Feedback

Reactions towards film idea

• We gathered from our discussions with other students that our story was very complicated, but was still unique. They felt that because of the subject matter, it was important for us to execute our ideas in the right ways. 
• They understood our intentions and advised us to use authentic and factual information about the 9/11 attacks that would nurture our narrative to enforce the realm of "Premonition".

Reactions while in production

• As we were editing, there were concerns about the length of some shots that were included in our sequence. Some would drag-on and others were too short to be fathomed by our audience. So the ones that were too long, had been taken out as they were the unwanted elements that the shot had. 

Reactions post-production 

• We found from our audiences' reactions that they were very confused through out the sequence until the end. I believe that this was what we were aiming for as a psychological thriller, it had people questioning what they had perceived from the muse-en-scene of the sequence. 

Themes

Conspiracy and Speculation 


Angels and Demons 

Conspiracy and Speculation is revealed in this film through numerous conspiracy theories that are explored by Robert Langdon, who is trying to find out the true culprits who have held the lives of hundreds of people in captivity and threat to kill. It shows the possible existence of an ancient and forgotten cult, the Illuminati. For our narrative, we also intend to have speculation concerning subjects that revolve in and around the 9/11 attacks. We intend to use Cornelius' character to explore said conspiracies and to investigate, as Robert Langdon has done in Angels and Demons. 


Terrorism


Fahrenheit 9/11 

This film is almost identical to ours, only our sequence is structured as a story, not a documentary with a series of interviews. It not only includes terrorism as a theme but also illustrates conspiracy and speculation. This was shown through the kind of information the audience were given via the series of interviews. It depicts multiple opinions about the 9/11, like "Premonition" were we plan to make Cornelius investigate the alternative explanations behind the 9/11 attacks. 


Mental Illness 


Momento 

The narrative of Momento is surrounded by the theme of mental illnesses. The main character is incapable of storing new memories, therefore he takes a series of pictures to remind himself. This character from Momento shares a mental illness as Cornelius does, but the symptoms are different. Cornelius is a schizophrenic, he is subjected to a series of delusions/visions, inability to interact appropriately towards other humans, can store knowledge beyond the capacity of an average person and is very arrogant, he will very rarely give up an argument.   

Research into 9/11

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series2/rick_rescorla_september_11_hero_bravery_cornwall.shtml


This article had given us more ideas for our story line, and where we wanted to take it. This article shows that, like Cornelius, Rick Roscorla had predicted the 9/11 attacks. Instead of using Roscorla, we wanted to create our own fictional character who was more controversial and odd rather than sticking to Roscorla's "war hero" title. Roscorla did not gain any attention from his foreseeing knowledge, therefore it would not have been as  (respectfully)entertaining to watch as Cornelius. It was unclear how exactly Roscorla conjured the idea of a terrorist attack on the twin towers, so we decided that Cornelius's mental state of schizophrenia had forced a premonition allowing him to see into the future as shown in our opening titles. 


http://newsone.com/newsone-original/samalesh/the-11-most-compelling-911-conspiracy-theories/


This American news website, shows numerous conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. These said theories are very detailed and compelling, therefore we decided that in the narrative, Cornelius would use these conspiracies to justify his argument about the government's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Though some are rational and very disrespectful towards the victims of the 9/11 attacks, we will have to limit ourselves in order to provide censored entertainment. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8518194.stm


Films that explore the events before and after the 9/11 attacks have received much appreciation, especially "My name is Khan". This film explores the quest of a father whose son died as a result of racism in the post-9/11 attacks period. It had touched the hearts of many Muslim's who felt that they were to blame for the devastations of the 9/11 attacks. "My name is Khan" cashed $2.3m (£1.4m) in America over a four-day holiday weekend. This shows it was highly successful as an overseas Bollywood production. I believe that "Premontion" may have similar effects upon audiences, though "My name is Khan" targets Muslims and their experiences, our production will address anyone who is unsure about the truths about the 9/11 attacks. 

Prop List

Prop List

-Book

-Papers

-Newspapers

-Folders

-Office equipment

-Glasses

-Pencil

-Notepad

-Calendars

-Straightjacket (White jumper and belt)

We decided that all of us should bring in a piece of prop each. This was due to the fact that if the office could not have been used for shooting, then we would’ve been required to use the music room, which had no office equipment whatsoever. Therefore, to not take any risks, we decided to bring in as much office equipment as we could. We used books, papers, newspapers, folders and stationeries to illustrate the environment Cornelius was living under. This not only foreshadowed his personality but it also gives us an idea what he does. The straightjacket was used to convey the cut-back scene where Cornelius has a premonition about himself, wearing a straightjacket in a room, alone. 

Character Profile

Cornelius

Cornelius is a man in his early twenties. He has always been labelled as an outcast, due to his inability to socialise. His mental state of Schizophrenia has deterred all means of having friends or relations of any sort. This loneliness has built up an obsessive interest in the US government, as he has been doing so since his academic years. Although Cornelius feels isolated and unwanted, after the attacks, Cornelius finds a renewed trust in society. He perceives the togetherness that the people of New York display in their time of hardship and pursues to help them. Cornelius like many of us is a person searching for acceptance, but unlike many of us, he possess a power that is difficult to come by, forgiveness. 

Evaluation 7

Question 7: Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full production?

Preliminary Brief: “Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. A couple of lines of dialogue must then be exchanged between characters & match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule should be demonstrated”

Main Task: “The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes (all video and audio material must be original, produced by candidates, with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source)”

Our preliminary task was designed and assigned to us for the purpose of gaining brief knowledge and experience about the technical equipments used to produce a film sequence. From what we learnt after completing this task is then transferred, used and developed in our Main task, constructing an opening sequence for a new fictional film.

In our Pre-production for our Preliminary task, we firstly discussed the short story-line and the ideas that we could incorporate into our media product. We chose to illustrate a conversation between a manager of a football club, and a player from that same football club. We decided that this was perfect as it would allow us to explore different camera angels and how tension could be built just through a series of shots.

