Character Profile Focus Group

We did a focus group to see how relatable our characters were to our target audience. Here is a tally we did to keep track of our primary audience preferred names.

• Chav - Brandon
• Nerd - Patrick
• Goth - Estar
• Popular Girl - Zoe
• Jock/Athlete - Finn 

Fashion Planning

Estar

• Black and white dress
• Black cardigan 
• Black tights
• Dangling earrings
• Dark lipstick
• Eye liner

We went with black clothing to show the audience clearly what character she was. We chose this dress because the black and white are binary opposites, and contrast nicely with each other. The colour white connotes innocence and hope which foreshadows the end of the film, where we see her being and looking happier.

The clothes we have chosen are fashionable clothing and we chose her to wear lots of makeup so that we could challenge the stereotype of 'goths' and 'emos'.

Location and Prop List

For our new idea we need don't need as many locations, the locations we will be using are

Sixth form corridor - this is because it's convenient also because there are always lots of people there at break or lunch time so it would be easy to film. The corridor is long and daughting

Outside of sixth form - This is because it is outside of the corridor, this means we can show him walking into the corridor as the opening scene starts.

Props

School bag - so that it shows that he is in school.

Changing The Idea

When filming our opening scene we concurred some problems with lighting. It got too dark when we were filming so the footage was grainy. We also had problems trying to get everyone to be free at the same time when we needed to film, this meant we had to film small parts of it each day. We also had problems with the sound when recording, the sound was't picking up very well on the scenes we filmed.

We also realised it would be too long and too hard to edit all the footage into a two minute clip. Because of these problems we have decided to change the idea of our opening scene but we are keeping the narrative the same.

Our new idea for the opening scene shows a boy named Patrick (played by Matt Wagstaff) who has bi-polar walking down a hallway. It shows him walking down the hallway for 5 days. Each day Patrick feels a different emotion everyday. We will show his emotions by the use of camera angles, lighting and way we hold the camera. For example we will make the camera shaky to show when he is angry and we will film him from behind to show he is upset or sad.

We used the mental illness bi-polar to try and include a minority of people that have it.

Shot List

In this task we did a shot list, we looked at the location, shot description, type, duration, sound, props and the action in the scene. We did this so we can look what we need to do and what sound effects are happening in each shot. 

Filming Diary Day 3 - 11/12/15

On Friday the 11th of December I filmed with Patrick (played by Matt Wagstaff). I filmed with him in the library. We filmed the scene where Patrick is in the library skipping detention and is doing work and reading his notes.

Unfortunately there was no teacher in there at the time of filming so the speech that was needed couldn't be recorded. This means that we will have to record it another time and add it in as non diegetic sound. 

Filming Diary Day 2 - 10/12/15

On Thursday the 10th of December we filmed the scene with Brandon (played by James Ling). We filmed the scene in the living room of Freya's House. We filmed straight after school which meant it was getting dark but there was still enough light in the shot so we didn't need to use extra lighting.

We had problems with the angles and making sure the tri-pod was exactly straight, some scenes we filmed had the camera tilted to the side because there were walls in the way so we couldn't quiteget the angle we wanted.

Here is all of the raw footage from when we filmed with Brandom (James Ling)

 

Filming Diary Day 1 - 07/12/15

On Monday the 7th of December, we filmed the scene with Estar (played by Rachael Stone) in her bedroom. The variety of angles we included were good. Although we could have incorporated more interesting angles. For example a close up from the angle of the computer when she's on Facebook.

We did have a few problems when filming parts of our scene one of them is that the actor had other commitments this meant that it was dark when we filmed which meant that some of the footage is grainy. The means that we may need to re-film parts when it's day or it's lighter. Also we would need to think more about lighting the characters face more to make them seem more important so it's clearer for the audience.  

Another problem we found was with the zoom on Freya's camera, the issue being it was static and jumpy, when it needs to be smoother. The continuity of the shots also could be improved as they seem to be a bit jumpy.

