Film Opening- Marking

Level 3 36–47 marks There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task;
• using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene;
• using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects

His material was clearly appropriate to the target audience. His choice of shots to establish location was interesting and the camera was handled reasonably well. the music was well chosen and the credits delivered in a conventional way if over a little quickly. The camera work and choices were fine but the sequence during the attack could have been improved with better choices and editing. The reveal of the knife at the end could have been delivered in a more dramatic way than just the lingering shot. On the whole I felt that the film was reasonably proficient.


Lewis 38

Evaluation- marking

1) A general discussion on the opening rather than addressing the bullet points
2) Basic on teenage boy representation
3) A basic post on film companies although there are some interesting points about illegal streaming for example. Cinemas don't distribute movies.
4) Would have been better if you had looked at the specifics of what the BBFC deems appropriate for a 15. No attempt at audience profiling or primary/secondary audience
5) Brief look at marketing. No examples offered.
6) No in depth points about tech
7) No director's commentary. Too basic.

Level 1 0–7 marks
• Minimal skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
• Minimal understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.
• Minimal ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
• Minimal understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
• Minimal ability to communicate.

Lewis 6

se7en textual analysis

http://prezi.com/zwsmuoekbumg/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Research and Planning- Marking

Lewis only has three images on his mood board which doesn't really allow him to get a feel for the genre which was the point with this post. He made some interesting points about the stills. 

Lewis' questionnaire and feedback was thorough but some of the questions like question 2 were strangely put and open which would surely make effective results difficult.

Lewis' brief described his opening rather than giving a more general overview of his film idea.

Lewis' post on health and safety demonstrated an understanding of institutional processes. I liked his post on the BBFC but his comment about parents allowing their children to watch 15s bringing in more money seemed to miss the point a little.

His posts on problems, picking location and change of plan, showed a willingness to adapt and react to problems that were thrown up during the filming process.

Lewis' post on psychographics and demographics was pretty thorough although he spent too much time talking about the Sun newspaper (anti-conservative??!!) rather than the kinds of films enjoyed by particular social groups. He did eventually drill down into the nature of his audience and how his reading of them would impact on his film.

You analysed the opening titles of Se7en but the whole film opening including titles could have been better. You attempt to explain the various types of film opening titles but you were wrong about narrative which does not need to use voiceover.

The post on posters was fairly superficial and there was no other attempt to tackle types of marketing or produce ideas for marketing

With regards Propp and Todorov, I don't understand why fate has a special role in psychological thrillers!

Shooting Schedule isn't there.

Planning and research evidence will be incomplete.
• There is minimal research into similar products and a potential target audience.
• There is minimal work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
• There is minimal organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
• Time management may be very poor.
• There is minimal skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation.
• There are minimal communication skills.
• There is minimal care in the presentation of the research and planning.

Lewis  6/20

change of plans?

in the earlier stages of development I wanted to end the opening in a doctors surgery, showing how frustrated the character is with these dreams he had been having, from here the storyline would have progressed into the full film ,and I would have gone into detail with the doctor about the sorts of dreams I had been having for the past week, allowing progression into the storyline and the audience to learn more about the character and his background. the doctors would have analysed me and prescribed medication for the bad dreams that I had been having, which obviously would have had no affect. The doctor would have thought I wasn't a very serious case and that it was probably due to something I ate, this emphasises the helplessness and ignorance that people have for  This is also a common theme in psychological thrillers/horrors as it emphasises the helplessness and ignorance that people have in horror and psychological thrillers for greater, unknown forces. This is used in the psychological horror thriller film, the babadook, when the mum goes to the police to report the strange goings on in the house, but they end up thinking she is crazy, driving her more into insanity, and creating more pity from the audience.

The reason why I didn't end the opening in a doctors surgery is fairly obvious, I couldn't just turn up in a busy waiting room with a person filming me, proving this environment unsuitable.

Apart from this, there were very few changes of plan, because I had storyboarded it and pretty much kept to it. I did add one more scene of me walking through the woods, after the long shot of me walking away from the camera, partly because I wanted to stretch the length out to be closer to 2 minutes, but also because wanted it meant extra time to build the tension, using the chimes of the music to indicate something bad was going to happen.

feedback

I showed my opening to some people in my sixth form to get some audience feedback. One way I could have improved the effectiveness of my audience feedback would have been to have done this earlier on, because that means I would have had more time afterwards to act on my feedback, thus further improving the production value of my product.