Our story was that the manager would be asking the player for some help, as the manager is in debt he asks the player to purposely make the team lose in a match to gain a profit from his superiors. We began allocating different jobs for planning our sequence. Heena and I were responsible for drawing up a rough story board, and Alex and Janelle were in charge of developing a script. In accordance to this idea, we crafted our plans and discussed what we had, briefly. I feel that we could have planned further as our shooting schedule was not drawn up until the day of shooting which caused us much hassle, we did not have a photo storyboard so we could not visualise our sequence, my group and I also did not make a copy of a location Recce, which was very much needed prior to shooting as the problems that we would have noted in our location Recce’s were discovered while shooting. This was again a problem for us and wasted a lot of time. It was a shame that we as a group were not fully organised due to the fact that we hadn’t planned our day out when shooting. Subsequently it took us a period of four hours in two days to gather the shots required for editing.

Learning from our Preliminary task, I was confident and was not intending to repeat the same mistakes as before. I disliked the idea of not being organised and since this sequence was to be relatively longer than our Preliminary, I was fully aware that an on-point and good plan was required for a successful opening sequence. We firstly began by each of the group members (Alex, Safa, Wayne and I) to write up at least two film ideas. All of us completed this task and shared our ideas. We found that each one of us had a unique element about our ideas; therefore we opted to combine our film ideas as this compound would result in a more entertaining plot for us to build upon. We decided that it was going to be about the 911 attacks, that a man, who is mentally unstable, predicts the attacks six month prior to them. We were aware of the genres that followed this proposal; that this film was going to be a psychological thriller with elements of other genres to allow it to attract a larger target audience. We then started analysing other established films that share a similar genre. We scrutinize the manner in which the characters, from said films, would be acted by the actors, we also considered the representations of such characters and found that one unique individual is necessary- if it be a protagonist or an antagonist. Films such as “Saw” were a great example to follow. It allowed us to see the typical codes and conventions of a psychological thriller and how camera techniques are used to illustrate this. After doing much research, we then started to draw our storyboard together. I felt that this is he best way to create a storyboard because when the whole group is present, many diverse ideas are accessible. Unlike in my preliminary task, were only one of our groups member’s storyboard was used. When we finished our storyboard, we thought that a variety of shots were still required, so we went to the drawing board again and drew up another copy of the story board with rough dialogue. This was done to allow everyone in my group to have the same vision as each other about our sequence.  It was then when we realised that we would need another storyboard but with the correct dialogue that we were going to use. So we create three scripts all different in their own way and decided upon one and as our actor being filmed had no dialogue, it was quite difficult to make the visual elements parallel to the sound. After completing our script, we constructed our final storyboard with each shot supported by a line of dialogue and stage directions. We then proceeded to create a shooting schedule and time limits for when to get jobs done in an estimated time frame. After the completion of our shooting schedule, my group and I went to look at some locations that we could use for our opening sequence. We decided that our first and best choice was the history office, but we were unsure if we would be given license to use it for the whole day, so we went out looking for back-up locations. From this we decided that we would want one of the music practise rooms to be our location if the history office was unavailable. For both locations we wrote up a location Recce that illustrated the negatives and positives about the locations. From this we found that it was in fact the history office that would be most suitable for our production. From this I learnt the vast different between two locations and how it could alter the mood of our sequence. To confirm our rental for the office we asked the referee of the office and she said that it was okay. After this we assembled a props list that each of us would take a copy of, this was to be ensured and maintain an organised pre-production. We wrote down everything that would be required from what is to be in the shots, to what we may need. A costume list was also constructed for our character and we all bought something in to contribute to the representation of the character of Cornelius, as I learnt from my preliminary task that the more you dress up a character, the more convincing they will be. The only thing that was remaining was a photo storyboard which we done by taking pictures of each shot with the character, what he will do doing and how we will be seen in the sequence. This allowed us to experiment and add shots that were lacked and to see if our sequence was going to be successful or not. This was something we did not do for our preliminary, which resulted in varied vision of our media product for our preliminary task. I believe that pre-production is vital in preparing your cast members to shoot, I learnt that if one is not prepared, much valuable time will be lost, which could be used to better your product.

In our preliminary task, while producing our film we came across many issues such as the costume of the character, continuity, the poor quality of sound, the lack of organisation and much of our acting was improvised due to no rehearsals. It was difficult to remain concentrated because of the constant interruptions that occurred every now and then. This was a problem as we were nearing our time limit and at the last minute were required to rush everything which later resulted in a problem on its own. Continuity was heavily hindered as one of our actors failed to wear the exact same thing as he did the day before when shooting. We had to, nevertheless carry on shooting and had to compromise with the issue. I learnt that though taking your time while shooting is vital, getting it done early will ensure continuity.

In our main task, we were very much organised due to the fact that we fully planned our shots prior to the initial shootings. Firstly we considered our shooting schedule and saw were to start. After confirming our initiating duties we set up the location with our props but most of what was needed was already there, which was one of the reasons we chose that location. We set our camera and I then tested to see the lighting if it was correct. We wanted the sequence to be dark and mysterious so we turned off the lights of the office which resulted in total darkness which could not allow the camera to pick up anything. This was a major problem as we wanted the lighting to be bleak which contributed to the codes and conventions of a typical psychological thriller. So one of our crew members went and got a studio light from the other department. This was a problem that we should have anticipated and avoided, despite the fact that we discussed the lighting, we forgot how we were able to achieve it. Our actor (Wayne) got into costume and was set for shooting. Just before recording, we checked if everything was in place by referring to our photo storyboard and our initial storyboard. It was and we began shooting. Unlike in our preliminary task, where the storyboard had kept being reconfigured as a result of not understanding its contents. After every shot, the director (I) would check the shooting schedule to see if the production was working on time. We learnt from our preliminary that when we got into shooting, we would often lose track of time and end up going over the time limit, it was important for us to step back and just make sure that we were on schedule. We were in fact, ahead of schedule because most of our shots are quite short, so we just had to take the shots a few times and move on to the next. I believe the shooting schedule really helped as it allowed us to view what we wanted to do, how and when we needed to do it. We did not miss anything out which was vital, but in our preliminary task, we accidentally missed out a very important shot and had to set up again the next day for the one shot. During our production we took some safety shots, we did not do the same for our Preliminary task which had created many problems while editing. Our safety shots were mostly in the cut-away scene where we explored the different angles we could use. We understood that it was better to have more than you need than less than you need because going back to retrieve more shots after you had the initial chances to shoot would waste time and not seem as professional.

