Evidence of planning

These images show the planning for my characters, setting and props. The big house hints at the genre of the film as it is meant to be a haunted house this being a stereotypically horror setting. I chose Poppy Scarlett to be a main characters as she is a young girl this could then make her seem more venerable and weak character. I used Leah Patterson as another main character so that poppy's character in the film could form relationships and therefore the audience could relate to her more. I used the black bowls and cutlery to make the film seem more realistic to the audience.

Target audience questionnaire

Storyboard of Possession

Preliminary Task

Possession- Film opening

Intoduction

For my piece of AS level coursework I will have to complete a number of tasks to make sure that my final piece is to a high standard. I will have to plan for my film opening sequence, create my opening and evaluate my opening to meet the criteria. The text must be two minutes and must include film titles and credits.  Any audio material I add must me original or from a copyright-free source. To make sure I have complete all tasks to a high standard I will plan my work by doing a number of activities these being looking at other opening sequence, researching into narrative theory, codes and conventions, genre, target audience, characterisation and technical codes including mise en scene, camerawork, sounds and editing. After I have carefully planned my text and made my text I will evaluate my piece.

Opening sequences

The opening two minutes of a film can be in some films the most important 2 minutes of the film. The opening two minutes is very important, in these two minutes you have to establish a genre, tone and the style of the film.  These two minutes can be the most important as it needs to be able to interest the audience in order for them to keep watching.  The main jobs of an opening are:

·         To ‘hook’ the audience. Something interesting must happen in order to make us watch the rest of the film.  The opening may use enigma codes (questions that the narrative will answer later in the text.) to help create a ‘hook’ therefore making us watch on to see those questions answered.

·         It must introduce genre, tone and theme.  By using conventions of the chosen genre they can establish the genre within the audience therefore helping the audience to create and interest to the film and give idea to the audience of what they can expect from the rest of the film.

·         It must introduce characters. Showing clearly the type of character they are a heroine or an agent of change.  It must introduce their role in the narrative and successfully convey there personality to the audience.

·         It must establish the time and place, the setting and the atmosphere. Setting in the film is most important as from setting the audience will know what to expect from the film.

Finding nemo from Tashawilson95

Opening Sequences - Layer cake

The opening of the film layer cake start off with an extreme close up of an object the audience cannot make out at this moment so it creates an element of mystery. The colour of the black could connote death therefore hinting at the genre. The first thing the audience hear in the opening is the voice over of a man we are not yet introduced to. This then helps to set the scene of the film and also helps the audience hint towards the films genre. The camera then does a reverse zoom and we see that the object we didn’t know is the back of an old car, this then hint the era we are in at this point of the film. There is still a close up of the back of the van and then all of a sudden there is an explosion the close up the shows the full explosion and also emphasis the action at this point, as there is an explosions within the first minute the audience will know the film is an action/ gangster film.

 From the explosion are first piece of non- diegetic music begins to play the music is very calm which juxtapose with the action actually on the screen. The colour of the opening at this point is in black and white this could help show the era it is set helping the audience get a better setting of the film, which then creates an interest. We the here dialogue from the man in the middle of the action, even though this is the first man we hear speak that isn’t a voice over we know this is not the man who is the voice over, we know this because the voice over continues to speak whilst the man is speaking too, we listen to the voice over because his voice is the loudest and the one were most interested in. The camera shot is showing a mid-shot this then shows all the action to the audience and it also shows the proximity between the characters on screen him being the one higher up showing he has the most power.

The camera tracks across the screen when it meets a women the camera rolls over high hair and does a graphic match over to a man’s face. This then is when the colour finally changes and we no longer have black and white we know have vibrant colours. This can show the era change in the film and can also convey that it was a happier time in the past. the camera then does a reverse zoom and shows us the whole shot, this then emphasis we are watch a film with the genre of gangster as most people associate drugs with gangsters and bad people. The hippy’s first introduce the drugs to us first, they introduce the as a happy thing and more relaxed thing which is a contrast to what we see them as now. We the see a women who walks across the screen here it turns to a graphic match to a prison guard in a prison, this then takes us to a new setting, we know this is a prison from the customs worn by the guards and the men. The camera the pans across the screen showing us the whole setting, this helps the audience outline the main themes of the film this being drugs, it is also a contrast between the clip as it showed drugs as a good thing whereas of it showing that you can go to prison for it which the contrast to what the voice over is saying ‘we’re in the wrong fucking game.’ This then shows that the voice over thinks that being a drug dealer is the right job, with all of this it helps the audience have a little background story of the film.