The first person I showed my film opening to was my media teacher. this was my most valuable advice because they had more experience in marking media work than anyone else that I asked. He said that I should remove the sound affects of the heart beat, which was previously playing in the background when the hand grabs my arm, and when the "monster" comes out from behind the tree, and also the sound affect of a small child laughing at the end, when the camera pans down to reveal the knife on the floor at the end. This was because the affects sounded too generic, and because they have been overused in the psychological and horror genre to build tension, it made it seem quite cheap. So I took this advice onboard and removed the sounds. I now feel that the silence at the end builds the tension even more, as it makes t seem like anything could happen.

I also showed the my opening to my Mum, she said that it was overall it was good at building tension due to the use of music, and there wasn't anything i needed to improve on. 

Nathan Blows said that my acting wasn't very realistic, this is because when the monster comes from behind the tree, I don't react in a particulaly scared way, this is partly because at this point you can't see my face, however I could have tried to run away.          

shooting schedule

                       

props character types and todorovs narrative theory

todorovs narrative theory

psychological thrillers are one of the genres that don't always stick to todorovs narrative theory, instead they tend to lack a clear structure like most action films, such as star wars the empire strikes back, but this isn't a bad thing, as some psychological thrillers, like ex machina, reinvent structure, ignoring the recognition stage, as is is unclear if there even is a hero in the film, and if they are rewarded. It has to be remembered that psychological thrillers are a niche genre. These push the boundaries for structure, and may even advance the progression of inventive film ideas. Not having a return and recognition stage may allow the film to have a sequel, earning the company more money from devoted fans.                            propps character types. these refer to the types of characters that most films have

once again, propps character types are often disregarded in psychological thrillers, this could be because in psychological thrillers outcomes aren't always controlled by humans, but by fate or some other force. This dispels the need for a villain. also, using ex machina as an example again, it is often unclear if a character is a hero or a villain, like Ava ends up leaving Caleb to die at the end, which is a villainous thing to do as the audience followed him through the whole film, however we do feel pity for Ava because she has human emotions, and wants freedom, essentially being Nathan's prisoner. This links with the idea that psychological thrillers are open to interpretation by the viewers, instead of spoonfeeding it to you, like with star wars where its obvious Darth vader is the villain, him having no redeemable qualities and being fairly unrealistic of a character bacause of this etc.

full evaluation

in what way does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?         

screenshots from YouTube.

  
My media product has slightly taken influence from the nightmare on elm street films, using the same theme of going to sleep and in your dreams something is trying to kill you. This is a fairly common convention in horror/psychological thrillers, as when you are asleep or in bed, you are vulnerable to whatever or whoever is trying to kill you, unable to fight back or escape. This makes the audience feel scared for the character, who’s character they have probably became emotionally invested in during the film. This is used at the end of my film opening, as when I go back to sleep, there is a pan downwards of the same knife that was seen in my dream, on the floor in real life, suggesting I will inevitably be killed off on screen. This creates a moment of suspense, which psychological thrillers rely upon. 

In nightmare on elm street, there is also the fact that when you die in a dream, you die in real life, this introduces a more psychological aspect of the film, especially when it becomes unclear what is a dream and what is real life, obviously this is unable to be shown in a 2 minute opening, but it would have been interesting to try and develop this idea. I was previously thinking of actually dying after waking up from the dream, however I was unsure of how to realistically pull this off, without using fake blood and awful acting, so instead I only hinted at with by showing the knife at the end my making it seem like it is fate that I will die. For example, in the horror thriller, The Babadook, the monster is “born” through a bedtime story when the kid is getting ready to go to bed, and subsequently, only visits the child and other during the night. 