Here is all of the raw footage from when we filmed with Estar (Rach Stone)

Script

Risk Assessment

 in this task we had to a risk assessment to show what risks there are, how likely they are to happen and how we can avoid them.

Character Profiles

The information in red are things we added after doing a focus group.

Name: Brandon

Age: 17

Character Role: Protagonist/hero

Home town: Bristol

Class: Working class

Family: Divorced Mum and Dad, and a biological younger brother, as well as lots of step siblings who he doesn't really know. Bad relationship with all of them.

Relationship with Parents: Bad relationship, they don't care about what he does. argue a lot.

Fashion Sense: Slobbish, chavy (hoodies and snapbacks)

Hobbies: Has no ambition, does street art and secretly sketches

Biggest secret: He is gay (which is why he is so pessimistic and bad tempered)

Attitude towards others: Rude, judgemental

Mannerisms:

Audiences reception: Frustrated with his decisions and attitude because they see his soft side (body language, facial expressions)

Name: Patrick

Age: 16 (nearly 17)

Character Role: Princess

Home Town: Small town near Bristol (then moved to a bigger town where the film is set)

Class: Started in the upper working class, then his Dad started working harder and the family progressed to middle class

Family: Mum, Dad (resentment in the relationship) Two older sisters (who are both at uni)

Relationship with Parents: They put a lot of pressure on him and that annoys him, but he wants to make them proud

Fashion Sense: Basic, practical and plain (jean and t-shirts) He wears glasses that he fiddles with and always a beanie (that he wears low on his head to hide himself)

Hobbies: Hasn't got a lot of spare time, because he's always doing homework. Plays the Piano

Biggest Secret: Smokes due to stress

Attitude Towards Others: Thinks highly of himself. Silently judgemental and dismissive of others problems

Mannerisms: Plays with his hat a lot

Audiences Reception: Feel empathy towards him

Name: Estar

Age: 16

Character Role: Donor (of sorts)

Home Town: London (recently moved)

Class: Comfortable working class

Family: Working Mum, Dad recently got injured and left the Army

Relationship Status: Recently broken up (boyfriend cheated on her)

Fashion sense: Dark colours, band t-shirts, skinny jeans

Hobbies: Really enjoys science

Biggest Secret: Is depressed and self harms (don't go into detail in the film, as it may be a trigger for the target audience)

Attitude Towards Others: Doesn't go out of her way to be nice, not rude, keeps herself to herself

Mannerisms: Holds and massaged her wrist

Audience Reception: No immediate impression of her until later on in the film, when her secret is revealed and then they feel empathy




Name: Finn

Age: 16

Character Role: False hero (of sorts)

Home Town: Fairly big town

Class: Middle class

Family: Dad, older brother and little sister

Fashion sense: Football t-shirts (etc)

Hobbies: Football, cross-country running

Biggest Secret: Only started football to be popular

Attitude Towards Others: Thinks highly of himself, judgemental, isn't aware of others problems

Mannerisms:

Audience Reception: Find him annoying and dislikeable

Name: Zoe

Age:17

Character Role: N/A

Home Town: N/A

Class: Middle class

Family: Mum, Dad, 4 brothers and 3 sisters (that no one at school know about)

Fashion Sense: Well put together, skirts, expensive clothing

Hobbies: Shopping, looking after her siblings

Biggest secret: Her big family, and her youngest sisters disabilities

Attitude Towards Others: Rude, judgemental, but kind when she finds out about another persons problems

We decided that to avoid using stereotypical names for the characters, we'd leave it and then do a focus group to see what our target audiences reception of the characters are, and what name they think would suit the character.

Thinking of Concept/Final Idea

For this piece of research we made a mind map to brain storm our ideas and final concept for our coming-of-age film and it's opening sequence.

From this piece of research it has meant that my group could start discussing the ideas that we prefer and also which we would be able to do and would be easier to do. We have started to think about costumes and the other aspects of mise en scene that need to be organised before we start filming.