As we did not use original sound that was recorded while shooting our scenes, we used voice-overs and a very low volume hum that played in the background and in the cut-away shots. We used voiceovers to demonstrate to the audience that, the voiceovers and the visual elements are not in the same time sequence. We wanted it to be clear that Cornelius was predicting the attacks, so we recorded ourselves as news reporters, reporting the 911 attacks and showing their initial reactions to it. On our shooting schedule we did not put include this, which resulted to some problems such as testing if the script goes with the sequence or not. However we still recorded our voiceovers with the script we chose and hoped that while editing, it would be long enough and shall suit. In our preliminary task, the sound quality was very poor, due to the fact that we were not using any sound equipment, except the one on the camera which picks up sound at different volumes depending on its proximity to the person speaking. For example, in my preliminary task, when “The Manager” says “I know im asking for a lot here” then  “but you wont come out of this empty handed” the camera was placed far away from “The Manager” when saying “I know im asking…” and it sounds echoed, but when he says “but you wont…” the volume instantly changes. From this  learnt that it is always vital to use sound equipment in a conversation.  

For our preliminary task, I feel that the editing went very well, as we had a lot of the shots that we required, but in one of the shots a part of one of the crew members was in the shot, therefore ruining the whole shot. We did not have another take of the same shot as at that time we were in a hurry and decided that it was perfect how it was. This was a mistake as we regretted it while editing. We found out that the quality of the sound was very poor because we were not using correct sound equipment. This was due to the lack of organisation and planning that my group and I did not complete. I think as a whole, editing went the best and was very successful. We finished our editing before our deadline had occurred.

In our Main task I was fairly confident about editing as it was a great success in our preliminary task, considering the lack of planning, I thought it had went well. When we started editing our opening sequence we firstly digitised our shots onto the computer to save it on the lacie. When we had finished this we later put a rough sequence together of the shots we digitised and compared it to our storyboard to identify any missing shots that we needed. It was then were we realised that we were missing a very vital shot, subsequently we pondered the idea of re-shooting, and we knew it would have been very difficult to get the office exactly like it was. Then we thought that maybe if we look back at the tape and see if we missed a shot while digitising. We did so and thankfully the shot was present, we had merely missed it out while getting the material onto the computer. When we had completed our visuals, we then starting working on our sound, were we hoped that the sound was going to match the sequence. This was very frustrating because I was aiming to be fully well planned for this sequence and only one thing was missed out and now we were left hoping. We assembled the voiceovers and checked if it did go with the visuals, it did and we then started adjusting the volume of each voiceover. While looking for music, we found many beats that we could’ve used, but we settle for a light hum that did not distract the audience from the voiceovers and instead soothed sequence further, but at time it would get too loud so I had to configure a specific point in which the volume of the instrumental would reach over the desired peak.

When we applied our credits, we firstly filmed them, by cutting out the letters from newspaper articles and putting them together to make a name of a cast member. We did this and put it into our sequence, we then found out by closely analysing it, that the quality of the light was poor and it quite frankly looked shabby and unprofessional. So we designed our credits digitally by using Adobe Photoshop which looked much better.

We had a shot that zoomed into a calendar to show the date that Cornelius was in. From feedback we discovered that the idea was good, but the manner in which it was executed in was poor. It did not look good, though its significance was vital to the sequence. So we make the date into a title and replaced it with the one that was initially there. I then added a layer of the previous shots to show the significance of the shot.

Evaluation 6

Question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From producing our opening sequence I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience in handling the technologies that were used to create our sequence. Many of the knowledge I have gained have helped me work at a more efficient rate which allowed me to get many of the jobs done quick and easily. The equipments used to shoot our production were:

-        Canon XHA1 HD Camcorder

-        Tripod Libec L8200

My skills at first were present in setting up the Camera and the tripod which I did prior to shooting. Firstly we set our tripod up by adjusting it’s height for the first shot (panning of the office) in doing this, we had to consider the position of the spirit ball that was displayed on the tripod, if this was not taken under consideration, the mes-en-scene would have been tilted and not straight therefore ruining the shot, if not intended. We then made sure all the hinges were tightly locked in place on the legs of the tripod. We released the legs of the tripod to its required length (low-mid angle shot) then we locked the hinges in place to prevent any unwanted sudden descending of the camera while shooting. We then proceeded to mount the camera on the tripod by in lining the shoe horn (located at the bottom of the camera) with the tripod and slid it in place and locked the camera’s position. We gave the camera a light shake to confirm its stability.

We then took out the battery and slotted it in. I then turn the camera on by sliding the dial to “A” which means auto-focus, the most suitable setting for us. After that I unclipped the widescreen LCD that is positioned on top of the XH A1’s body and can be rotated for users shooting comfort, this was very helpful for while deploying POV shots the screen could have been twisted and turned for comfortable use. Then, we uncovered the lens by taking the lens cover off and allowed the camera to observe the office. We later found that light was needed, despite the fact that we wanted our set to be as dark as possible, we set it up too dark for the camera to pick anything up, so one of our cast members went away to retrieve a studio light. After obtaining this we set it up, the light intensity was easily variable and we set it to its lowest ray of light as this mirrored our genre of a psychological thriller. We then took the tape and put it into the camera ready for recording.

While shooting…

We learnt many things while shooting for our opening sequence. One of the first is the significance of safety shots. While filming, we decided in numerous occasions that we wanted to add some more shots in that were not planned on our story board or shooting schedule, for example, the cut away shots were originally meant to be two shots, according to our story board, but we decided that a variety of shots and positions of the actor was needed. This was for experimental purposes and to not suffer a shortage of shots. So, in our final product, we used five shots to illustrate our cut away, this was to highlight a specific moment in the opening sequence that will be important to the progressive narrative.