It's arguable that a connotation of a bed is death, in a bed is common way in films for a character to meet their end, it is normally considered a peaceful way to go, which juxtaposes with the violent deaths of most characters in psychological thrillers.  death bed, simply means the bed that someone dies in, and the pan down to the knife suggests this will be my death bed, but won't have the "peaceful" aspect.
A convention of pretty much any film with psychological aspects is enigmas (unanswered questions) these provoke thoughts and discussion between viewers, especially if they remain unanswered (2 little girls in the shining) this keeps viewers interest in my film opening, as they want to know what I'm doing walking around a forest, if I'm trying to find something or someone? What attacks me? Who am I? The issue of what attacks me is never revealed in the story line of Endless (in my survey more people wanted the villain to remain hidden) and this will be thought provoking and add mystery to the film, which all are conventions of psychological thrillers. 
I feel like my media product is comparable to the scene where Chrissie gets attacked by the shark in Jaws, as both feature a crescendo (buildup of music) when the attacker is getting ready to pounce on the victim, and to build tension to indicate something significant is going to happen. They both feature point of view shots from the perspective of the attacker, directly looking at the victim, who is oblivious to their presence. Finally after the action takes place, there is a period of very little sound, to reflect upon what just happened. The main difference in these 2 scenarios is that one is in reality whereas one isn't. Looking back at the buildup of crescendo before I am attacked, I feel this scene could have been improved, not only because of the unrealistic acting, but because I could have added better non diagetic sounds for the impact of the attacker, like the sharp, high pitched tones of Jaws, this may have made my scene feel a bit more professional.
Hitchcock's Jaws was also notorious for using colours to subtly represent danger, like when the shark kills a second person, and the inflatable toy and the swimming hat appear in before the shark attacks. I have tried to replicate this when I check my phone at the end, which gives a bright flash of red, having connotations of danger, blood and death, signifying my inevitable death, shortly before the knife is shown on the floor of my bedroom.
Another thing in Jaws that Hitchcock uses effectively is silence, which builds suspense that something dramatic is about to go down. This is used when the character "Chrissie" goes swimming at the beginning, and the only sound that can be heard is the waves, before the inevitable shark attack happens. I have tried to replicate this in Endless, as in the entire section where I am in the woods, it is very quiet, with only the sharp sounds of the slow music piercing the quitness, before the attack which ends the sequence. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 
Particular social groups are generally represented in media texts by stereotypes, which means traits that the media gives certain social groups in order to make it easier for the viewer to identify them, for example a person with a hoodie on is generally regarded as being a vandal, who's "up to no good.because I am the only character in my film opening, the only social group that is being presented is a teenage white male. The fact that the protagonist is a teenage boy and appears to be going through a hard time, represents teenagers as being quite troubled, as it is a difficult time between being a child and an adult.

The fact that the first thing I do when waking up from the dream is to check my phone, supports the representation that teenagers can’t live without their phones, which is obviously the target audience of my film, however, in this case no amount of technology could save the protagonist from his inevitable death.
Another stereotype of teenagers is that they are care-free and rather laid back,this is shown by me walking through the woods at a slow pace, with my hands in my pockets, and how I appear to look like nothing could harm me, until the thing comes out from behind the tree. 

A stereotype of teenage boys is that they go around acting rowdy, and want to cause trouble, however I just seem to be minding my own business, not looking for any sort of trouble.
Acording to 
Apart from this, my film opening didn't feature many stereotypes of social groups, this is mainly because my film opening was only 2 minutes long and so in this case there wasn't really enough time for characters in the film to be introduced. 

what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution is a media company that produces, distributes, exchanges or regulates any form of media. distribution means how the media product is transported from the factory to the consumer. I will have to take into account that many of my target audience will simply stream the movie from an illegal streaming website, like 123Movies, this “distributes” my film, however they won’t have my permission and I won’t make any money from this, so this would be harmful, especially to a small independent film company like Shocker Studios, who need to make a certain profit from the film and can’t afford to be losing potential income. 

My film will also be distributed by lorry companies to supermarkets like Tesco, so people can conveniently get the product while doing their weekly shop, however this method is decreasing popularity, partly because dvds are more expensive compared to downloading films off Amazon or Playstation, and that the costs of the lorry company transporting these goods will work out more expensive than the cost of putting your film on an online exchange company, the dvd and case have to be physically made, whereas with digital distribution this isn’t the case. People still find DVDs attractive though, because it is good to physically own something, rather than just streaming in or having it hidden away as a file, this is generally not young people.

Cinemas, like Odean, would want to distribute my film if the ratings are high, my film is likely to do well in a cinema because people go to the cinema specifically to get a thrill and feel scared. 

the numerous subscription streaming services, like Now-TV, Netflix and amazon prime, will want to distribute my film to their audience, this is an example of cross media convergence, Endless, will get people to go to netflix, to watch the film, and at the same time, Netflix will be showing Endless to millions of potential customers. This depends on the ratings of the movie, and the expectations that audiences have on that movie, based on past advertising and current knowledge, will possibly get the film on the front pages of these.