 The camera then shows us a close up of the drugs which then makes the audience reach the climax that the film will indeed be about drugs, this will then make or break whether the audience is interested in the film ad wants to continue to watch it. The camera pans across the screen ad we see the whole room is full of drugs. The voice over at that point says ‘me’ and a man walks in at that point we know that this is the man of the voice over. The man walks across the screen and as he walks across the screen the drugs In the background disappears ad turns into normal per scripted drugs this could give to clues to the audience is that the man is an ordinary guy really and it shows that he drug work is separate to his normal life.

 The voiceover then says ‘I’m not a gangster I’m a businessman’ this then puts the audience on his side ad helps make a connection with him, even though we still don’t know his name this means that we cannot make a relationship with the character like we normally do.

 The camera does a crane a shot up the window where we seem them first handling with drugs, this is the first time we see are protagonist dealing with the drugs, put because the voice over makes it seem like he knows what he’s doing we are not concerned for him as we assume he knows what he’s doing. Also because he says that he only wants a certain amount of money and then he will quit the job we feel that he is safe.

 The camera gives a close up of the money this could emphasis how important the money is I this business also because there is bright light shining on the money it shows the audience that the money is all that matters. The voice over tells us that he owns a share or a housing business this shows that he has an ordinary job outlining he is just an ordinary person, with just a side interest. This then helps us related to are character and give us more connections to the main character.

 The camera in the opening shows us a lot of pans this helps show the audience the full action it helps show in each the clip the setting and it also shows us all the character I the clip and by the lighting in the clip we can see who is most important and also shows whether the topic is good or bad. When we meet the man that does or main characters fiancés and it shows a close up of the computer screen which we make up that it is something to do with money this then highlights the fact that one of the main themes to the film is money.

 The ending of the opening shows him walking down a very dark alley this then could give clues to the audience that the film might not end so well for our main character, making us feel sympathy for him at this point. Also because he says ‘life is so fucking good I can taste it.’ This then shows that he life’s could be too good for him and at any moment something bad can strike him leaving him venerable this then contrast with the setting and the lighting of the alley.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Narrative structure

To create a successful film the producer needs to be clear about the whole narrative from the beginning to end. They must know how the story with pan out and how it will develop.

The most simplistic way of explaining narrative structure is:

                                                                     Beginning – Middle- End

Beginning – At the beginning there is a state of equilibrium. This is when things are at peace. This then represents normality for the main characters.

Middle-something in the narrative will happen to disrupt the equilibrium and cause a state of disequilibrium. This makes up most of the storyline of the film.

The End- At the end the narrative is restored back to normality. The story then is resolved or a new state of equilibrium is achieved.

Therefore you can say the structure is like:

                                                             Equilibrium- Disequilibrium- Equilibrium

A more complex way of looking at it is:

 

I have looked at an example for 'Scream':

 



 

Narrative Theory – Narrative Codes

Enigma and action codes are a way in which a film can keep and audience interested. Enigma and action codes are posing questions within an audience then answering them. Enigma and action codes give enough information to the audience to keep them guessing what might happen in the film but they do not give enough information to ruin the ending, this then gives us reason to carry on watching.

 Enigma codes are the question posed in the film. The codes are there to make the audience pay attention and so that they keep an interest throughout the entire film. Some enigma codes won’t be answered to the end of the film and some will be answered straight away. Some enigma codes don’t get answered at all leaving the audience curious.

Action codes are often the answers to the questions posed by the enigma codes. Action codes are when the audience learn something new in the narrative. This could be something about a character, plot, theme, the action and the plot moves on in some way. Action codes give information that they will need to know in order to keep watching.

Narrative Codes – Silence of the lambs opening

‘Silence of the Lamb’ is very effective in posing both enigma and action codes in the audience therefore keeping them ‘Hooked’ throughout. From the opening of ‘Silence of the lambs’ it is easy to see where they have used enigma and action codes.

The opening begins with a long shot of a woman running straight away we have the enigma code  ‘why is she running?’ and ‘who is she?’ it isn’t till shortly after until the action codes reveals information about her.

From a mid-shot we see small writing on her jumper which reads ‘FBI academy’ this then making the audience a where she belong to the FBI. It’s not until later when dialogue from a man shouting ‘Starling’  that we get her last name and later on when she meets her colleague we get her full name ‘Clarice Starling’.

 Another less obvious action code is the sweat on starling’s jumper; this then gives information to the audience that she is hard working. When she talks to the man in the Forrest he calls on her to tell her important information ‘Crawford wants to see you in his office’ this then poses the enigma codes ‘what does Crawford want?’, ‘What relation is that man to Starling?’ and ‘Why is it so important?’. We later then are given action codes when we see the man’s FBI hat and we know that they both work together in the FBI. We don’t find out till later in the film what Crawford wants with and why it is so important. This then keeps the audience interested and a reason to carry on watching.