While filming I learnt many techniques such as, how to vary the speed of zoom that the camera is able to execute. This was important because, if the sequence shows a zoom in or zoom out too quickly it could build the pace of the sequence which could be desired or could be an unwanted aspect. I also discovered the use of a POV (Point Of View) shot where the viewer observes the sequence through the eyes of the character. I felt that this is a very effective filming technique as it invites the observer to connect with the sequence. We used this shot when “Cornelius” was loosing focus and fainting. We showed Cornelius drawing from a POV angel where his vision is slightly blurred; we did this by changing the focus on the camera by sliding the iris rings on the body of the XH A1. We then had to justify this shot by showing Cornelius rubbing the bridge of his nose, using a medium over the shoulder angel. We then went back to the POV shot to illustrate Cornelius’s head falling forwards as he fainted. We felt that this shot would be effective in portraying Cornelius’s psych as it allowed the audience to be in Cornelius’s “shoes”. Whilst filming, I found that if an extreme close-up of something is implemented it could hint to its significance to the audience which is important in an opening sequence as you will be required to foreshadow much of the later narrative in that short introductory sequence. We applied this technique in our sequence just before Cornelius is about to draw on his notepad with a pencil. We showed a medium shot of Cornelius putting his pencil down on the paper to draw and then an extreme close up of the lead printing on the paper. This would illustrate to the audience the initiation of a dangerous conspiracy. Also, while filming, I learnt that if you are using an artificial light it is imperative not to change the positioning of the light between shots as this would hinder the illusion of realism that we attempt to achieve. I believe that my skills have grown vastly in operating a camera and using a verity of camera techniques.

As we did not use sound while shooting in the office, we did not have to set up the sound equipment at that time. Although we did have sound in our sequence, the use of voice-overs where we were required to set up the sound equipment.

Editing…

The software we used for editing was…

-        Adobe Premier

Out of everything in the process of production of our media product, I felt that I enjoyed editing the most. It felt good seeing all your pieces being put together and watching them flow, which makes the result of it very much rewarding.

Despite the fact that I have always been an enthusiast in editing, I came across many obstacles that begged me to question the quality of our shots, but I learnt that no problem while editing is a problem that cannot be isolated and aided. When we were putting our cut back shots together we found out, from feedback, that the leading up of the cut-back shot was too short. Therefore we had to add more shots prior to the final shot in the office before Cornelius faints for the cutbacks. We found two additional shots that could have made it longer, but it still was not long enough. Stuck and worried at this point we started reconsidering the material. Then we decided that the last shot before the cut back was a POV, so if this shot was slowed down it would add to the tension and the pace would be at the right level of speed. We did so and slowed the POV shot down by 45% which was enough for the shot to demonstrate its purpose.

From editing my opening sequence, I also learnt how to overlap two shots over each other showing both shots in the same instance. I did this by dragging the desired shot onto the shot already present in my sequence and decrease its opacity level; this made the shot almost see-through subsequently both shots were viewable. I used this technique when we initiate the cut-back where Cornelius is seen in a straitjacket; this injected an abstract element into our sequence and also followed the codes and conventions of a psychological thriller.

The use of credits had also worried us, as we wanted to create the fonts of the credits in accordance to our genres; we used collage to create our credits. We found that they did not fit in with the fast pace of the sequence, the way the credits would pop up slowly, deflated the pace. Therefore, sticking with the collage idea, we used Adobe Photoshop to construct our credits with a nicer finish.

Sound was very important in our sequence, though none was delivered by Cornelius, it was imperative to help the audience fully understand the intentions of the narrative. Therefore it was vital for us to make the music and the voiceovers flow with efficiency. I learnt that when applying the voice-overs into a sequence, it was important that the voices flowed, and we used 4 different accents in our voice-overs. Each was saying the same thing but with a different tone, pitch, volume and speed. I learnt how to make each of the voiceovers have the same volume and speed. We wanted the audience to distinguish the different voiceovers as the accents and tone assisted this illusion. Although, within our group we debated if the news reporters should be saying the same thing, though nothing was repeated, each voice was just carrying on from the last. There were some disagreements but we finally agreed that the flow of the voiceovers was important and it assisted the visual elements.

We used a number of effects and transitions in our opening sequences and I have always been familiar with the use of effects but it was while I was editing where I found that combining the right effects are far better. For example, I used the “Ghost” effect for the cut-back shots and I also made it black and white, this enhanced the illusion of the audience being in Cornelius’s mind. I then added another shot on top of this but lowered its opacity and used inverted colours to make it seem more abstract. 

Evaluation 5

Question 5:- How did you attract/address your audience?

We would use film posters to market our production and allow the general public to grow awareness for our production. Our film posters would be exhibited in tube stations, in libraries, inside certain schools and universities, inside offices and outside sophisticated shops. It is important that we choose the correct places to advertise our production as certain places may attract members of the public that will not particularly enjoy our production. For example, if we placed an advertisement outside a low-budget night club, either not many people will show up, or the people who do attend will not be particularly entertained by the concepts of our production. Instead, we would like to invite people who attend libraries, universities and certain schools as they would have background knowledge on our narrative.