You can also distribute, as well as consume films through iTunes, although this is a less popular way of distributing films due to the higher price. Because psychological thrillers are a niche genre of film, it can be difficult for the target audience to access the films that they want to watch, especially as the audience is very fragmented.Because of this, once people have downloaded a psychological thriller from iTunes, like silence of the lambs, my film, endless, will be "suggested" to them, through the algorithm, which helps people find films of the same genre with similar themes. This is also used for songs on iTunes, with niche genres like progressive rock. My independent film company, shocker studios, will benifit from this form of advertising hugely, because they don't have the Advertising budget that conglomerates like Sony have.

Who would be the target audience for your media product? the target audience for my film is males over 15-25 , this is because my film is rated 15, due to common moments of horror, as well as fairly common moments of mild violence, and uses of mild bad language. there is also drug use later on when I am trying to control the dreams, which wasn’t being frowned upon in the film, but the use of context in this case meant it wasn’t enforcing a message that the audience should use drugs, which would spread a very bad message. To venture more into this, I researched the BBFC and what they do, in order to better understand what rating my film should be. 
I had a look at similar psychological thriller/horror film's age rating, to get a feel for what my conpetitors felt their films were rated in the UK
Donnie Darko- 15
se7en- 18
Black swan- 15
Shutter island- 15

Because the average psychological thriller is rated 15, this is what Endless will be rated, this means I have more freedom to create terror, rather than overusing sex and profanity in order to keep viewers engaged. 
I haven't taken into account the age rating of films like Psycho and the shining as much, as people's opinions of what is socially acceptable to show on film has changed over the years, so the BBFC has had to change with them.

how did you attract/address your audience? Because my audience is fairly niche, it is important to be able to address them directly, to know what they want. This is because audiences today are fragmented, this means I used survey monkey to address my audience directly, and find out what they expect, or dislike from psychological thrillers. My film, Endless, will have it's own official website to further build up the excitement until its release date, and on here fans will be able to interact with each other and build up a little community, this would help the message of the film spread to others through word of mouth. On this website there will also be examples of cross media convergence, so links to the Shocker studios's official twitter and Facebook, as well as youtube channel. This gives these sites more attention, while promoting the film at the same time, The majority of Facebook users are also 15 to 25, which is also my target audience.

what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? from the construction of this product i have learnt how to use iMovie to perfectly time sound affects with things going on, on the screen, like when the knife fell on the ground and I added a boom affect, plus how to add affects to sound in order to make them feel like they belong in the works of the film. For example, when I am walking through the woods I added a sound of a dog barking, but I put an echo sound affect on it, this was supposed to make it seem less in touch with the real world, as the effect made it sound almost like a figment of my imagination, not really there. Also regarding affects, I learnt to how add a "day to night" filter on scenes which were meant to be at night, so when I had woken up in bed, which built verismilitude, as waking up "in the middle of the night" in a bright room wouldn't have been convincing, this was very helpful, as I didn't have to record when it was darker, and visibilty from the camcorder would have made it harder to see what was going on, 
I also learnt how to trim bits of footage and made it so that the end of that clip lights up, so when it cuts to the next scene it is bright for a split second, before going back to normal. I have used this  transition between the panning down of the tree and the shot of me walking towards the woods, this was to make it seem more dreamlike, sort of like it is transitioning between the real world, and the dream world that I was trying to convey.
 I have also learnt how to use prezi, to deliver my textual analysis, in a more aesthetically pleasing way, than just typing up paragraph after paragraph like I'm doing right now, I felt this will make my blog seem better flowing.
These were the main things I learnt, I was already aware how to use a camcorder, to carry out different shot types. 

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I have learnt that it is important to use the best sound quality, as when I shot my preliminary task I was using my phone, instead of a camcorder which I used for my film opening, this is because when I was talking to my teacher in the classroom, I struggled to hear what the characters were saying. The constant tinny I had also learnt how to use iMovie properly for my final product, as when I made my preliminary task i used iMovie on the iPhone, which lacks the ability to add sound affects, and change the affects of the sound and video, like the mac that I used for the film opening, so I have learnt to alway use the best technology available to me, in order to have better quality in my film. 

