Final A2 Production

A2 Trailer Procure from Megan Hayhurst on Vimeo.

Evaluation Question 4

Who are your audience & what have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our target audience is ranging from late teens, who will be looking for a change from the typical marquee action film they would usually watch, to people who are middle aged who will be interested in the film noir elements of the film. The mystery/action/thriller elements of our trailer will encourage young people and adults in this age bracket to come and watch our film. The demographic will have a high frequency of girls who will be likely to watch this due to the male who is in the starring role and the fact that is heavily psychologically based. 

The demographic of our audience is varied due to our huge range in ages, it is more than likely that our younger demographic will be heavily based within popular culture with their habits and culture revolving around friendships and their expenditure of disposable income. They will more than likely shop in high street shops such as Topshop, American Apparel etc and eat in big multi complex shopping centres which will usually include a cinema. However, for the older demographic they will more than likely be working class with a standard family set up.

Our film is probably similar to Pulp Fiction in that it would be a mid budget film. We would probably also have a unknown cast so that the production company would not have to pay the actors as much. Most Hollywood actors are paid around £50 million per film and so we would have to ask them to take a pay cut for this film, like Bruce Willis did for Pulp Fiction.

The age classification for our film is 15 by the BBFC, this is appropriate because our target audience would partly consist of late teenagers who are the biggest film goers. The 15 rating is applicable because it is not highly violent and most thrillers are 15's and with the film noir elements it will avoid our film being labelled an 18. By avoiding an '18' rating, we have increased our chances of making a profit as they wont be excluded from screenings.

From audience feedback the main criticism was the fact that the story wasn't clear. In order to make it clear, we added a 999 emergency call as diegetic dialogue at the beginning of the trailer in order to immediately establish the mise en scene of danger and violence. There was also criticism in regards to the sound used so we had Adam recording the 'Angels' by The XX into Cubase and used that as our music in the background. From the feedback throughout it proved more effective to have just the single guitar as the music rather than the original recording that had lyrics on. 

In order to make it look more professional we added the Green Pearl Filter which from audience feedback proved most effective and appealing. We were also complimented on those created in-camera, namely the car bailout scene.

Also, like a real film we used social networking as a tool to gain more audience feedback and interaction but despite posting a link to a production on Twitter, we received nothing more than a couple of 'retweets'. And feedback from family and friends was rather ineffective.

 What stylistic techniques were used to create audience appeal?

By using certain techniques that are integrated within the genre of trailer conventions we were able to create a lot of appeal for our film on our heavy focus on enigmas. As, for example when Louis is tying Caitlin up we purposeful framed it so that each of their identities are hidden making the audience question and giving multiple interpretations of the situation. We also knew that by adding the car roll sequence that it would appeal to the younger male demographic and to those seeking the adrenaline rush moments. A particular appeal established through feedback was the use of the filter which gave gravitas to our trailer but also added an indie edge and that was a particular appeal across the demographic.

       

What media theories were utilized?

The work of several media theorists were applied and utilized in our production. Through conforming to them on the most part, we were able to produce something that would be somewhat familiar to the audience, without appearing as a carbon copy of other films from the genre. This is in accordance to Steve Neale’s audience theory that pleasure is derived from ‘repetition and difference’ and we have tried to incorporate both repetition and difference. For example, we used generic elements such as chiaroscuro lighting but we also opposed that by showing the antagonist's face in the trailer, suggesting to the audience that this a mutation of the genre. Mutatation of a genre is a theory proposed by Chrisitan Metz who says that 'to survive a genre must mutate and join with others to form a hybrid genre'. The recognition within the elements of each genre will also add a lot of audience appeal to our production. However, it is fair to say that our film has referenced lots of different elements of different genres with film noir/murder mystery 'who dunnit'/action/thriller rather than simply just mutating and blurring genre boundaries.

Within our production we adhered to Tvzetan Todorov's equilibrium theory where he states that narrative begins with an equilibrium, followed by a disruption then the equilibrium is re-established or a new equilibrium is created. In 'Procure' there was the equilibrium - happily married couple, then the disruption - staged kidnapping and then a new equilibrium - kidnapper runs off with the wife. 





