Reflective Analysis

The sequence that I made was suspense thriller, displaying the overall strength of the human mind and body when faced against the odds, to live and grow. It's a subliminal message to people urging them to fight for what they believe in and stand for something  rather then conforming, the main character is an embodiment of this and will make him relate-able to the audience and admirable. I had to use all of the micro elements to create the right atmosphere and narrative message, so the lighting, costume, props, etc. had to be perfectly fitting to the narrative and effect the narrative drive, so it didn't ruin the message of the narrative.

For myself to create the right amount of suspense and isolationism was to use sound to my biggest advantage, by using the acoustic song L490 by 'Thirty seconds to Mars' it connotes isolation with no use of lyrics and only on instrument, being the acoustic guitar a soft sounding and very eerie instrument if used with the right scene, such as the one I use. It invited the audience into the mind of my main character and added a sense of sympathy as they feel for him as most people feel more compelled with their feelings when a slow and soft song is played during a scene so they'll feel empathy for 'John' and curiosity towards how he got there and why. The serious tone of the music makes the audience realize that this scene and most likely the rest of the film will be based upon serious tones and themes.

The audience know that the opening is very serious with the lighting of the scene achieved by filming on location, the natural light and the natural feel of the opening gives the distinct 'British' feel that I was going for with the opening with the genuine feel, rather than a studio shot film, which is why I think British audiences prefer and relate more with location shot films, The effect a location shot scene can have is much better than anything that can be shot in a studio (for the style of film I made) for instance if the scene I filmed at the beach wouldn't have the natural feeling of a beach, it'd be a computer generated 'paradise' but i think a location shot can tell more about and film and it's pureness.

For costume I just really needed to pick some neutral colors and go from there really, without any designs that stand out or distract from the seriousness. Black jeans, Nike shoes and a Black and Red jumper, just look like a typical teen making him  relate-able to the older teen audience so that'll create interest in the biggest cinema goers and the word of mouth will help to freely advertise.

My film is influenced by British film production company Warp X with such films as 28 Days Later, Hush, Dead Mans Shoes and many more, these films have had me on the edge of my seat wondering what's going to happen yet and most American films fail to do this which is why i much prefer British produced films and I appreciate the genuine feeling that British films culminate and that they produce such great films on a miniscule budget so it's not trying to win people over by 'having the best cast' or 'best effects' it's just making a film for the pleasure of the audience and it is done almost perfectly with most films made by Warp X productions.

With a limited cast it helps focus on the character's development during the narrative and helps the audience focus strongly on the characters as individuals rather than a group of people, so they can relate and get into the psyche of the characters. It help the characters be understood and admired or feared by the audience, or enforce catharsis (with my film as pity is something the audience will feel for 'John' and fear for the 'infected' but they haven't been introduced into the opening) towards 'John' with his situation being quite grave and worrying to imagine yourself being put into.

For an improvement to my film I'd have recorded more sounds and had a few more shots taken of the scenes as I feel a crispness could've added to the effect and I'd have preferred the weather to have been quite dull but I couldn't get that without luck playing a part, but overall it's just very small things that I'd have improved with my opening scene. I'd have also added a bit more to the scene or added a freeze frame at the end but I didn't see it fit at the editing phase.

The use of a teenage character makes him a relatively unknown person which adds to the realism, it shows that this can happen to anyone. It embodies the human struggle within one character and shows how people should face adversity and not run away and give up because they can be victorious, so it will provide a strong positive message to the viewers so they will feel empowered to stand for themselves and fight off anything that's a threat, this will also make people feel good about themselves, which is a trait of 'cheesy 80's martial arts film' by making the audience see that 'anything is possible' this technique is a very successful technique, it gives the audience a feeling of nostalgia and will overall improve their feelings about things in general.

To conclude, all of the elements of mise en scene are integral to making the narrative and look of the opening look correct and make sure that the audience relate with the narrative drive and have the right emotions evoked by the film and it's narrative. My opening I feel did it quite successfully to embody the ideas of positivity and fighting for the truth and using the human curiosity to our advantage and creating a powerful suspense thriller.
   

