is anti climax where it seems as if the character is joking about the story which shows the relationship between them both. Suddenly there is a drone of music and it appears as one of the characters is dying and starts to fall over and start to choke which makes the audience worried but then there is another anti-climax because she is faking her death.

Then tension builds suddenly when the phone begins to ring, both characters are uneasy which also makes the audience uneasy, both characters are wearing short not fully dressed clothing which makes them seem vulnerable to whatever is about to happen to them. When they reach the phone, it is right in the shot to show the importance of the phone call and how it may have a dramatic effect on the characters. Tension is then dropped when the characters realize its only a relative of one of the girls.

Whilst on the phone she begins to wander and opens the fridge, blocking the view of the corridor which makes the audience uneasy because of there knowledge normally there would be something behind the door ready to attack her, however when she shuts the door nothing is there, suddenly the television turns on and the camera focuses on the girls face, this shows something is wrong by the way her expression is shown and this creates mass tension in the scene.

The television is then shown, however it is in a homely looking living room which messes with the equilibrium of life because this happy place consists of this horrible factor. The television remote is shown, this adds to the tension and worries of the viewer because this shouldn't be happening because no one is touching the remote. She then turns the television off, however it turns back on to add tension, she raises her voice to represent her panic of the situation, she then pulls the plug of the television out regarding her own safety which shows her sense of urgency in the situation,  then a wind like noise occurs behind her and as the camera turns a certain figure moves off screen with it to show to the audience something is there and its not pleasant.

The fridge door then opens, this repeats the tension from earlier as the viewer was worried something was there even without any events taking place, but now it is, the tension is massive and this makes the audience uneasy, however the climax is dropped because nothing is there.

There is a shot where the girl is looking up the stairs but only peeking around the corner, this shows her sense of worries and also the camera angle is coming from the top of the stairs looking down which makes her look extremely small and vulnerable.

There is then liquid on the floor at first it appears to be blood but then after a closer look its only just water, however in the reflection of the girl in the water it looks similar to the girl in the white gown which is the horror of the film so this messes with the viewers vision.

She then opens the door and the repetition of the static noise occurs then suddenly fast unpleasant noises and scenes occur and you get a glimpse of the girl dying then suddenly the scene ends which adds mystery and suspense to what has just happened.

Notes on Hitchcock and Paramount

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was born 13^th of August 1899, he was a

famous American film director and producer. He introduced many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He started his work in Britain, he produced silent films and early talkies and after his major success he then moved to Hollywood where he continued his work.

He spent over half a century producing and directing films, He was one of the first pioneers to introduce the way the camera move in a way that mimics the persons gaze,  which made the audience become more involved in the film, He did this to maximize anxiety, fear and empathy in his films which made the audience more engaged.

The plot of Psycho is that a Phoenix office worker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother. 

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film and television/distribution company founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom. It is the fourth oldest existing film studio in the world behind Universal Studios, Pathe and Gaumont Pictures. Also, it is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the largest movie studios

They have produced films such as Titanic, Lara Croft and Thor. These films were very successful and popular cause they all had engaging unique story lines which caught the actors attention straight away.

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Hitchcock was born 13^th of August 1899, he was a famous

American film director and producer. He introduced many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. He started his work in Britain, he produced silent films and early talkies and after his major success he then moved to Hollywood where he continued his work.

He spent over half a century producing and directing films, He was one of the first pioneers to introduce the way the camera move in a way that mimics the persons gaze,  which made the audience become more involved in the film, He did this to maximize anxiety, fear and empathy in his films which made the audience more engaged.

Hitchcock has produced films such as, To catch a thief, Vertigo, Rear window and many more, all of his films he produced so precisely that nothing looked out of place or a mistake and every detail was there for a certain reason

Alfred Hitchcock became known as the master of suspense following his release of psycho because his triumph of the film due to the need for a “stalk and slash” horror film.

Psycho is one of Hitchcock’s most famous films, it was most famous for its shower scene, where a woman is taking a shower as equilibrium but then an unidentified person comes behind her and stabs her to death whilst in the shower, also in this film he took a lot of eye shots, he would focus the camera on the eyes of the characters for example at the start with the killers peeping eye and the opening of the eye on the murder victim and these little factors of the film made him so famous. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImAS7AhifZ0

In this short compilation of Hitchcock s interviews, he talks about many aspects of his films and the stuff that inspired him to include into his films, such as, Fear and how the psychology of his audience are tampered with, He would talk about how his films started of violent and as they progressed got less and less violent, however the tension was so high that the audience were "screaming in agony". He talks about humour and why he didn't create any comedy films which contrasts with his own personality, however he said all of this films are comedy and consist of "black comedy" which in his mind made him "chuckle". He would then talk about sex in his films, he said "my leading ladies don't have there sex hanging around them like borballs" and how they wouldn't appeal to him because there's no mystery behind the sex so he'd rather have it discovered than obvious. He also mentions his actors, he says how he doesn't favour stars, because they want to do their own thing and possibly re-write the role that his has given so he prefers having unknown actors than stars. He also discusses his motive for directing, He says money as a joke, however he goes onto saying "if he appears bored on set, that's because he has had 8 months thinking of idea's and stories, that this is just the tedious process of making it".
Therefore every little detail on Hitchcock's films and idea's were there for a certain reason, and he has specific reasons for what he directed and created. 

Institution of an independant company

Lionsgate is a Canadian entertainment company. It was formed in Vancouver, but is headquarted in Santa Monica, California. As of 2007, it is the most commercially successful independent  film and television  distribution company in north America. They produce and distribute motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment and family entertainment

Some of the most popular films created by Warner bros fox are, Tyle Perry’s Madea Goes to jail, which generated a $41 million opening weekend, largest in Lionsgate history, Kick ass, Religious, Forbidden Kingdom, Rambo and the bank job

After doing some background research, i noticed the majority of their films were of similar genres and the genres they prefer to product or distributed are Drama, Action and thrillers

Horror films are also produced quite often by Lionsgate, some maybe better known and gained more success than others. The best horrors that Lionsgate has produced or distributed are Saw 3d, Saw1/2/3/4/5/6, The last exorcism, My bloody valentine and the Eye

Lionsgate has only has successful horror films the last 5 years and they have not produced many, all of the horror films above are their only successful horrors in the last 5 years

After researching horror films from Lionsgate, I discovered that horror was not their strongest points when making or distributing films. The reason this information is needed is so i can decide weather this film institution is suitable to create my horror film. From the information i have gathered i do not think this institution is the best for producing or distributing my product as i think they do not have enough experience in creating successful and memorable horror films.

Institution of Big Multinational company

20^th century fox is a film corporation which is one of the 6 major American film studios. The organisation was founded in 1935 and has become the most recognised film institution in the world. The studio is a subsidiary of news corporation, the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdock

 

Some of the most successful films created by 20^th century fox are: Avatar/star wars/ Speed & the chronicles of Narnia

The majority of popular and successful films that 20^th century  fox have created are comedy an family genre films, for example: Alvin and the chipmunks/ doctor do-little/ night at the museum and diary of a wimpy kid

As I am producing a horror film I have to research weather 20^th century fox would be a suitable institution to product my film with.

Although 20^th century fox prefer to make comedy /fantasy and family films because they seem to be the most profitable films, they also create horror films such as From Hell, Alien, The omen, Jennifer’s Body, The haunting of Molly Hartley and Shutter

When it comes to horror films, 20^th century fox prefers to distribute them rather than product them, so if i was to pick 20^th century fox for my film i would get them to distribute my film worldwide.