Genre Research

Characterisation

The film I have chosen to do my characterisation task on is the first Twilight film. I have chosen the clip where Edward Cullen is first introduced to the film. The character of Edward Cullen has been constructed by a number of ways. This is by what other characters say about him, the mise en scene, what the character is doing and by the camera work in the clip.

What other people say about Edward Cullen is a very important way of constructing his character. The character Jessica describes each of the Cullen family as they come into the canteen, she describes Edwards’s family as being very weird and even says ‘she’s with jasper, the blonde one who looks like he’s in pain.’  She gives each of his family quite negative descriptions but the when she’s describing Edward she says all positive descriptions like when she says ‘he’s totally gorgeous, obviously.’ This shows that he is very eye catching from a women’s point of view and that he is very much admired by them.  As she goes on she says ‘apparently nobody’s here’s good enough for him.’ This then shows that his character keeps himself to himself and doesn’t have close relationships with anyone other than his family.

The way the character is constructed through mise en scene is mainly through his costume, lighting and his proximity with other characters. Edward Cullen’s costume is very dark, which is a major juxtaposition with the rest of his family who are all in lighter colours like white and blues. This shows that his character could have a darker side to him or it could show that he is totally different from the rest of his family or wants to be different from his family. By wearing darker clothes it makes his character stand out from the rest of his brothers and sisters.   The lighting when the character enters is very dark with could connote that his character has a dark personality and to show the audience that there is a bad side to this character, it also then shows a massive contrast to how the girls have described him as being very dreamy.  Proximity with other character help to construct his character as Edward Cullen doesn’t walk in with the rest of his family, he walks in on his own this shows that he doesn’t have many friends and that given that option he would prefer to be alone then with his family. When he sits down he doesn’t interact with his family which gives us the impression that he isn’t that close with them.

Camera work is very useful when constructing Edward Cullen’s character. When he first walks into the canteen the camera is at a mid-shot.  This then helps to show his facial expression and also his costume. His facial expression is very hard and stern which then gives us the impression he is a serious character, it also shows him walking in a slow manner which shows he is a very calm and majestic character. The camera only ever does a mid-shot when they first introducing him until he sit down it then cuts to a long shot this then helps us to see the relationship he has with his family.

All of these factors help to convey Edward Cullen's character and helps us to interupt him as a character.  As the film goes on are opinion of him may change or it may help us to understand the type of character we first saw him to be.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObWiQPqbFqo

A detailed analysis of ‘Grease’ credits/titles

The film opening credits I have chosen to analyse is Grease.  Grease’s title credits are very unique credits. These title credits of the opening help setup expectations in the audience for the rest of the film.

The title credits first appear after some of the main footage which is very important to the storyline after the titles it then goes back to footage again.  The opening title credit are all cartoon animated, this is what makes the Grease titles unique as the rest of the film is set back in real life. It also then makes the titles fun and the audience will become entertained which would be the main purpose of Grease as it takes the genre of a musical.

The piece of important information that the audience gets is the name of the film ‘Grease’, the name grease is integrated into the titles, this is when the guy squeezes his hair product the name grease comes out then a blue car fades behind it and the production names come in. The car then gives clues to audience that cars may be significant in the film.

The next piece of important that the audience gets is the important cast members in the film. This are simply but affectively put into the titles as once a character enters the scene the  screen always fades to white and there cartoon animated picture fades in along with the name of the actor fading in and the character’s name fading in to. The Names of the cast members all come all in bright colours this then catches the eye of the audience and shows that the film will happy and will possibly have a happy ending.

The non-diegetic music in the background mirrors the name of the film ‘grease is the word’ and makes the movie more remember for all the audience. The music has a happy tone this also hints to the audience that  the film will be a happy film and there won’t be any serious issues in the film and makes the introduction to the film light hearted and easy for the audience to follow.

The next piece of important information the audience get is when the film is set. The date ‘1950’ is integrated into the back of the number plate, this is effective as the audience can start to build ideas about what the characters costume, the  setting of the film and the type of music that may be played throughout the film.

By showing each of the main characters in different situations it shows some of the characteristics each of the main characters hold. For example the character Rizzo keeps changes her outfit this shows that her character is into her looks and is very indecisive.  It also helps the audience to decide which characters they will like in the film and which ones they perhaps may take a disliking to.

The rest of the important information are all integrated onto billboards as the characters drive by them, this is like the extra character like the ‘pink ladies’ and the ‘T-birds’, the director and the producer of the film all things that are important to the audience, these are important as they can make the audience create judgments of the film this is because if they have watched a film by the same producer then they might think that it will be a similar film to the one they have watched.

As the titles end they fade back into the real life footage. This is an establishing shoot of the school this then hint to the audience where the film will be set and it also then helps the audience establish the target audience to teenagers as they would easily be able to relate to it as it is set in high school. The lighting is very bright this then reinforces the light hearted tone to the film and also makes the introduction have a happy mood. The happy mood then hints to the genre that it is a comedy/romance.