Question 7, Evaluation

Since my preliminary video, I have learnt about different camera angles, shot types, lighting conditions, how the movement of the camera can effect the audience and every single thing in a camera shot can effect how the audience and how they react to the clip they're viewing. The lighting can have a massive effect on how the clip is percieved and can subconciously suggest the mood of the clip and what may happen during the progress of the cilp. In my preliminary the lighting wasn't exactly how I wanted it to apper so for my actual clip I made sure that the locations I used had good natural light that I could work with to improve it if it was needed. The sound wasn't picked up very well on my preliminary video so for my actual clip i've recorded some sounds after the video recordings and added them in during the editing of the main clip. I used some of the origonal recordings also that were picked up during the video recording. I choose locations that would add to the total effect and atmosphere of my video, to make the audience interprate the video's meaning and get the feeling of suspence. I've learnt that not showing the view every aspect oif your video can have a great effect on them as their imagination can help add to the horror of a scene in a film. The use of a soundtrack can be very effective and can add to the main narrative message that it being presented so the correct atmosphere is presented and read by the audience.

Question 6, Evaluation

This this the make and model of camera I used to record my clips, it was a very simple camera to use the zoom was used in the recording and it worked very well to create the effect I wanted to be portrayed. Overall it worked very well to record my videos and it was simple to use.

I also used a tripod, to add certain camera effects to the video that I wantedd to be added, it worked very well and captured shots like; Panning shot and Steady shot, it worked very well for stationary shots but 

I initally used Abobe premier pro as my editing software as I find it to be a better product for editing videos than WLMM and has a better collection of effects and offers more to the editing than WLMM does, Premier was initally a hard software to use but once i'd gotten use to it, it became quite easy to use and I got all of the effects i'd like on my video clip.

Question 5, Evaluation

As you can see I've used a young teenage male (myself) to be the main character which will help attract the audience with a young cast people usually enjoy watching them to see the new actors and if they have any talent and it also doesn't distract from the film's overall message by placing a massive household name, it keeps the film genuine and realistic.I adressed my audience by looking at the usual age for people that attend thrillers movies at the cinema. My music choice is quite upto date music by popular musicians so it will interest people of a young age to view the film.

Question 4, Evaluation

My main target audience would be young adults from 18-28 as they're interested in suspence horrors and have a high enough maturity level to watch a film with patience and the correct analytical viewing, by depicting everything in the films as they are meant to be presented in the clip. People that are interested in thrillers will also be a target as they're most likely to enjoy the film and will give it a positive reaction and will tell their friends about the film and the word of mouth is a very strong advertising technique, so if you impress a fan of the genre they're likely to tell their friends and they will be intrigued to watch the film for themselves. The target audience will have a keen interest in thrillers and suspence, so they will enjoy the film and understand the films concepts. With my target audience being at the age of 18-28 people around them of a younger age and older age will listen to their opinions of the films as they're at a responsible age. My target audience will most likely be mature working class young adults, that enjoy watching programs such as, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds and other programs with similar style and themes. Their taste in music will be anything up tempo for instance metal or hard rock. My audience are a very approachable and usual type of 18-28 year old, that are smart and mature.

Question 3, Evaluation

My ideal choice of film distributor would be Lionsgate as they are a high emerging film distribution company that aren't part of the big six but are holding a massive amount of very successful films uner their belts such as; The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, SAW, Etc. these films have been extremely successful and have a strong fan base which i'd hope to generate for my film. Posters, Social Network pages/accounts, trailers, websites, apps, advertisement campaign in newspapers and websites; such as YouTube, public transport, billboard campaign. But realisticly with my film being low budget it wouldn't have all of these but it would have Posters. I'd try to get the film into the best cinemas in the UK so more people will watch it and then use the word of mouth to tell their friends about it and garner interest.

Question 2, Evaluation

My character is a teen male, that follows a typical convention for a young male in modern society, he wears typical clothes that don't distract from the origional idea or narrative drive. His body language shows his bewilderment and his desire to find out what's happened and how. His hair and face hasn't been altered so it has a natural look to it rather than a 'clean' look so he fits in with the idea of waking upon a beach without an idea of anything. He represents the idea of never giving up no matter what obsticle lies in front of you that a human can conquer anything if they try their best to overcome it. People will aspire to be the character as he doesn't give up and shows resilience to find the truth.