In our opening sequence, we start with establishing the scene, we show the date first and then an office using a low far angel shot panning of the office. We then move on to show our main character, “Cornelius” with a medium-close shot of his face and is seen sleeping, though it can be seen that he is twitching and jolting, this illustrates his uneasiness. At this point, news reporters with different accents are heard talking about the first plane that had flown into one of the twin towers and describing the devastation, we wanted the audience to make an attempt to link what they are hearing with what they are seeing. At this moment the audience will be confused, for they will be speculating the link between Cornelius and the voice-overs. Suddenly, Cornelius is seen opening his eyes with an extreme close up and he then sits up staring forwards blankly; this shows his unpredictable personality which is vital to the progressive narrative. He starts to then fiddle with numerous papers on his desk trying to find something, he does this very franticly as we wanted to demonstrate the characters behaviour and personality. We used a high angle shot of the character to show the papers and folder he has on the desk. We did this because it foreshadows his social status and how people may look down to him. This will become clearer during the progressive narrative. He then finds a notepad from under the piles of papers and puts it in front of him. Cornelius is then seen reaching for a pencil, we showed this motion with a medium angle and then used a close up medium angel for when he takes the pencil from the pencil pot very quickly then revert back to the medium shot to establish the fact that he as started drawing. We used a medium shot to show his hand going down onto the paper to start drawing and then an extreme close up of the lead printing a line down the paper. This shows the significance of the drawing and is giving the audience clues while trying to figure out the connections between the date, the news reporters and Cornelius drawing. We then show a POV (Point of view)  angle shot of Cornelius losing focus while drawing and an extreme close up of his eyes rolled back are seen and then back to the POV shot, we see him bang his head on the table. The voice-overs, at this point, are paused and the music is heard as we see Cornelius in a straitjacket in various positions to show that he has lost his mind in an unknown place. This foreshadows the fate of this character to the audience. We then hear the news reporters come back and carrying on speaking about the attacks and a POV shot is used while Cornelius is getting up. We then see that the drawing has been completed, we use an over the shoulder shot of Cornelius to show him holding his notepad up in astonishment. We then see small clips of the parts of the drawing where you see a building with a gaping hole and smoking coming out from it and a plane next to the second building. We presented the image like this because it gave the drawing extra significance and mystery, it also hinted to one of the themes of our film, investigation. We showed parts of the image because each shot acted as a puzzle, to what the audience will be perceiving and trying to figure our later in the narrative. Just as the second plane is seen, the news reporters cry “Oh my god” and they explain that another plane has crashed into the other twin tower. This was important for us, as it distinguished what the presents and future was in the opening sequence to the audience.  The news reporters then say the date in which the attacks were on and as this is said, the title of the film is shown, “Premonition”. Then the date that was shown in the beginning of the sequence is shown again to show that Cornelius had predicted the 9/11 attacks. This is all to challenge to minds of the audience and to make them make sense of what they see, hear and understand from the sequence. From this alone, we introduced many genres from our narrative but one of them was most highlighted, psychological thriller.

We attempted to use many varieties of shots that may have particular significance to the narrative. I felt that this was an important factor to include in our sequence because many psychological thrillers show audiences bits and parts of the whole picture, and right at the end, they show the whole picture which is greeted by jaw-dropping gasps of astounded audiences. We wanted our character to be very mysterious at first, as we tried to elevate his actions more than himself. We wanted the audience to know Cornelius only from how he has reacted to the 9/11 attacks, his background information will remain anonymous. This is a conventional technique used in psychological thrillers.

As the 911 attacks is the bases of our story, and it was a global issue so some background knowledge is necessary such as who was in the end held responsible for the 911 attacks and the people who benefited from the attacks as well, though they are all explained during the narrative it is important that the audience have an idea about them. Films such as “Shrek” require the viewers to have knowledge about fairytales to fully understand the concepts from the narrative.

The way we have structured our media product is to arouse questions by the audiences. Our opening sequence is based upon the introduction of the 9/11 attacks being predicted by Cornelius, therefore, it was vital that we showed the clearly to the audience. The way we found how to achieve this was to use voice-overs of the first reactions of the 9/11 attacks, when the second plane hits the twin towers. We edited this in such a way where the audience is able to make a variation between what the future is in the sequence and what the present is of the sequence. Like “Se7en” it is unclear at first what is going on and what time period the sequence starts in, but as the opening sequence progresses, like “Premonition” it gets clearer and the audience is able to understand. We included the date that Cornelius was in, or in other words, the date of what the audience was seeing. Later in the sequence, the voice over says the date, which is different to the date stated at the beginning; it is in fact in the nearby future. Also the use of rapid shots developed a sense of hastiness which Cornelius shows when he is looking for some paper and a pencil to draw with.

  

The combination of genres present in our film may attract a number of audience members. The psychological thriller aspects of our film challenge the audience’s precedent knowledge about the events that our narrative shows. The fact that it is about different conspiracies and contrasting information about the 911 attacks, acknowledges the audience in an entertaining way. The exploration of a schizophrenic and his treatment from a society shaken by a catalysing event. Films such as “Saw” offer similar themes and entertainment, the fact that it is about solving a puzzle is key to the narrative. “Inception” is also a film that challenges the audience’s knowledge and educates them in an entertaining fashion.

Evaluation 4

Question 4:- Who would be the audience for your media product?

I believe that the psychographics of our target audience would be people who are open-minded to speculation or conspiracies. This is because our main characters job in the narrative is to show the audience what the conspiracies are and if audience members are passive or too arrogant to think about the conclusions put forward by our narrative, then they will not be enticed into the realm of the film. “Premonition” is also aimed at middle-class workers who may work closely to the twin towers, or who have preliminary background knowledge on the 9/11 attacks and may simply wish to expand their knowledge further. These are the types of people who will be more attracted to our franchise than any opposing personalities.

Primary target audience:

-        18-45 age range

-        Male and Female

-        Interested in extreme conspiracies

-        Previously involved or been effected by event(s) used in narrative (911 attacks)

For our narrative, we understood that our subject matter was a sensitive one as many people were affected by the September 11^th attacks, so instead of being limited by this aspect, we used this to craft a larger target audience. We concentrated on educating the audience but in doing so, we still wanted to entertain them by using comedy, making the audience sympathise with our characters from the narrative and astounding facts that aroused questions within the audience. We believed that these methods were the best way in conveying our message. Also we were aware that not many facts are known about this event, therefore many interested members of the audience would watch this for that reason. Films such as “Crash” that convey a message; use a wide range of methods to communicate their intentions. For example, in the film, the director uses comedy to portray the stereotype of a black male. 

As this production is based on a factual event, it is imperative that we use facts to develop our narrative. This will engage many of the audience members who are interested in conspiracies in general or about the 911 attacks. For example, “Angels and Demons” is about uncovering a conspiracy and the story within this film is based upon factual information. This shall challenge the audience’s knowledge.

This film does not contain any genre and themes that may determine what gender it may appeal to most. Unlike productions such as “Die-hard” were the main theme is action, most males would likely be attracted to this type of production. Also “Sex in the city- the movie” may appeal to females, as its female characters and the feminine narrative may be an attraction to such genders.

The age range chosen is because of the serious and sensitive nature of the narrative. This film will not appeal to anyone under the age of 18. For example the target audience of “Crash” would be highly contrasted to a target audience of “Monsters Inc” this is because of the contradicting level of seriousness present in both narratives. Similar to “Premonition” where an audience that may like “Star Wars” will perhaps not be attracted to the genres and themes that “Premonition” offers, and those members of the audience who are attracted to the factual narrative of “Premonition” will reject the fantasy, sci-fi based story-line of “Star Wars”.

