In order to have more of an insight into clothing for opening sequences of film I did some research on costumes. This included watching opening sequences and looking at postmen from businesses like Royal Mail and DHL. I found out from watching opening sequences that clothing is a key way to instantly tell the audience about certain characters and give them more of an insight into each character. As a result as the audience will now know more about the character they will continue to watch on, as they are more involved in the film.
The costume for the person that I am will be analyzing is for the postman in our opening sequence. Below I will go into more detail about every aspect of his costume.
Jacket
The postman will be wearing a bright luminous coloured jacket. This is because from my research I have found out that all postmen wear this form of clothing so as a result by our actor wearing this it will make the opening sequence look more realistic and therefore this will keep the viewers watching on.
Trousers
In addition the postman will also be wearing black coloured trouser. The reason is because from my research I have found out that the majority of postmen wear black coloured trouser. As a result so will the one in our opening sequence as if the postman wore something else this may mean that the audience may not realize that he is a postman.
Trainers
The final costume that the postman will be wearing is that of trainers. He will be wearing trainers as part of my research I found out that the majority of postmen wear trainers and not other types of footwear. As a result by our postman wearing trainers it will make it easier for the viewers to realize that he is a postman.
Props
In order for the actor to look more like a postman he will need props to make it look more realistic. Below I will go into more detail of some of the props that will be included.
Letters
The first and most obvious prop that the postman will need is that of letters. The postman will be holding letters in his hand. The reason for the postman holding letters will be because this is the most recognizable way to establish that he is a postman so this will make it much easier for the audience to realize that he is a postman.
Bag
Another prop that the postman will have is that he will be wearing a bag over his shoulder. The reason why the postman will be wearing this is because from my research I have found out that most postmen wear an over the shoulder bag so this will make the postman more recognizable for the audience.
In conclusion the postman will be wearing all of the above costumes and also he will be holding letters in his hand and wearing a bag as props. The actor will loom very similar to the man on the right. As costumes and props is a great way for the audience to have more of an insight into the film the costume that the postman will be wearing will give the audience more of an insight.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Target Audience
Target Audience
For our target audience of our opening sequence we had to decide what age group our opening sequence will be suitable for. As a result we researched about the different age rating for films. After we are going to decide from this research who our target audience will be for the opening sequence that we are going to create. The company that issues ratings for the films is the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
There are many different age ratings for films below I will go into more detail in each one.
‘U’ – Universal
Any film that has a ‘U’ rating is suitable for all people over the age of four. A ‘U’ film must also be positive to watch for the audience. This means that all ‘U’ films must have happiness included in it mainly.
‘PG’ – Parental Guidance
‘PG’ films are said to be suitable for all people, however some sections in the film may be unsuitable for young children. Anybody can watch a ‘PG’ film by himself or herself but parents are told that if they think that there child cannot watch this type of film the parent should watch the film with the child or not let the child watch the film at all.
‘12A’ / ‘12’
Any film that has a ‘12A’ / ‘12’ rating the film should only be watched by people over the age of 12. ‘12A’ / ‘12’ films may have a bad affect on children and therefore parents of children should prevent anybody under the age of 12 to watch these films. The difference between ‘12A’ and ‘12’ is that ‘12A’ is only rated on cinema films and that people under the age of 12 can watch ‘12A’films but only if they are with an adult.
‘15’
‘15’ rated films mean that anybody under the age of fifteen should not watch this film as this is not suitable for their age group for various reasons.
‘18’
Any film made that has an ‘18’ rated film is made for only adults and that no one under the age of eighteen should not watch this film.
Target Audience
In order to find out who the best target audience would have been for our films opening sequence we did some research to give us more of an insight. Firstly we asked people what conventions that they thought thriller films had, the most popular answer was building of suspense. As a result we will try to build up as much suspense as we can, as this will make the film more appealing to our audience. We found out that our film will be targeted to the ages between 12 and anything above that. As a result we decided to give the film a rating of 12 as we thought that certain aspects of the film would be unsuitable for anybody under the age of 12, for inctance the scence where fire is used. We also thought that both genders would like our film so we have a very broad target audience. As our film is a thriller and it creates suspense in the opening sequence we think that as this I what teenagers and most other people enjoy about films this is the correct target audience for our opening sequence. In order to make the opening sequence even more enticing for teenagers to watch we will include a range of shot and camera techniques and also we will include music which will make the audience feel on the edge of their seat.