Another theorist Vladmir Propp suggested reoccurring character types within texts and within our production there are:

HERO - Adam Nixon
VILLAIN - Louis Pring 
THE FALSE FRIEND - Caitlin Heaton/the wife
THE HELPER - Police respondent
THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS - Caitlin Heaton/the wife 

Through the use of situations that wouldn't be faced in everyday life, the audience may escape their everyday life problems even just for a little while. They may also find that it acts as an emotional release due to it's content, and personal identity they may find within it. As, for example, relationship problems (although not as exaggerated or extreme as in this case) are frequently faced by lots of people in everyday life and could also make them see that they're problems are not so bad. This is in relation to the 'entertainment' section in Blumer and Katz's 'Uses and Gratifications'.

With our revealing of the antagonist's face we have flouted Roland Barthes enigma code, which states that there is more than one way to read a text. By including the antagonist's face there is no doubt in the audiences mind who the criminal is. This differs drastically to other typical thrillers such as Hitchcock's 'Psycho' where their identity is hidden until the very end of the film.

Within Procure there are clear binary oppositions, which is a theory created by Claude Levi Strauss. There are key oppositions in character roles suggested within the mise en scene of frames and editing pace for each of them i.e. Louis (the kidnapper) is always presented in a dark chiaroscuro frame with high speed edits whereas Adam (the hero) is presented in low key high contrast lighting in a slower speed edits; in the kidnapping scene the editing pace is increased which juxtaposes the calm, contemplative nature of the establishing shots.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1/Directors Commentary

Procure Director's Commentary from Megan Hayhurst on Vimeo.

The Poster

Here is the poster for our production Procure made by Louis Pring on the software Adobe Photoshop CS2.

The Website

Here is a link to our website for Procure, made using Wix in a flash website rather than a HTML one. We began making a HTML one which is here but instead we wanted to have more objects moving and we then created this one: Click here to visit the official Procure website!

Edit after Rough Cut Procure

Procure 1 from Adam Nixon on Vimeo.

Rough Cut Edit Analysis

Rough Cut 1 from Megan Hayhurst on Vimeo.

After receiving feedback about our rough cut edit, we made some changes to our production. We were also told what the best aspects of it were.

The main criticism was the fact that the story wasn’t clear. In order to make it clear, we will either add a voice over or dialogue. However, this may be difficult, as we have both a recording of wedding vows and music with lyrics in our production. There was also criticism in regards to the sound used. We will change the levels of the vows and the music, making the former louder, as it is of more use to the viewer in terms of creating meaning. We will also attempt to edit ‘Angels’ down so that only parts of the tracks without vocals are used. Failing this, we will opt for our initial idea of Adam recording the guitar and bass parts in Cubase. However, we were told that lyrics did work with the institutional information, whereas for the rest of the production it is just confusing when combined with the wedding recording.

Our shots appear to be well composed and there is a variety of them, flowing smoothly due to good editing. We were told that this, along with the use of the Green Pearl filter in and saturation adjustments in Magic Bullet, made it look more professional. As well as our use of post-production special effects, we were also complimented on those created in-camera, namely the car bailout scene. However, the editing pace needs to slowly increase in order to create tension, diegetic noise needs to be added to the aforementioned scene, the earlier car scenes need lighting adjustments and more transitions need to be used.

Third Shoot 27th November

We needed to film some of the shots of 17 and 18 to which we found a creepy boiler room in the school that had the right mise-en-scene for the effect we were looking for. We then borrowed some duct tape in order for the kidnapping to appear more realistic and we framed different shots so we it came to editing we can decide which of the frames looked better on the screen. We then decided that due to the dark chiaroscuro lighting that it would be good to shoot the shot 25 and so we borrowed some matches and set up the camera inside the small space and did a couple of takes of Louis striking a match drawing it to his face and then switching on the light. It is possible that we may change this shot and its order within the shot list so that it appears before 17 and 18 to make the idea of her being captive more plausible and obvious to the audience.

Soundtrack Recording

Adam recorded the soundtrack as previously planned. However, it wasn't possible for him to use the effects pedal as he intended to use, as the interface only accepts a mono signal. For this reason, he instead recorded a clean signal for the bass parts and used a plugin just for the guitar parts, with the addition of a 'hall' effect on the actual amplifier.