Secondary target audience

-        White, Black, Asian and South American  ethnicity

-        Must have a good understanding of English language

-        Male

-        18-35 age range

It was important to us to make sure that our narrative does not appeal to one specific ethnicity as this may make other audience members feel dejected. We wanted it to be clear that the 911 attacks was a global emergency (which it was), not a domestic issue like films such as “Saw” which affect a very small group of individuals in the narrative. Although much of the storyline is based upon one man, we wanted to show that his actions affected the whole world.

Audience members that have a below basic understanding of the English language may struggle in understanding the narrative. As this film follows an intellectual person, subsequently the script for this individual will mirror this. To fully understand, audience members must have a strong understanding of the English language. 

Audience member that may enjoy watching “Premonition” may also like films like “Crash”, “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”. These films offer an educational and self-enlightenment narrative which is aimed at a certain social group. For example, “Angels and Demons” is aimed at people, who are very much interested in conspiracies and speculations; these same people will be interested with our media product just as well, due to the educational nature of both narratives of “Angels and Demons” and “Premonition”.

Also audience members that would enjoy “Public Enemies”, “The Social Network” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” (Wall Street 2), would also be engrossed by the modern adventurous genre that “Premonition” shares with these films. For example, our media product is following a person who has a revelation, and the audience perceive his voyage to his motive. Like “The Social Network” the audience follow the journey of some teenage students where their million dollar ideas have been stolen and their quest to retrieving it.

Though, as I have mentioned earlier, “Premonition” is not aimed at one particular gender, I believe that there will be more male audiences than females. This is because men would be more interested in conspiracies and speculative drama, while women, stereo typically, are attracted to mature romance drama which “Premonition” fails to offer. 

Evaluation 3

Question 3:- What kind of Media institution might distribute your Media product and why?

The cycle in which an idea for a film later appears on a screen on a local cinema is a long and challenging process. A film starts off as an idea which is then revised and developed; this alone could take a couple of months or so. Then, a script is written for the film which is followed by a budget the director is given by a production company, for example, Warner Bros is a production company that funded Harry Potter with £100,000,000. The director will give this money to the producer who will find the cast, screenwriter, and crew etc. who will be paid from the budget given. The making of the film will be initiated and after it has been made, the film will be issued for marketing and advertisement promoting the film and raising public awareness through trailers, posters, promotional deals merchandise etc. it is then where the distribution companies determine when the product will be available to watch. The imminent exhibition then takes place where the film is sold and showed to members of the public. From this a salary is taken in where the cinemas submit their bounded profits to the team that had made the film.

Our low-budget independent film is not of the same category as your average blockbuster productions such as “Avatar”, “2012” and “Toy Story 3D”. Our production doesn’t involve prominent producers or cast members therefore it is not expected to be a film subject to high expectations, consequently, our film will most probably not be shown in famous cinemas such as “Odeon”, “Vue” or “Cineworld” instead, it shall be exhibited in low-budget cinemas, outdoor cinemas and even on the internet such as “Youtube”, “Blogspots”, etc. Our main goal in distributing our media product is to achieve recognition to help fund our future sequences. This is important for up-coming media institutions as producers and investors are highly needed for future success.

I believe location is pivotal in distributing ones media product. If we made film posters, trailers and promotional deals in Asia, chances of success will be minimum, due to the fact that they cannot relate to the contents of the film at any level. If, however, our film is advertised in America and the UK, the level of interest will increase significantly. This is because our narrative is based upon the 9/11 attacks, which was in America and had affected the globe, more than anybody else, America and the UK. I believe that the audience from these countries would better attract audiences than other Eastern countries. For example, “Slum dog millionaire” was a film mainly distributed to the UK because British audiences would have a better understanding of the narrative than audiences of Africa. The fact that it is set in India, attracts an Indian audience, even though it was not intended to do so, while the main character being an established British-Asian actor attracts attention from the UK just as well. Hollywood however does not have a direct link to the cultural aspects of “Slum Dog” as Britain and India do. Its mixed populated audience, however, will enjoy the narrative and experience. Our media product will be distributed to countries such as America and the UK, but I believe that in America “Premonition” would be most successful therefore, I would invest more money into distributing my product there than I would in the UK. This is simply because America was the country that was most affected by the events of 9/11; therefore, the audiences of America would be much more interested in watching our product than people from the UK. Though the UK was also affected by the attacks to some extent, I believe the fact that it was a British cast that produced this film would be enough to predict some success that this film may be subjected to in Britain.

Production companies such as “Optomen Television” an independent production company known for “flair, originality and attention to detail” that have offices in the UK as well as branches in the US. This is particularly helpful to us, as this production company has links to the UK and the US, which I believe are the best places to distribute our product. The British Film Institution could also help us produce and distribute our product mainly in the UK, as they deal with independent upcoming low- budget films.

Evaluation 2

Question 2:- How does your opening sequence represent PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

For our media product, it was imperative for the audience to read our character as we wished to have portrayed him (Cornelius) as. We understood that a representation of a character is a fundamental element in creating a successful media product; this is because it allows the audience to distinguish the protagonists and antagonists, which is present in most films. Representation is the stereotypical view that society has on characters. It mediates and manipulates stereotypes in order for the audience to easily understand and can be proven to be more entertaining. Various elements that may be present on and/or in characters effect their representation. For example, the typical representation of a character who is known as a geek in a narrative would wear thick glasses, a shirt with the top button done up, neatly combed hair, an oversized backpack and trousers done up over the waistline. Also the way the actor must act is important in portraying a geek. The actor would have to act very intellectual, so he/she will need a script that includes formal words and the manner in which the lines will be said in would have to be considered. This character would most probably be in a teen movie, as their roles would not fit in other genres. “Superbad” illustrates a classic geek whose name is “Fogel” in the narrative. His awkward poster and flimsy actions make him a perfect geek and it is very easily notable that this character fits in this category. Similarly, we intended to make “Cornelius” a stereotyped character, though his personality and traits are far from conventional, we wanted the audience to categorise him under a certain group.