Preliminary task

https://youtu.be/tArK7BO54ok- YouTube link to preliminary task

the 3 main rules of the preliminary task was shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule and match on action editing. 
Shot reverse shot is a film technique where a character is shown talking to another character (who is often off screen), and the the character that they are talking to is shown looking back at them and replying. This technique is used in basically all tv and movies where there is dialogue between 2 people. 
while using shot reverse shot, it is vital that the camera sticks to the 180 degree rule, this means when 2 characters are involved in dialogue, there is an imaginary line that goes through them, and once the camera has started recording one side of that line, it mustn't switch to the other side of it, this would show a lack of continuity and would be immediately noticeable as we have been watching the 180 degree rule on TV for our whole lives. A good video for fully understanding the 180 degree rule is called. breaking down the 190 degree rule, by YouTube channel videomaker. There are certain exceptions in films where the 180 degree is broken, like in the bathroom scene of The Shining where Jack Torrance is losing his mind, and the breaking of the rule  makes the audience feel uneasy, and uncomfortable, relating to Jack's situation
In my preliminary task I used the 180 degree rule when talking to my teacher at the end, this was the only point in my preliminary task where I used dialogue. 

match on action editing is a continuity editing technique, this is when the camera cuts from one shot to another view that matches the actions of the first shot. A common example of this is where the camera shows a person reaching for the door knob, and the following shot is them opening the door. I have used this constantly in my preliminary to make it look continuous, like scrolling on my laptop to click on something, and then it cuts to the computer screen clicking on am icon. Another example is where I turn my head to look at a clock on the wall, and the next shot is the clock, this is called eye line match, which is an example of match on action editing.

what is the BBFC?

The BBFC is the British board of film classification. they are are a media instution responsible for classifying films age ratings based on the nature of the content. Content which is deemed sensitive includes swearing, violence, drugs and alcohol use, gore, sexual content/nudity, discrimination and even horror. In order to stay independent, and non governmental, the BBFC's income is made from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films, DVDs/videos and other works submitted for classification. 

BBFC ratings- Universal this is ok for anyone 4 years old and older, there is no severe sensitive content, and any violence threat or horror should have reassuring counter balances, although the BBFC say "it is difficult to predict what will upset any particular child" only the mildest sexual behaviour (kissing) is permitted, with occasional, non sexual nudity. Any sort of mild violence has to be justified by context (comedic, extremely unrealistic) and any infrequent use of bad language has to be very mild. Examples of U films include finding Nemo, Toy Story and Monsters inc.

PG-"General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older."-BBFC.  It is up to parents to determine whether something is or isn't suitable for their kid. Any discriminatory behaviour is unlikely to be in PG films, unless clearly disapproved of by other characters, or in a historical context. PG is slightly more lenient both bad language, but it is still mild use inly and frequent use of it may push the film up to 12 or 15. mild threats and violence is permitted, with accordance to context and duration. with sexual content, there may be nudity with no sexual content, innuendoes may be applied, but should be discreet and infrequent. examples of PGs include Nanny Mcphee, Harry Potter and Home alone.

12-"Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child. To help them decide, we recommend that they check the BBFCinsight for that film in advance. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video work.

15- there may be strong threat or horror at this level. strong language is permitted, and nudity is allowed, although sexual nudity will lack strong detail can be shown now, but without strong detail, strong sex references are allowed. constant sexual threats and even threats on the edge of sadistic are not permitted. the strong violence mustnt show details references to to sexual violence (context matters) strong violence mustn’t “dwell on injury.”

18- this is only suitable for adults, which means directors have much more freedom, not being held back and limited. 18’s have the most amount of everything, gore, violence, drugs, swearing etc. However, if the content is created against the law, or causes harm to the population through intense violence or drug abuse and the activities seem appealing, it could promote these activities like sexual violence, 

The BBFC is supposedly not organised for profit, and its fees are adjusted only as required to cover its costs. they regulate DVDs, cinema and video games.
My film will be a 15 because it will have some bad language and graphic scenes in it, to try and build the overall verismilitude, but putting it as an 18 may mean I lose out on money as some parents may not want their children watching this, but a 15 film may seem more acceptable for parents to allow their children to watch. 
For example the demand for marvel films may have increased because all of their films are aged at a 12.

many films that have influenced me are around the 15-18 age rating, nightmare on elm street was rate 18, due to the strong sadistic violence and gore of Freddy Kruger. However Endless isn't going for shock factor, but rather making the audience feel genuinely scared and keeping the sense of anticipation at the forefront of the audiences mind. The babadook, which in my opinion was one of the scariest films I've watched, was only a PG13, so this shows good films don't need high age ratings.