Target Audience

Establishing a target audience when making a media product is very important. When making a film the target audience is one of the first factors that is needed to be considered. A target audience is a group of people that will receive the product ad make sense of the product. There are many factors that I which produces will have to consider when choosing a target audience this will be factors like:

·         What does the audience expect from the text?

·         How will the text appeal and cater for to the target audience.

·         Are they male or female?

Another factor in which producers will need to consider when choosing the target audience is an age group I which they would like to appeal to. With this come film certificates. The producers can get help from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) when choosing their target audience age group this is because if they want to include in there film strong violence and strong language they would be looking between 15 or 18 years.

Target Audience - Opening to Scream

An example of a film that is successful at targeting there audience is ‘Scream’.

By watching the opening 2 minutes of ‘Scream’ it is easy to see who their target audience is. The opening two minutes with an older teenage girl home alone. This then helps to meet their target audience this being older teenagers to young adults between 15-20 as they can relate to the teenage character in the narrative. With this the main character is home alone about to watch a ‘scary movie’ this also helps the teenage audience to relate to the character as it stereotypical of teenagers to watch films alone.

 The next thing that would appeal to their target audience would be the genre of the film because of the horror genre it appeals to the audience as it is stereotypical for teens to watch horror films we know this because is it this audiences that like thrills and tense scenes. We know the film is a horror genre because of the many horror conventions used in the opening alone these being things like venerable teenage girl, isolated setting, night time setting and jumpy bits in the film. 

The last thing in why ‘Scream’ is successful at targeting there audience is because of the age certificate I which ‘Scream’ is. ‘Scream’ has an age certificate of 15 this makes the film successful as they have targeted towards the right audience. If ‘Scream’ targeted the film toward young children it would not be successful as young children would not want to watch a horror film with blood and gore and it would also be very insensitive.  

All this is within the opening of the film therefore as a audience we can easily see the target audience.

Film Ideas

My first film idea is for a horror genre. The film will be based around the paranormal. The story will be based around one family, a mum and two sister. The family have to move into a new house because of what happened in there old house and town. The oldest sister Rosie got bullied into her old school and rumours got sent around the whole town about. So Rosie and her family run away to a new town and new house to start a new life. What the family don't know is the new house they've moved into isnt just a normal house and infact the house is haunted with evil spririts. The evil spritis in the house take over Rosie's mum and sister and possess there bodies. In order for her mum and sister to return to there normal state Rosie will have to save them. Will Rosie run away like she always does or will she save her family and face her fears.

My second film idea is for a romance genre. The story begins with a boy and a girl, they have been bestfriends since primary school and now live together. The girl is 27 and one day finds out that she has a terminal illness and she only has six more months to live. Knowing that she will never do all the things she wanted to do before she dies, her bestfriend is determined that she makes a bucket list and do everything she want to do before she dies. So one by one her and her bestfriend go on and one until they complete the list but what they don't realise is that they are start to have feelings for each other and are actually in love with each other. She manages to complete everything on her list accept one thing, marriage. The boy being madly in love with her wants to complete her list so asked her to marry him before she dies. As it gets to the end of time she starts to get weaker and weaker. You can see that she is on edge, nearly dead her husband promises never to love anyone else and that he will always live on in her memory.

My Third film idea is an action/horror. Will be based on a zombie apocalypse. One morning a man that has been in a coma for ten month wakes up on a day he will wish he hadn't. To survive in this world he has to be sronger then ever before. He will have to find food, find water supplies and other survivors. Through finding other uninfected he hears that there will be a rescue helicopter to take the uninfected to take them all to a secure location but the only problem is he has to reach the helicopter by 17:00. With being miles away from the rescue point will our protagonist be able to make it in time. Will he be able to defeat the infected on his way.

My Favourite film idea is the first idea this is because I enjoy watching horror films the best and also believe that are the most popular film genre is horror, this means that is will be the most enjoyable for the audience to watch. I also believe that my film idea is unique as even though there are many paranormal films out there there are none with this storyline which makes it interesting.

Synopsis of my film idea

When one family have to move out of there pefecrt family home, the reason has to be serious. Catherine a single mum is try to do the best to protect and keep her family safe. When she  finds out that her oldest daughter Rosie is being bullied she has to put it to a stop. She wants to stop all the rumours that will hurt Rosie and protect her from all bad. To do this she decides to move her family to the other side of the country to the small region of suffolk even if it means making her yonuger sister move to. But when the family move into the house it isn't as lovely as they first thought, what they don't know is what they can't see will hurt them s they house is haunted with evil spirits. One by one Rosie's family gets possessed by the spirits that live at the house to. Now Rosie has to make the biggest decision of her life. Does chose to save her family and face her biggest fear or run away like she always does.