The way costume is used is not just to enforce the actor’s frame of mind to “get in the shoes of the character” but it is also to enforce the illusions of the fictional world the director intends to create. If the costume does not match how the actor is acting, the audience will be left perplexed and frankly, not entertained. This, alone, will result in an unsuccessful media product if not well thought-out and well executed. Therefore, a visual representation of a character is just as important as any other element present in a media product. Costume can determine the lifestyle, characteristics, frame of mind and conditions a character is in. For example, in “The Dark Knight” a character called “The Joker” is portrayed as a psychotic, cold-blooded murderer who only wishes to see the downfall of his adversaries with no motives what so ever. This particular picture of this character is made from a range of different elements of his representation. His costume alone suggests to his psychotic, carelessness and that helps the audience in making a judgment about him. His green highlighted long, curly hair and the scars on his face painted over by clown make-up suggest to the audiences’ worst nightmares. Just from this, the audience can expect reasons for his appearance, asking question and challenging their imagination by only using visual elements. For “Cornelius” we constructed a costume to suggest to his psychotic enthusiasm for the truths about the 9/11 attacks. We decided to give our actor a baggy shirt, glasses with a thick black frame and in the cut-back to when he sees himself in a mental asylum, we gave our actor a straitjacket and white trousers to show that he was in a mental asylum. We wanted these elements to create an initial judgement for the audience, in the opening sequence, which would then be distorted later on the progressive narrative. Similar to how “Foster” from “Falling Down” is portrayed in the opening sequence, where we see him in his car with his shirt and glasses on, waiting in the traffic, then after the opening sequence he avert his humble silence for violent behaviour. This challenges the initial reactions of the audience and makes us ask many questions. We also wanted this as “Cornelius” had no dialogue, it was essential to make sure his visual representations were correct.

It is important to understand how the setting around a character makes a difference to how the audience may judge a character. For example, in “Kidulthood” a character called “Sam” is understood to be living in an apartment with his mother and brother. In “Sam’s” bedroom there is an army outfit handing on his closet, posters of women and a poster of a rap star with his middle finger up. This suggests to “Sam’s” gangster-like interests. It is clear that “Sam” could be seen as a gangster in the progressive narrative.

We did not just use the clothing that “Cornelius” was in to show his characteristics, we used the office that the opening sequence was set in to elevate the illusion and to enforce the visual representations of “Cornelius”. We used a number of papers all scattered on the desk in front of “Cornelius” to show his work habits, the numerous folders on the shelves and on the desk also. This was as important as how we set the costume of “Cornelius” as this established the representation of our character.

The way an actor acts could be seen as the most vital of all aspects in representing a character. If a character is unable to speak, his/her movements become their only way of communication towards the audience, therefore it is vital that the movement of a character is correct. In “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” a character called “Ace Ventura” uses much exaggerated movements, this adds to the comical genre of the narrative. In the opening sequence, he is delivering a package and while doing so he throws it around, kicking it, thinking he is playing football. This made the audience think and ask questions towards his odd behaviour.

In our narrative, we intended to portray an intellectual middle-aged man who expresses his energy through the manner in which he speaks in. For example, he speaks slowly and exaggerates many of his words following his hand gestures. This will show the audience that he is not a normal person and like “The Joker” it will arouse questions about “Cornelius’s” history and even childhood. Though there is no dialogue given to our character in our opening sequence, it makes it very difficult for the audience to make a judgement of the character; this was deliberate, because we wanted our character to remain shrouded in mystery. Comparable to “Falling Down” where “Foster” is given no line of dialogue yet we are able to establish that he is uncomfortable around what is happening. This made us rely heavily on how our actor will need to act.

As the director, I was looking for an actor with a lot of energy and whose normal personality many mirror one of the characteristics “Cornelius” has, the ability to show a clear difference between over-excitement and dead silent calmness. This was very important as it was vital for us to communicate “Cornelius’s” psychological elusiveness. In our opening sequence made attempted to demonstrate these characteristics “Cornelius” has. For example, when “Cornelius” wakes up, he blindly looks forward and then quickly starts to fiddle with his papers and folders trying to find something in frenzy. Then when we puts his pencil down to start drawing, he, almost violently, thud his pencil on the paper. We wanted these aspects to point to his unpredictable psych. I told my actor, to stay in the role of “Cornelius” throughout the shooting; this would help ensure continuity was successful and allows the actor to remain consistent in acting like “Cornelius”.

Evaluation 1

Question 1:- In what ways does your Media product USE, DEVELOP or CHALLENGE form of codes and conventions of real media products?

Our opening sequence does in fact feature the typical codes and conventions of a Psychological thriller, in contrast it is a media product based around a real event and is about criminal activities; therefore inviting many other genres and themes this sequence may belong to.

We attempted to demonstrate our hybrid genres’ in relation to other existing media products, such as “Johnny English”, “Falling down” and “Amelie” which all focus on one character during the opening sequence. This was very important for us to note as it, like our sequence, was based on one character and how the characters representation was demonstrated by the director, which defines the roles played by, said character, in the progressive narrative. We used one character for our opening sequence because it gave our character a sense of importance, like “Johnny English”, “Falling down” and “Amelie”, it begins with the main character who is identified very quickly by the audience. For instance in “Johnny English” a soundtrack is used which is a sharp contrast to the behaviour of the character, this contrapuntal element is intended to mock the character subsequently introducing one of the first genres of the film, Comedy. In our opening sequence we also used a soundtrack to exhibit our characters frame of mind, though ours was a parallel sort, the intentions were to show a mysterious individual thus arousing many questions from the audience. “Amelie” uses a subtle soundtrack in its opening titles. We hear a piano being played, though its presents isn’t the first thing you notice, its significance to the visual aspects is vital. It sets a calm mood for the narrative and it gives additional significance to the character being shown, in this case it is “Amelie”. In the opening sequence of “Falling Down”, it starts off with no music whatsoever, but as the sequence progresses, like the noises around the character, we are able to hear the growing sounds of flutes and drums. This was used to build tension. In “Premonition” we intended to incorporate a similar effect, where the music is used subtly to build tension. It was important for us, I believe, to build tension; because our sequence was a psychological thriller, and these are the typical codes and conventions of this genre.