For our target audience of our opening sequence we had to decide what age group our opening sequence will be suitable for. As a result we researched about the different age rating for films. After we are going to decide from this research who our target audience will be for the opening sequence that we are going to create. The company that issues ratings for the films is the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
There are many different age ratings for films below I will go into more detail in each one.
‘U’ – Universal
Any film that has a ‘U’ rating is suitable for all people over the age of four. A ‘U’ film must also be positive to watch for the audience. This means that all ‘U’ films must have happiness included in it mainly.
‘PG’ – Parental Guidance
‘PG’ films are said to be suitable for all people, however some sections in the film may be unsuitable for young children. Anybody can watch a ‘PG’ film by himself or herself but parents are told that if they think that there child cannot watch this type of film the parent should watch the film with the child or not let the child watch the film at all.
‘12A’ / ‘12’
Any film that has a ‘12A’ / ‘12’ rating the film should only be watched by people over the age of 12. ‘12A’ / ‘12’ films may have a bad affect on children and therefore parents of children should prevent anybody under the age of 12 to watch these films. The difference between ‘12A’ and ‘12’ is that ‘12A’ is only rated on cinema films and that people under the age of 12 can watch ‘12A’films but only if they are with an adult.
‘15’
‘15’ rated films mean that anybody under the age of fifteen should not watch this film as this is not suitable for their age group for various reasons.
‘18’
Any film made that has an ‘18’ rated film is made for only adults and that no one under the age of eighteen should not watch this film.
Target Audience
In order to find out who the best target audience would have been for our films opening sequence we did some research to give us more of an insight. Firstly we asked people what conventions that they thought thriller films had, the most popular answer was building of suspense. As a result we will try to build up as much suspense as we can, as this will make the film more appealing to our audience. We found out that our film will be targeted to the ages between 12 and anything above that. As a result we decided to give the film a rating of 12 as we thought that certain aspects of the film would be unsuitable for anybody under the age of 12, for inctance the scence where fire is used. We also thought that both genders would like our film so we have a very broad target audience. As our film is a thriller and it creates suspense in the opening sequence we think that as this I what teenagers and most other people enjoy about films this is the correct target audience for our opening sequence. In order to make the opening sequence even more enticing for teenagers to watch we will include a range of shot and camera techniques and also we will include music which will make the audience feel on the edge of their seat.
Editing
In our movie we used a wide range of effects, As our movie was a thriller, we believed what would give are film the edge, is by making the movie all in black and white, by doing this it makes the film seem less vibrant and joyful because all the colours has been drained by giving it a depressing effect, we took inspiration the film genre ‘film noir’ which is always filmed in black and white. Furthermore, the second effect we used was the Jump Cut we used this to not only show that time had passed , but it sets a fast tempo to are movie.
Although, going back to the beginning of the film where the anonymous individual is cutting out all the words from the newspaper , we used the effect of ‘Fast Forward’ this gives the person a sense of urgency that he has limited time to carry out something mysterious.
Nonetheless, We then drew time back to show how important the next part of the scene was, as it’s the vocal point of are movie for instance ‘When the man hands the letter over’ it gives the effect that whole story has changed hands, therefore the mood and the tempo of the film changes for instance the movie then switches to black and white, which tells us something bad is going to happen by all the denotations we associate with the colour black e.g evil, mystery and danger. The last part of are editing was the titles this was used to give viewers a fair idea of what was going on in the film, and to put are names in the film.
Conventions of a Thriller
Before we started creating or developing our main task production of an opening sequence to a film, we decided on the genre of film that we would like to do. We decided on doing a thriller as we felt that a thriller was the best genre that we would be able to do and we had better ideas of film plots for a thriller film than other genres. I then went on to look at what conventions were commonly used in thriller films and found the following:
Sound
In most thriller films the sound is used to build tension to a climax during the film using different devices and techniques, such as, changing the tempo slowly like in Jaws or increasing the volume for greater impact.