Opening Two minutes

The first two minutes of my opening will start like a flash forward. There is a close up of the main character Rosie running, her facial expression carries the look of worry and being scared. Her house is in the background and is blurred out so that the main focal point of the camera is the girl. Her house is isolated from anything else that then is a convention of the horror genre. This then gives hints that the girl is running from the house. The camera then cuts to a mid-shot this is so you can see the girl’s whole costume. You can also see by her actions now that she is clearly running. It then cuts to a point of view shot this helps to give the audience a more personal feel  and as the camera is handheld it emphasis that she is running fast.

 The camera then cuts back to the beginning of the film where there are a mid-shot of the main character Rosie and her sister. The first piece of dialogue comes in here. (Darcy) ‘You looking forward to starting new school today Rosie’ (Rosie) ‘Be nice to have a fresh start, making new friends is hard for me though.’ (Darcy)  ‘Just act yourself and I’m sure you will be fine.’ The Production Company then fades in really jolty in black writing.

 It then cuts back to the fast forward of a high angle of Rosie this then making Rosie look vulnerable.  Her facial expression is still scared which shows the audience that she is running away from her fears.

It then cuts back to the beginning where Rosie and her sister continue to talk. (Rosie) ‘That’s what I’m scared of; if I act myself people are guaranteed not to like me.’ (Darcy) ‘You know that’s not true, just have confidence in yourself.’ At the point where they are both speaking again the title of the director fades in jolty in black writing. The black writing connotes with death and evil and therefore gives clues that my film opening is a horror.

 It then cuts back to the flash forward of Rosie running. The camera is at a close up therefore we can see Rosie scared expression as, as she is still running the audience can get the impression that are main protagonist is running from something or someone.

 It then cuts back to the beginning again. There is a graphic match of Rosie close up of Rosie’s face where she looks nervous. (Rosie) ‘I hope I’ll be fine.’.  this then gives clues to the audience that Rosie will not ‘be fine’.

It then cuts back to the flash forward of Rosie still running. The camera is at an over the shoulder shot. This then helps to give the impression something is watching her or chasing her. The Producers name fades in jumpy the writing is still in black. The camera then does a point of view shot this then gives us Rosie’s point of view making it personal. To highlight Rosie is still running the camera will be hand held. The camera then does a horizontal pan to the left then to right this then emphasises that Rosie  is very much still alone and in an isolated setting.  The two main actor’s names fade in jumpy to go along with the jumpy/Jolty them to the titles.

 It then cuts back to A mid shot of Rosie and her sister Darcy walking out the door. This then helps to shows the proximity between the characters and that they share a close relationship.  (Darcy) ‘Guess we can’t be late for our first day.’.  The camera then zooms to a close up of the door where the name of the film possession fades in Jumpy In big bold black writing.

 For the last time the camera goes back to the flash-forward. There is a mid-shot of Rosie sat up against a tree with her head in her hands. The camera then tracks round to the front of Rosie. The last shot is a mid-shot of Rosie still crying this then makes her character seem weak. We can now see Rosie crying so it poses the question to the audience ‘why is she cry?’.  Therefore making the audience hooked and wanting to watch the rest of the film to find out.  During the flash forward there will be no dialogue just Rosie’s heavy breathing. Soft slow non-diegetic sound will be played throughout the flash forward to help set the tone of the film. In the bits where the characters are speaking there will be quiet tense music this will slowly build up until the name of the film fades in.

Evidence of filming

Here are some pictures that give evidence that I have filmed my own film opening.

 