Our narrative included multiple themes therefore it is a hybrid genre film. We thought that this was necessary because films with hybrid genres are most popular in modern society. A film such as “Avatar” is based upon a fantasy world which also includes action, romance and thriller, making it a prime example of a hybrid genre. Despite the fact that the film’s nature may favour more of a particular genre than another, the presents of such contrasting genres prove to be very effective. Although, it could be argued that hybrid genres may be a revelation of film that may cancel out originality and certain genres may be lost or may not be able to be identified due to the vast mixture of genres. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to identify a film with its genre because the conventional aspects are challenged to such an extent where new trends are perceived subsequent to such hybrid narratives.

For our narrative, we decided that the presents of many genres as opposed to one was the best route to take our film in, although we also decided that we wanted one main genre that would dominate the narratives principle. Our Primary genre was Psychological thriller; in the narrative we would work around this genre to communicate our message to the audience. Our Secondary genre was Drama, as the plot of our narrative is based upon realist settings and character development. Similar to the opening sequence of “Mad Men” where a man is falling and pictures are shown on the buildings passing him that are of sexual allusions and then an advertisement of a happy family. The director fashioned this opening sequence to not just introduce the characters supposed dilemma, but also foreshadows the genres of the narrative such as a domestic drama, where conflict is produced concerning family and faithfulness. In our opening sequence we attempted to hint at our secondary genres, for example, Drama was illustrated when “Cornelius” had a premonition about his future, where he is in a straitjacket in a mental asylum. The audience is shown the progression of “Cornelius” therefore illustrating the epic elements of our narrative. Saying this, we had still focused on illustrating our Primary genre in our opening sequence, Psychological thriller, we did this by using voice-overs of the initial reactions of news stations around the globe and used these voice-overs as our only source of sound (not including the music) throughout the opening sequence. Though in the realm of “Premonition”, the voice-overs are not of the same time that “Cornelius” is in, in fact they are used to show the audience that “Cornelius” is predicting the future, because the voice-overs are forthcoming later in the narrative. These voice-overs with different accents, allowed us to exhibit the Psychological challenges that the audience will be faced with in the progressive narrative. Like “Momento” where the audience is forced to think and to figure what the contents of the narrative. Therefore it could be considered that our media product develops the codes and conventions of existing media products, because the mixture of Epic Drama and Psychological thriller offers a unique base for our narrative.  

Our opening sequence has also inherited elements that may suggest to it using the typical codes and conventions of a Criminal thriller as well as a Psychological one. The fact that our protagonist (Cornelius) is a mysterious individual who challenges the audience’s first reactions towards him and little can be fathomed from the opening sequence of our film. “Falling down” is also shaped in the same manner as the audience’s initial reactions are tested. We can see that there is a particular man that the director wants us to focus on; this is done by various close-ups to the characters face, eyes and sweaty forehead to show his agitation. Later the camera pans and reveals everything around the character. The first shot alone lasts for 1 minute 44 seconds, and in this shot everything that the character is being agitated by is revealed. It is very clear that the director wanted to show the elements that are disturbing the character very clear and significantly. At this point it is still not clear what the characters personality is like, but the mood and thoughts of this character is quickly established. We intended to use this technique of establishing the characters motive in the current situation and revealing his/her characteristics later on the narrative. This was one of the reasons for giving “Cornelius” no dialogue in our opening sequence, it would’ve given away much of his characteristics. Instead we used “Cornelius’s” actions to help the audience make a judgement on his character. For example, “Cornelius”, almost violently, wakes up from his sleep and fiddles with some papers on his desk in an attempt to find something. From this, the audience is able to see that “Cornelius” is an energetic person, and even somewhat psychotic, with the way he smashes his pencil down onto the paper to draw. These were the controlled first impressions we wanted the audience to grasp from “Cornelius”. Also another reason for why we did not use scripts for our opening sequence was because we wanted “Cornelius” to enforce the theme of loneliness, where “Cornelius” has no one to talk to. This again elevates the sense of mystery that shrouds the existence of “Cornelius” which is typical for Psychological thriller to follow.

“Falling down” is a criminal thriller, and we see the main character in great distress and is seen as the antagonist in the realm of the narrative, but we as the audience are told of the reasons for his distress and are able to sympathise; therefore giving the director license to push the boundaries of his character and challenge the impression the audience has of the character in the progressive narrative. We also gave “Cornelius” that role to play, but unlike the character from Falling down, “Foster” who kills people out of rage, “Cornelius” is trying to preach and is victimised by the citizens and when the attacks happen, his villains change to the FBI who take him into intensive interrogation where he consequently looses his mind. During the course of these events that arise in the narrative, the audience will feel sympathy for the character and thus labelling him as the protagonist. There is also in the narrative a chase that occurs, following the codes and conventions of criminal thrillers, but on the other hand, the protagonist is not running after the antagonist rather he is trying to escape from the antagonist. We are using the typical codes and conventions of a Criminal Thriller, by creating a protagonist and an antagonist whose titles will be reassess by the audience in correlation to the way they are portrayed in the narrative.

Many criminal thriller genres are domestic dramas such as “The Transporter”, a driver who goes to look for a package he had to deliver and if not delivered, his reputation would be in jeopardy. Our narrative is one that involves a larger scale of people and it stretches out to all the people that “Cornelius” tries to warn about the 9/11 attacks and the people effected by the attacks. This element injects actions and adventure into the film as the audience will follow “Cornelius’s” journey to find the truth about 9/11.

Also the protagonist in our media product is a psychologically challenged person, who, in contrast to “Die Hard” where the protagonist is highly skilled in everything, “Cornelius’s” skills are limited to intellectual knowledge instead, this may however not be the ideal characteristics for a protagonist of an action based film. The representation of “Cornelius” is not of a typical protagonist in a Criminal thriller; with the lack of bulging muscles and attractive poster. We opted to make him a subject to sympathy in the progressive narrative, and his appearance was vital in achieving this. We made our actor wear thick glasses and a baggy shirt with rolled up sleeves. This would briefly show his characteristics of that of an intellectual person and a workaholic whose social life is very dull. This shows that our main character contradicts the conventional trends of a protagonist thus challenging the typical codes and conventions of our chosen genres.