Props and Location

Props

• Paper with detention list on - used for when the teacher is walking down the corridor and when she puts down the paper on the desk and close ups are used on the paper.

• School stuff (folder, paper, pencil case) - used for the scene where Patrick is in the library doing work.

• Handbag - used for the scene when Zoe is skipping detention and is shopping with her friend in the high street

• Backpack - used for when Finn is skipping detention and is playing football on the sixth form field with his friends

• Laptop - used for the scene where Ester is in her bedroom looking sad

• 1 Football - used for the scene where Finn is on the football field 

• Phone(s) - used for when Finn is on the football field and Patrick is in the library and they are checking Facebook. 

• Torch (used for extra lighting in some shots) - used for the bedroom shots with Ester sitting on her bed, as it was too dark

Locations

• Lower school - used for establishing shot of school as it looks daunting and imposing look to it 

• Classroom - used for end of opening scene showing the 5 students walking into detention 

• Freya's House - used for when the protagonist runs down the stairs to the door to grab detention slip. We chose Freya's house as it is convenient and small (fitting Brandon's social class)

• Rach's bedroom - when it cuts to a close up of the goth girls face and zooms out to show where she is. We chose Rach's house because it is convenient as she is the actor and lives locally. Our character has recently moved house so the pinks walls contrast with her personality and character to show that she is not comfortable with her new home. The room is very messy and small which works well with the characters social class.  

• Sports field - when it cuts to a close up of the jocks face and zooms out to show where he is

• High street - when it cuts to a close up of the popular girls face and zooms out to show where she is

• Library - when it cuts to a close up of the nerd guys face then zooms out to show where he is 

• Another bedroom - when it cuts to a close up of the chav guys face and then zooms out to show where he is 

• Living room - used for when the protagonist is looking out the window and see's a postman carrying the detention letter.  

Sound

In this task I looked at possible copyright free songs for our opening scene, I used two websites and listened to different genres and songs till I found a few I liked. The websitesI used to find the copyright free music where Free Music Archive and Bensound. The sound we are looking for in our opening scene is a modern, soft rock song without any words, this is so it can play in the background and people can speak over the top.

I then went on to make an I-Movie which included all the songs i have found:

 

We came to the conclusion that song 3 is too happy so we decided it was between song 1 and song 2. We then asked people which song they liked the best here is some feedback from the people we asked.

Emily said she preferred song 1 because the high notes make it seem happy but the tempo makes it sad. She said this made it fit in with our idea for the opening scene of the film.

Ali said he preferred song 2 this was because it has more of a cheerful tone.

Megan said she preferred song 2 this is because  the drum beats fit in well with walking also because it is upbeat.

Audience Profile

In this task we looked at audience profile and the target audience for our opening scene. From doing this it has helped us think about the different social groups represented in our opening scene.

Here is a Prezi done by my partner Freya Vincent to show this information.  

Representation in Films

In this task I looked at two films and analysed them and the way teenagers and young people are represented in these films. I made mind maps and put them together on a slideshow to show this.

 

Learning Comment
From looking and researching these two opening scenes I have learnt how they have represented teenagers which is their target audience and their teenage characters. I have learnt that they use the normal conventions and codes for the coming of age films genre. They have done this through the use of the mise en scene, this is the bright colours and fast paced music and editing. I have also learnt that the teenagers are represented as energetic by the use of cuts between the shots when editing. Another thing I have learnt is that teenagers are also represented as shy, quiet and having health issues. This is shown by facial expressions seen by close up camera angle and low angle which makes people look small.

Narrative Structure

In this task I looked at the Narrative Structure for two coming of age films, I showed my analysis in Spiderscribe an online mind mapping website. The two coming of age films I looked at were Wild Child and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Learning Comment
From this piece of research i have learnt that in an opening scene it is good to have a fast paced opening scene that has a disrupted equilibrium at the start, this is because it engages the audience.