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I believe that my media product uses and develops conventions of real media products. I believe that opening sequences serve many important purposes to a film. It is important that they do many things in order for the audience to continue to keep watching and be to hooked throughout. The opening sequence can be the make or break of a film. If the opening sequence is boring and lacks in entertainment they the audience are generally not likely to watch the rest of the film based on the first few minutes. For an opening sequence to be successful it must introduce the characters,the plot, genre, atmosphere, tone and it must 'hook' the audience. In my film opening I wanted to include all of these things so I could make it as successful as possible and intise the audience to watch the entire film. I believe that I hooked my audience in many ways, I did this by giving the audience flash forwards in the film, this then got the audience interested to know what she was running from therefore watching the whole film in order to find out. I introduced the characters well through the dialogue used. from the dialogue we get the impression that the main character is shy and not confident in her actions. We also get that she has a sister that she can fall back on, this making it easy from people to relate therefore watching on to see how there relationship as sisters develop. The horror genre gets across to the audience well by all the codes and conventions of the horror genre I used. From the scared expression on the main characters face we can easily see she is running scared, the emotion of scaredness relates to the horror genre. This is then back up by a high angle shot of the girl looking vunerable and weak. In additiion to this I used a hand held camera throughout the flash forward so I could mirror the characters shakey and scared emotion and so I could add realism into my piece of work. This camera effect is also used in the film Paranormal activity in where the effect is also used to create realism throughout the film. I was able to introduce the overall mood to the film by also using a scared expression throughout the film opening this then hints to the audience that all is not how it should be and hints that there will be elements of shock and horror throughout the narrative.
In media texts it is a convention that in the opening of the film there genre of the film is shown greatly. It is importantly that the genre comes across to the audience instantly so that the audience will know what to expect for the rest of the film. For a genre to be shown successfully it must follow the correct codes and conventions of that genre. If the audience was watching a horror film but in the opening sequence it used lots of hearts and pink text then the audience would get the wrong impression and may think they were watching a romance but actual were watching a horror then the audience may get confused and may feel dissapointed in the media product. For my media product to be successful in showing the genre I had to make sure I used the codes and conventions of a horror film. I did this by using a weak venerable girl in the beginning. With a variety of shots between high angle, close up and point of view shot it gave the impression that the girl was running away scared with no one to help her. This can then relate to 'Scream' opening. They using a girl character home alone at night. The girl lives far away from the rest of the town showing she is isolated. Isolation being another convention of the horror genre. This then mirrors what I did in my piece as I chose the setting to be a haunted house in the middle of nowhere in order to get the effect that 'no one will hear her scream'. With this I used slow motion when editing to emphasis that she is scared while she is running. This then puts across the strong theme of fear to my product. This strong theme of fear can be seen at the beginning of haunting in Connecticut when there is a flash forward of the mum speaking about the fears of living in the haunted house. This then shows the genre successfully because the audience can relate to the emotion of fear and knows that when your scared your at fear of something therefore relating it to the horror genre.
It is important that every film opening has a narrative structure. It needs to be clear in the begining of the film who the hero is and who the agent of change is in order for the audience to make sense of the film. The the narrative structure to be shown successfully at the beginning there needs to be an equilibrium where there is a state of piece. I believe that my film opening conforms with this because even with the flash forwards of the main character running in panic the non diegetic music behind the movie image makes the situation seem calm and there for being in a state of equilibrium even though the girl is running in panic the audience will not find out its because she is scared of something.The hero/ine is strongly shown in the opening of my film as we see the main character a lot this being who the heroine is even though she is not being or doing anything heroic we can see tell she will be heroic at the end of the film as she is the main focus in my opening also a convention of openings sequences is that the hero will always play the main role in setting up the narrative. This convention is also used in the horror film silence of the lambs when the first character we see is Claurice we as an audience know she will be important to the plot and important to recovering back the equilibrium to the film. I also at the beginning of my film I establish the equilibrium as I have normal life dialogue between the main characters of the film. This then makes my film more realistic for the audience and also helps the audience relate to the characters and build relationships with the characters. In addition to this it then hooks the audience into continue watch the film as they wonder 'Why is she running?'. This therefore is an enigma code of which will be answered later in the film by the action code presented. Enigma and action codes are very important to the narrative when hooking the audience. They can significantly effect the success of a film opening this is because they create an interest in the audience in order for them to keep watching. They also give the audience vital information the audience needs to know to continue following the narrative without getting confused. In my opening the flash forwards are very successful in posing enigma codes. The range of shots show the main character this then posing the questions 'why is she running?' and 'what is she running from?'. These questions are then not answered until the end of the film when you get the action code when you find out her family are possessed. This then shown in the film haunting in connecticut when the women is talking about her old house in the opening, this also posing questions like 'what is she scared of?' and 'what's wrong with the house?'. This then is successful in hooking the audience and keeping them interested. Furthermore there are other enigma codes that get answered straight way like the darcy tells Rosie she will be fine at making friends. This then posing the question 'why does she need to make new friends?' this is then answered by the action code when darcy says 'well can't be late for are first day at school' we then see that she is starting a new school. This is then vital information to the audience. It helps to understand the narrative and keep them interested. This then is seen in the film the silence of the lambs when the girl is running it poses the question 'who is she?' this is then answered quickly by the action code when the man shouts to her'' this then reveals to the her name and the audience can build relationships with her straight away. This is then successful in hooking the audience as they will want to know more about the character and why she Is important to the narrative.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I believe that my film opening 'Possession' falls into two major social groups, these social groups being gender and age. I believe that it falls into gender because of the main character in my film was a girl and because of the stereotype of girls in the horror genre. I believe that in falls in age because the main character is not only a girl but is a teenage girl. There are characteristics of each group in the piece I have created. For the gender, the main character is a girl, with this many stereotypes come with being a girl. With my character she is very weak and scared theses characteristics are often associated with the female stereotype as it is also seen that they are the weaker gender that will always need saving, like being a 'damsel in distress'. I have constructed this by giving my female character a scared and worried facial expression. With this I have also added in a high angle shot of her running this then making her look weak and very venerable. With the female social groups one of the characteristics is being emotional and sensitive. In my piece I have constructed I conform with this characteristics as I use non diegetic sound that is very slow and has a sad sense to the song this helps to bring out emotions as it mirrors the way in how the girl feels in the text. I also have a track round the girl showing that she is upset and emotional. With the social group of age I have used a teenage girl showing a young representation of people. With the representation of younger people comes the stereotype that all young people are selfish. In my piece I believe that my main character is selfish as she only looks after herself. From the flash forwards we see the shot reverse shot conversation and learn that she lives with what we assume is her sister, therefore by showing her running by herself we get the impression that she is only trying to save herself and not care about herself leading us to think she is careless another stereotype of young people.