Second Shoot Thursday 22nd November

Since no-one in our group was legally allowed to drive we had to arrange a date where we could film with a friend of Louis' who could drive. We set up our camera on Duke Street in Waterfoot and we hoping to film lots of shots including 26-31 the rather difficult and tricky shots to film of the illusion that would later be altered in the editing, of Adam rolling out of the car. Although this did prove somewhat difficult particularly in marking exactly where the car had drove in the previous shot to match up with the same shot but with Adam now already out of the car. 

After a couple of takes we were able to film it correctly and then we moved on to filming some of the more easier shots such as Adam opening the door handle and the exterior shot of the door opening. We did also have trouble shooting the shot of Louis 'driving' because the car wasn't particularly stable and so the shots appeared to be quite jumpy. We are now waiting on putting the shots on the computer to see if we can edit them and also see if they need to be re-shot.

Production Company Subsidiary Logo Design

For our production logo we wanted to incorporate the  idea of guns and violence into our logo but also have it moving since most production logo's have an entrance or behaviour elements attached to them such as the Miramax logo which has a flying effect as the camera tracks through a city and then dissolves into the static logo.

                
                            Miramax 2009 Logo from Quentin Vien on Vimeo.
  As we intend to use an animated title, we decided to use a video clip, as opposed to animating stills. Rather than filming the shots ourselves, we decided to use a pre-existing video clip on YouTube. However, it took some time to find one suitable for our production. 

Once we had found a video similar to what we had in mind, I downloaded it with Realplayer.

Once downloaded, I then edited it down to the required 6 seconds in Windows Movie Maker at home, as the clip was 18 minutes long in total. 

It was then exported in high definition in order to match the shots we had already filmed and uploaded to Dropbox to then be edited in Pinnacle.

Once uploaded, it was spliced every 12 frames and some were deleted at random in order to produce jump cuts. A filter was then added in Magic Bullet and adjustments were made in Chroma Keyer. Finally, the Movie Trailer Complete motion title was added.  

 

 

Sound effects were added from Soundbible.com, as the sound from the actual clip wasn't what we required. 

Music Choices

Due to the restrictions of copyright law, we were planning of recording a cover of a song. However, due to the complexity of it, we instead decided to look for something free to use. The song we intended to cover just happened to also be free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt under creative commons, so seemed ideal.

Both the guitar and bass lines of ‘Angels’ by the XX would have been recorded through a Yamaha THR10 amplifier/interface into Cubase 6LE. The dreamy feel would have been created either through use of an in-program plugin or a Boss Me-20B effects pedal and the drums would have been recorded in the step editor, also with appropriate effects added.

 

As we are going to be using it for non commercial uses, we are free to use it under the conditions that we reference the artist, as well as providing a link to the creative commons page with the finished upload on Vimeo

Audio from a wedding  video on Youtube was also added, as it relates the the content of our production and helps create meaning.                                    

Add information about extracting audio through Realplayer:

Adam then recorded the soundtrack as previously planned. However,it wasn't possible to use the effects pedal he intended to use, as the interface only accepts a mono signal. For this reason, he instead recorded a clean signal for the bass parts and used a plugin just for the guitar parts, with the addition of a 'hall' effect on the actual amplifier.

First Shoot - Saturday 3rd November

In order to film shoot some of the earlier shots of Tom waking up we thought it would be more realistic if we filmed Adam in his own house and room as it would be more believable. Therefore on our first shoot we all met at Adam's house in Burnley and shot 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 13, 15, 16 including some of the difficult shots of Adam in the shower which proved difficult to frame and film working in such a tight space as a shower. The shoot proved very successful and we are optimistic to see how the shots are going to appear on the computer and we are keen to start editing them soon.

Risk Assessment

Whilst filming shot number 14 of a long tracking shot of man from behind as his head turns right, we had to survey the area because we were filming on derelict land riddled with scrap metal and pieces of shattered glass and rubble, so we cleared the pathway for Adam to walk through, of rubble and sharp edges the camera man has a smoother walk and the shot could be more stable. 