My film opening starts with a sequence of me walking around a forest, creepy music will play throughout. I hear normal noises associated with a forest, birds singing and dogs barking in the background, however camera shots from behind trees and bushes show that something is watching me and it clearly isn’t safe, there is a moment of silence before a knife falls from seemingly nowhere, and a hand grabs me and when it appears that no-one is there it changes the atmosphere to something fairly scary and almost supernatural. At this point there is a dolly shot moving towards me quickly to show whatever is out there is running towards me. I then wake up to a clap of thunder, realizing it was just a dream. It is silent, and it appears that I am now safe from whatever was trying to get me in the dream. As I check the time and go back to sleep, the camera pans to the floor to reveal that the same knife from the dream is on the floor, confirming that the dream may linked with real life, adding a slight psychological element to it.
The audience's expectations of a thriller are for it to revolve around anticipation and suspense, rather than over the top action scenes, this is the case in the woods scene when the camera is positioned at a long shot to make it look like I am being watched, creating a sense of vulnerability for me. This is emphasised by the music sting which is used to emphasise that a dramatic climax is imminent. the camera panning left from behind a tree trunk and then panning right again gives the impression to the audience that something is watching me, at this point there is also a music sting which emphasizes this point, and continues over to the next scene, to show the continuity of me walking from one area to the other.  The purpose of this is for the audience to be on the edge of their seats the whole time, I want them to feel worried for the protagonist at this point, thinking anything could happen. 

deciding on a title

I have decided to call my film endless, this suggests that the cycle of these dreams that I will have throughout the film will never stop, showing the power of whatever is trying to kill me, compared to the weakness of me, unable to control whatever is in my head. This suggests the equillibrium of the protagonists life will never return, this goes against propp's narrative theory, as This also links in with with psychological thrillers because it suggests there is no definite ending, leaving the viewers speculating and theorizing what the meaning of it all was, this is the case with the psychological thriller, the shining, in which fans have been discussing the film for years in online forums.

I also considered using the name mind games, as this would have summed up the storyline of my film, however I decided this was too much of a generic name, and as the film title is what the film will be remembered by, it would be important to make a statement.

My original idea for the title of the film was going to be unrest, simply saying the name sounds unnerving, it has a supernatural feeling to it, referring to ghosts that are "unrested" and still have a purpose to carry out on earth. This could have linked to the fact that in the opening i was trying to rest but the dream meant that I couldn't, and the word rest has positive connotations, linked with peace and healing, and the title is denying the protagonist of this luxury. it could even refer to whatever it is that is in the dream, maybe a supernatural figure that is "unrested" and wants some sort sort of revenge? we don't know at this point as the film starts right in the middle of the action, but this would link in with thrillers having unexpected and in-depth plot twists.                                                 the reason why I didn't use use this name was simply because it has already been taken, by a film in January 2017. This shows how important it is to research before hand, as shocker studios could possibly be sued for this, and because they are an independent film company with a smaller budget, this would be a major blow for them.

Props and costume

Because most of my time was spent in the woods, I didn't need too many props. the prop of most significance was the knife, this is used in both settings when it is seen on the floor, showing a link between the real world and the dream. weapons like pistols and knives are used often in psychological thrillers to signify danger, and in the case of my film, death. This links to a psychological thriller because the point of a thriller is to build anticipation and have a sense of panic for the protagonist.

For my costume, I wore everyday clothes, so a hoodie and Jeans, this is because I was playing an ordinary person, and I want my target audience to be able to relate to me. My age also affected this, as it would be weird seeing a 17 year old wearing a suit and tie. The costume that I am wearing was fairly insignificant, the dull colours went with the overall theme I was trying to create, not bright colours like yellow or green which would make me appear more upbeat.

For opening titles I used a plasma ball, this is because it fits with the film company, shocker studios, with the electric theme. I was previously not going to do this and instead was going to use a website to generate an animation, however I wasn't really satisfied with any of them. The fact that this sequence and the music contrasts so heavily with so heavily with the rest of the opening, shows how Shocker Studios diversifies in the film industry, not just sticking to one genre, but instead specialises in multiple films.