Camera Shots
Generally, thriller films use a wide use of different camera shot types, but from analysing some films I have found that the most used camera shot types are: close ups to show the victims or the pursuers face and the emotion expressed upon it, also many point of view shots are used to perhaps show the point of view of the hero/main character in the film or even an item that is being used such as a weapon (or telescopic sight of a weapon like in Bourne Ultimatum), and finally variations of high and low angle shots mainly used to show difference in power of perhaps the victim and the pursuer.
Lighting
In many thrillers the same kind of lighting is used to show variation in power and peoples vulnerability. This type of lighting was low-key lighting. For example, the low-key lighting can be used so that only shadows and silhouettes can be seen, therefore if all that can be seen is a shadow of perhaps a killer, then they are given high power as no-one knows their identity and this puts the audience into a state of tension.
Mise en Scene
Lots of thrillers use props such as dyed liquids to be put on set to give the audience the impression of blood. A lot of the time other props appear in set such as, alcoholic drink bottles, weapons or lethal objects that may be focused on by the camera. Lastly, thrillers use specific areas for the setting of a scene, such as a dark alley that is secluded and out of the way or maybe a dark cramped dingy building. Basically, in general thriller films have many scenes shot in dark, cramped and isolated areas so that characters can easily be made vulnerable or powerless and helps to build tension for the climaxs.
Sound
In most thriller films the sound is used to build tension to a climax during the film using different devices and techniques, such as, changing the tempo slowly like in Jaws or increasing the volume for greater impact.
Camera Shots
Generally, thriller films use a wide use of different camera shot types, but from analysing some films I have found that the most used camera shot types are: close ups to show the victims or the pursuers face and the emotion expressed upon it, also many point of view shots are used to perhaps show the point of view of the hero/main character in the film or even an item that is being used such as a weapon (or telescopic sight of a weapon like in Bourne Ultimatum), and finally variations of high and low angle shots mainly used to show difference in power of perhaps the victim and the pursuer.
Lighting
In many thrillers the same kind of lighting is used to show variation in power and peoples vulnerability. This type of lighting was low-key lighting. For example, the low-key lighting can be used so that only shadows and silhouettes can be seen, therefore if all that can be seen is a shadow of perhaps a killer, then they are given high power as no-one knows their identity and this puts the audience into a state of tension.
Mise en Scene
Lots of thrillers use props such as dyed liquids to be put on set to give the audience the impression of blood. A lot of the time other props appear in set such as, alcoholic drink bottles, weapons or lethal objects that may be focused on by the camera. Lastly, thrillers use specific areas for the setting of a scene, such as a dark alley that is secluded and out of the way or maybe a dark cramped dingy building. Basically, in general thriller films have many scenes shot in dark, cramped and isolated areas so that characters can easily be made vulnerable or powerless and helps to build tension for the climaxs.
Music and Audio in the Main Task Production
I have the task of creating the music for our own thriller production. To begin with I decided to look at successful thriller movie opening sequences and analysed the audio to find out what worked well in various opening sequences. I started by looking at action/thriller films such as Casino Royale and The Dark Knight to get an idea of the techniques and conventions used in the audio for this genre of thriller. What I found is that they both have background music of a slow pace that increases in volume and tempo as something changes in the action of the visual such as, James Bond fighting another character and the jokers thugs storming into the bank. I felt that this music was successful for the film but this type was not what we wanted for our film as we wanted a twist in the audio representation of what will be visible on screen. However, I did feel that incorporating the use of quick snappy suspense audio such as intensely strung violins would work well with our visual work. Therefore, from what I found out from the first analysis I then went on to look at other thriller films that use the similar strings audio to create suspense. This included such films as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Marnie’ and looking at the intensity of the synchronous audio (bird sounds) in ‘The Birds’. From looking at the opening sequence of ‘Marnie’ we decided that the audio for the opening sequence should have a twist just like the audio in ‘American Psycho’. It will also have other diagetic audio such as rain effects.
I have now finished creating the audio to match our opening sequence and after getting feedback from my group and a selected audience, we agreed that it works well with the visual work in the opening sequence of our production. I think that the suspense string audio clips work well to create tension for our thriller production. On the other hand, I think that there is an unfortunate slight bad transition between two clips of audio, however, I will deal with this by adding another sound effect to mask this.
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