We placed a non-slip mat on the shower basin so that Tom (Actor Adam Nixon) didn’t slip whilst filming his shots in the shower. 

Car shots were filmed with precautions, the owner of the car was the only driver, we filmed on a quiet street, and we informed the residents and passers-by that we were filming our shot for media so they had no reason to worry about us or our whereabouts. 

We carried one piece of equipment each whilst walking through Waterfoot to film our shots within walking distance. Another of our locations is outside our school. This was a very low risk because the actor was out of the way of any traffic and the camera was on the pavement, so we just had to make sure that we wasn’t in the way of pedestrians and/or students coming to and from our school to cut down on background noise. 

Another element to the safety of not only ourselves but to the public was our use of guns in a public area. And therefore to ensure the safety of ourselves and others around we are going to film the shots with the guns in a quiet area where we are going to inform local residents and passer-by's that we are filming this for our media coursework and are simply not just playing with guns. Guns and in particularly affiliated with young people can seem frightening to society and the general public and we wouldn't want to cause alarm or concern for anyone else. 

Storyboard

Procure Storyboard from Megan Hayhurst on Vimeo.

Cast and Costume

CAST

Main protagonist                                                                                                 Kidnapper                                  














Adam Nixon                                                                                                             Louis Pring


                                                                             Wife

                                                    
                                                  Caitlin Heaton (Orignally Jess on left)

COSTUME

Adam
Begins in underwear. He later changes into more formal clothing and a parka in one scene and a maroon jacket in another.

Caitlin (Originally Jess)
Typical femme-fatale clothing:dark black dress, bright red lipstick, similar to that of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fictio. The fact that her clothing matches that of Adam rather than Louis, establishes them as the 'original couple'; this makes the chances of her and Louis being conspirators seem less likely, and therefore her kidnapping more believable. 

In order to meet filming deadlines, we needed somebody who would be available most weekends. For this reasons, we had to have a change of cast for the part of the kidnapped woman. Caitlin will be dressed in a similar way to Jess.

Louis 

Dark clothing, including a hoodie to hide his identity. This also creates a binary opposition between him and the protagonist, as one is formally dressed and the other isn't and is also likely to make the audience side with the protagonist due to the 'hoodie' stereotype.

Props

In order to keep continuity and to make it seem realistic we are going to use Adam and Louis fake guns which both look rather convincing however, obviously for safety reasons they are not real. Since there are two main characters that both have guns Louis (Jack, the kidnapper) will use his own Red Metal BB Gun which looks something similar to the one below:

And Adam (Tom, the vigilante) will use his own black 357 revolver which looks similar to the one below:

For the opening scene we are going to need to use cardboard boxes with different words written on them such as “BOOKS” etc. to further emphasis that the couple are moving house. For the kidnapping scenes we will also need to use some rope, duct tape and some matches in order to do the match lighting shot.

Locations

The main part of the trailer is where the main character Tom is getting ready in his room. For this we needed to use a male’s bedroom and so therefore we will use Adam’s own bedroom to film these scenes. And in order to keep in with the idea that the couple were married we will use Adam’s house to film the shots of the ‘happy couple’. 

  

The outside shots including the shots with the car will all be filmed on a road but they will mostly be filmed in and around Waterfoot making it easier for us to film during school time. A possible place to film the car accident scene could be King Street.

 

For the shots where Tom will be running (shot 19) we could use a road just off Cowpe Street as it is quite secluded and just large enough to fit a car down making the tracking shots more realistic. 

For shot 14 when there is a tracking shot of Tom from behind we will film in the now recently knocked down mill at the bottom of Booth Road to make it seem very mysterious and ominous.

 

For the close up of the tape being unravelled and of Jess’s hands being tied together we are going to use a room in the school that has an enclosed and ominous feel to it.

For shot 20 and 21 where we see Tom holding a gun we wanted to use a private road but unfortunately that wasn’t possible so therefore we are going to use a toy gun and sue the location of Duke Street in Waterfoot which has graffiti on the side of the wall which will look very effective in the panning shot of 20. 

For shot 24 where the shot is through a car wing mirror we are going to use the location of West Street in Waterfoot.