When I wake up the first thing I do is reach to check my phone. The bright red screen that lights up the room when i turn it on is supposed to represent danger, that even in the shelter of my own bedroom I'm not safe from the monster, especially since the camera pans down to reveal a knife a few seconds later. this use of colour is used often in film to give a warning to the characters, this mise en scene is obviously dramatic irony as the characters in the film don't have anything to do with this. 

The iPhone is meant to relate to my target audience, as the proliferation of mobile phone ownership in the past few years means most 15 to 25 year olds have a mobile phone. This will hopefully keep the viewers interest and distract them form my awful acting.

The technology of the phone all heavily contrasts with the 

natural landscape of the forest scene previously, suggesting I am back

in reality. Phones are also (arguably) a sign of help and security, people 

take phones out with them incase anything bad happens, so you can                                                     "call for help" so when I use the phone in my room it is like I'm safe again, 

back in a world that I recognise

final product

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjPWsQYxK7s

marketing- type of posters

different film posters are used to advertise a film in the different stages of it's life, these are teasers, theatrical and billboard.

TEASERS

 Teasers typically contain an image associated with the film, for example Captain America's iconic shield immediately lets audiences know what is coming soon. Viewers may have forgotten about the previous film until they are reminded by the teaser, and the hype starts coming back as they look forward to a sequel. These reveal hardly anything about the film, as their purpose is to build anticipation.

BILLBOARDS

These work on a similar basis to the teaser film posters, because they are commonly on the side of roads, and drivers don't have time to look for more than a few seconds or they may have an accident, so often don't have much information, but focus on drawing attention. Billboards are basically impossible to miss, as they are so big, increasing the potential audience, but because of this they are vey expensive, so only major film companies with large can afford this, because of this, my film company (proton) won't be able to afford this especially in prime locations like Times square or picadilly circus

THEATRICAL

these posters are released later on in the films lifecycle, and include a billing block (list of actors etc), the director, the release date as well as the features of the rest of the posters. Many film posters use an image on the poster that subtlety points to the title, like jaws, with the shark swimming towards the title. most film posters also use the rule of 3, to make it look more aesthetically pleasing

psychographics and demographics

DEMOGRAPHICS

Demographics are used in marketing to classify audiences into categories like gender, age, race, class etc. advertising companies this is used in media marketing to advertise a film to different demographics.

An example of demographic information, commonly used by media companies, is the ABC1/C2DE system, which separates the population into different class groups. Newspapers are good examples of this.
The sun news paper is marketed at a C2DE audience, and this heavily influences the content that the sun has, for example, the sun will complain about teachers getting too much time off, generally because the C2DE audience didn't go to university and couldn't become a teacher to know what the job is really like, essentially moaning about people higher up than themselves. The Sun also caters to an C2DE political viewpoint, for example during the elections they would deliberately choose goofy pictures of David Cameron, and try to ridicule the conservative party because it is traditionally thought of as anti working class. This is all what the target audience want to consume, however this can be fairly dangerous as these oligopolies like The Sun can give us extremely biased viewpoints that may change the outcome of who is prime minister, especially as their target audience (C2DE) is 57% of the uk population, which is a worrying concept as it means people aren't making their own decisions.
So an ABC1 newspaper, such as the Independent, will also show news which it's audience will want to consume, which is basically the opposite of what a C2DE audience would want. An advantage of appealing to an ABC1 audience for the independent is that they can charge a higher price due to their higher income consumers (70p instead of 35p for the sun) however, in the film industry, this makes little difference to the price of a film.

A horror thriller film is likely to appeal to appeal to all the social grades, as most people enjoy the thrill that they bring, however some of the C2DE audience may not understand the psychological element of films, due to a being "less educated", they may prove difficult to understand, for example the psychological element of se7en may make the ending hard to make sense of if the viewer wasn't aware of the seven deadly sins from the bible. So because of the psychological elements that my film will have, my film will be mainly advertised at an abc1 audience.
There is no certain race that my film will be directly aimed at, the main character being a white male could influence this, possibly making it harder for for other ethnicities to relate with the main character, but, with psychological thrillers/horrors the main characters are generally white, such as Silence of the lambs, nightmare on elm street, psycho and se7en (with the exception of Somerset.) I will try to market my film towards both genders. the target audience for psychological thrillers is normally more male than female, generally because of the complex storylines and aspects of horror which males seem to find more interesting, but this is mainly because it is very rare to have the main character in as a female.  Although the main protagonist in my film opening is a male, there will also be female roles that are being affected by the bad dreams, which will make both genders feel involved. 