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

Within the film industry there are many different distribution companies. Distribution is how film makers get there film to there intended audience. Each distribution company will all look for something different when deciding which films they want to distribute, it could be anything from which actors are used, whether the budget spent was a high or low amount, genre of the film or even the director of the film. Ownership of the film can have a major impact on who will distribute it, If the film is made by an independent company they it may be more risky they say a major company as the major company will be guaranteed distribution for example Disney and Sony. Even though the major company has a massive advantage on distribution there are also many advantages for an independent company these being that because an independent company will pay the distributor upfront therefore the distributor will be very motivated as they would want to generate a serious revenue.
With a major company such as Sony or Disney they are more likely to distribute a film that will have highly know stars in and have had a bigger budget spent of them. This is because they want to do the best at being successful. Therefore if they had well known stars it means that it will attract a bigger audience as people will see a film to see there favourite actor/actress. Also if they had a bigger budget it means that the audience will be blown away by the production as it would be high quality and the target audience will want to see a high quality product so they can get the value for there money.
With an independent company it will be much harder for them to get someone to distribute there product. They would have to go to a film festival like Sundance film festivals and would have to try to attract someone with there ideas to get them to distribute your product. As well as going to the film festival they will also have to compete with other independent companies that will also have unique and innovative film ideas and will have to prove that there film is the one they should go with. Independent companies generally have a smaller budget and less famous actors. These films are less likely to become famous as less money would be spent on advertising. These films also may be less popular then films from major film companies. This is not always the case, one independent film company has proved this with the 'Kings Speech'.
The type of distribution company that will distribute my film would be an independent film company, this will be because my film doesn't have any well known actors in my film meaning that it wont have a wide audience wanting to watch it. Also because of the budget spent on my film was very low as i have not had to spend money on fancy editing as my editing was very simplistic in order for my film to look realistic. In addition to this I have not had to spend money money on actors, location and editing. In addition to this there is not fancy graphics used or an major technology like CGI. Also because the audience will have a much lower expectation of my film it could then become a success if its better then expected and is different to how the audience would have thought. An independent film company that could distribute my film would be a company like Brain Damage Films. This independent company specialises in horror films and are well know for successful horror films. Then also specialise in low budget films therefore would be perfect for my film. They are known world wide for many of there films like 'The death of the ghost hunter'. They like there films to differ from reality to shocking horror, with this i believe my film would fall into reality and therefore fit in with there other films. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?
When making my media text I have always kept a target audience in mind to ensure my product is successful in generating a wide audience. I planned to aim my film at teenagers/younger adults at the age of 15-20 years and both male and females, this range was decided based on my results from my primary research and also based on the types of film that I enjoyed watching and that my friends enjoyed watching as we were all in that age range. I chose to target my film toward this age group as I found out when i did my primary research that the horror genre was most popular with this age group. I also believe that it is stereotypically for teens to enjoy watching horrors. I have aimed it at teens in so they could relate to my main character who is also a teen therefore causing them to become hooked and watching the whole film. I believe that this age group would find my movie most entertaining as both genders would be entertain by the thrilling scenes and tense action. When doing research for target audience for my film I looked on the BBFC website for some guidance in choosing my certification for my film I decide it was best to put the certificate at a 15 because as it meant my film could include strong violence as well as strong language and discriminatory behaviour. As it is a 15 it allows all of my target audience to be able to watch it therefore being able to reach a wider audience. Also from my primary research I found out that the most popular sub genre for horror was paranormal I decide it was best to aim it at this age range as I new it was what they enjoyed and it confirmed what i had already been planning about my film genre.

How Did you attract / address your audience?
It is important when making a film opening to make sure that you can appeal to your audience in order to maximise success and to make a profit from the film. In my piece of my opening I have did everything in order to appeal/attract to my audience.

One thing that I have done to maximise my success and to appeal to my audience was by the characters I used. In my opening I made sure I used teenagers, this meant that the target audience could easily relate to my charcaters and to make sure that the audience would be able to build relationships with the character and would be able to follow the narrative with the charcaters and would be able to feel every emotion that the character feels, therefore keeping the audience hooked through the entire film.