my target audience will be aged 15 to 25, the age rating from the BBFC is 15 because my film film will contain some swearing (to build verisimilitude), and some graphic scenes, involving blood. the reason why film isn’t rated 12 is because this would force me to hold back on certain scenes, possibly losing demand from teenagers who feel put off by the younger age rating. I have put the top of my age gap in the mid twenties because people older than this might find it hard to relate with a 17 year old, which is why most psychological thrillers have adult protagonists. This creates a niche market for my film.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

Psychographics are much more personal than demographics, and focus on the opinions, lifestyles, personal traits and interests of an audience. They are split up into 7 categories, as shown in the table below. They basically explain why the audience would want to consume the product. Media advertising can target a certain audience and assess how likely it is that their product would appeal to the certain groups.

Regarding my film, Endless,

the groups likely to engage with it more would be reformer, explorers and possibly succeeders. Reformers because they seek "freedom of restriction and personal growth" and psychological thrillers aren't "restricted"to following the same structure as most action and horror films (props narrative theory) They also have "independent judgement" which would be helpful for Endless because the storyline contains enigmas which would need independent judgement to piece together the storyline.                                 this is the reason why mainstreamers wouldn't be so keen on Endless, because it isn't conventional, and the fact that it's ran by an independent film company (not part of the oligopoly) means that they may be put off, as it isn't well known enough for hem to give it a chance. because this is the largest psychographic group, it's no surprise that psychological thrillers are a nice category.

Picking the location

the location I chose was oakwood park in Eastwood, the main reason for this was that it was fairly close to my house, so it was easy to come back the next day for half an hour, refilming some parts and adding other parts in. This was good because it was constantly cold during the period i was filming.

For my location i knew that I wanted it to be in the woods, trees everywhere makes it so that whatever is trying to chase me has a place to hide, which builds up the suspense as the audience watches me unaware that I am being watched from somewhere. Trees also make excellent lighting, with the suns rays shying through the leaves, this also made it seem slightly dreamy. Forests are also usually in the middle of nowhere, making the protagonist seem even more vulnerable, because of this they are often used in horror films, like Cabin in the Woods, the forest and just before dawn.
The fact that forests are darker aswell, really builds that sense of mystery. even certain sounds of forests make the audience feel suspense, the wind blowing through the trees, the sound of stick breaking and leaves rustling, the crowing of birds, all makes the viewer feel uneasy.

the woods I chose to film in were actually fairly small, as shown my the ariel shot. the A127 also runs along the edge of it, which would have lost the eery factor if Tesco lorries were in the background. Because of this, I shot in the same sections of the forest, due to a lack of space. Normally this would have looked like a continuity error, being in the sam place more than, but the landscape looking identical makes it seem believable, plus I was shot shot from multiple angles

for me ,the long shot of me walking through this part of the woods appeared kind of like I was walking through a tunnel, with the trees arching over to the right hand side, and once i got to the end, there was no going back. This is similar to i Donnie Darko, when he gt to a certain point at the start and entered a parallel universe. The shot also looks quite aesthetically pleasing, with the sun shining through the trees, however it is made to appear eery through the music playing in the background. The hard ground makes it so that the audience could hear the rhythmic sound of my footsteps, similar to the music which genrally kept the same pace.










                                                                                              shot of the woods from further away.

for my costume it was just casual clothes, so a grey hoodie and jeans, this is to show that i am just an ordinary person, not some sort of hero. The colours of these are also fairly bleak, which goes with the dull feel of the forest. I am wearing a pyjama top when I wake up to show that I have just woken up from a bad dream. Because of this I didn’t have to put too much effort into making a specific costume to use for the scene. 

My audience of my media product would be people an abc1 audience, this is because generally some c2de audiences may find some aspects of psychological thrillers hard to understand.

My opening sequence doesn’t really represent social groups in any particular way, mainly because the 2 minutes was only long enough to have one character in it. 

Distribution in media refers to how the product is transported from the producer to the consumers. My media product will be distributed to my audience in many different ways, because audiences are very fragmented today due to many people using different hardware services to watch films, streaming services like Sky and netflix, older methods like DVDs, some people also only watch films at the cinema.