When deciding my film genre I chose to the genre horror. I chose this because stereotypically it is teenages and young adults that watch horror films thi point proven again in my primary research. With this it meant that I had to make my the horror genre appeal to the audience. I did this by mirroring the codes and conventions of the horror genre. The first thing in which I did to stick to the conventions was the setting. In my film opening I chose to set my film at a haunted house, this stereotypically is a horror setting and therefore tie in with the horror genre. In addition to this with the setting I chose to film in an isolated place so that it would make my main character seem both weak and vunerable. By me filming in an isolated setting it helps to show the audience that no one will hear her scream if something paranormal did happen and no one would be able to help her therefore this mean I was able to bring tension to my film opening. Another convention I used to appeal to my audience was the colour schemes I used through out the film opening. The titles I used were in a dark red, I used this colour as I believe this colour connoted evil, blood and danger therefore tying in with the horror genre. I also made the title of my film appear in big black writing, I did this to make it stand out against everything and I also believe that the colour black connotes with death, death being a key theme or horror films.

In addition to this music played a key part in appealing to my audience. When editing my I put non diegetic sound throught my two minutes opening. I decide to chose an instrumental to Christina perri - Jar of Hearts. I did this to evoke sad emotion in my audience. I also chose this song because when the song first came out it was a popular song which got into the top 40 chart. With this it shows that this song is very popular with a wide audience meaning this song would have a mass appeal therefore people would recognise this in opening and watch on.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From the process of constructing my products I have learnt about many different things about the technologies I used. I used a variety of technology in order to complete my two minute opening. For my project I used a digital camera(Panasonic Tz8 Lumix), editing software(iMovie), computer(iMac), internet for Youtube, Blogger, Slideshare and research. I have learnt that all technology have its strengths and weakness.

When using  iMovie I believe that I was not very confident with the software at the beginning. In the past I had experienced using other editing software like Windows Movie Maker but nothing as complexed as iMovie. It meant that it took me a couple of times to play around with it so I could understand and learn how to use it. There was many strengths to using this software this was like that it meant that I could do more complexed things like slow motion and the fancy titles I used in my opening. It also meant that I could get more experience with the software so in the future I could be confident in using it meaning I could get a better quality piece. As well as strengths there were weakness this was things like that by the time I got comfortable with the software I didnt have enough time to get the productsto the high standard I wanted it to be.

When using the digital camera I believe that I was confident when using it, this was because I was comfortable with the camera as I new what it was capable of. I was also confident because I had already used the camera when filming in the past and i had already Used camera's Similar to the one I had used. Being comfortable with the camera was definetly a Strength of the camera but another would be the quality of picture that the camera achieved, it meant that my filming could be of high quality. A weakness of using this camera was that I had problems with getting the movies from the camera on the iMacs, the movie files were hard to download from the camera which left me facing differculties with how much time it did consume.

The internet was the most helpful tool that I learned the most from but was also the most difficult to navigate around.  The mains strengths of the internet was that it allowed me to view other blogs and film openings which then helped me to create ideas in my head of what I wanted to do in my film openings.  With YouTube it helped me to look at a variety of non-diegetic music I could use and I could see which one suited best. A weakness was that when looking at other blogs it did give me ideas for my blog but that work isn’t always factual therefore not reliable. Another weakness would that  When doing research it wasn’t always as straight forward as it seemed and was very time consuming.

 Looking back at your preliminary what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I believe I have learnt many things from when I filmed and edited that piece to my now finished final piece. I believe that my preliminary was very basic and simple. I did not use a variety of camera angles, my preliminary consisted of long shots, close ups and mid shots. since then I have progressed a massive amount as I have included a variety of different complex shot types like point of view shot, over the shoulder and high angle shot. I believe by doing this it has made my final piece more creative and made it look more natural and realistic. As well as this in my preliminary my narrative was very basic with simple dialogue. I believe I have improved in my final piece as my narrative is now more complex but still easy to follow and the dialogue is still simple but poses both enigma and action codes in order to keep my audience hooked and to continue watching. In addition to this when I edited my preliminary piece I used very basic editing skills with only using the trimmer in order to cut my clips so that they ran smoothly and was realistic in comparison to everyday conversation. In my final piece I have used more complexediting skills in order to make my film entertaining to watch and still keep it realistic. I used things like slow motion to make my more dramatic and entertaining. I have also played around with the sound and made the audio louder in order for my audience to hear everything going on. I have also add non diegetic sound to my film in order to entertain the audience whilst watching. I another thing i have majorly progressed in was titles and credits. In my preliminary I used no credits as it was a basic piece, with my final piece I was able to add credits and titles to be able to appeal to the audience.