Preliminary Task

In this task we had to plan, film and edit a short video clip that we recorded. The storyboard below shows the idea i had for my short video clip. The storyboard shows someone walking through the door, sitting at a table then talking to another person. There is very little dialogue in the video just short sentences. I looked at three types of editing and tried to include them in my video these are:

• Match on action - is where one shot cuts to another shot and shows the action that is still going on from the first shot.  

• Shot/reverse shot - is normally used when two people are having a conversation. Shot reverse shot shows the first person speaking then shows the second persons reaction. 

• 180-degree rule - is a a guideline in filming that the people in the scene should have the same 'left - right' relationship with each other. However, the filming must take place within the 180 degree angle which this is maintained in a conversation.

  Preliminary Task from Becky Moffat on Vimeo.

Learning Comment 
From this piece of research I have learnt new camera angles that I didn't know about before. These include the 180-degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot. From this research i have found that using a 180-degree rule shot makes it easier to edit together, this is because the 2 shots will flow together nicely. From this task I have found it things will i will need to use in my opening scene. For example one thing i have realised is that i will need to press record then wait a few seconds before the actor speaks or comes into shot. This is because in my shot clip above, the start of the sentence or scene gets cut out when editing the shot. From editing this task i have learnt that it would have been easier to edit if I had started recording the individual clips before the person has started talking. This way the clips would't cut out the start of the speech.

Analyzing Previous Students Work

In this task i looked at two opening scenes that were created by other AS Media students, i am hoping that this would give my some ideas of which techniques i will use to make my opening scene and how i will make the opening.


The first opening scene I looked at was called Captive.



In this opening scene it is obvious that they have clearly thought about the genre of film they are looking at, you could also tell who the target audience is. At the start of the opening scene they show the age rating for the film.  The demographic audience for this opening scene would be E this is students and unemployed. This shows us the target audience for the film which would be teenagers aged 15+, this suggests their may be violence or bad language in this film. The first shot of the opening scene shows us some bloody hands that have been tied up with some dirty and bloody rope. The first shot is already gives us an insight into the narrative, this is because it showing us that someone has been injured and hurt. We can see he is hurt through the mise en scene use of make up. This could also suggest that someone is being forced to stay there against his will. This links well with the title of film 'Captive'.  The next shot we see a close up of the tied character, this suggests to the audience that he is the protagonist as he is the only person that has been in the first two shots of the opening scene. Through the mise en scene use of sound is effective in this opening scene, the use of non-diegetic sound is effective as they have used music and sound effects to create an eerie atmosphere. The use of diegetic sound is also effective, this is because it is the character screaming and sound like he is in pain this makes you feel sympathy for the protagonist. This will engage the audience as they will want to watch more of the film to see if the protagonist is going to be okay. There is little typography in this opening but the typography used is simple and bold. The colour of the ext is white which connotes purity and innocence. This creates a binary opposite as the text connotes purity but the opening scene suggests the film will be may be gory and contain violence. If I could make any changes to this opening scene it would be to use more low key lighting, this would create a more mysterious atmosphere and would link well with the genre of the film.  


The second opening scene I looked at was called The Edge.


The first shot in the opening scene is an establishing shot, it shows the protagonist skating through a residential area. It also suggests to us that he maybe be from a rougher area. The target audience for this film would be teenagers aged 15+, the demographic audience would be E-C which is students, unemployed people and lower class. The opening scene doesn't build up suspense it goes straight into the narrative and is action packed. This will engage the audience as the fast paced opening scene will make them want to watch it as they will find it exciting and want to know what happens next. All of the text used in the shots are cleverly placed , they may not always been in plain sight. The text is also in black or white writing and is never placed in the center of the shot. This is effective as you can still see what is going on in the shot.For example at the start of the film the text is at the top of the screen on top of a building which is out of the way and lets us see the shot. The use of non-diegetic sound is creating tension which will engage the audience as this will also make them want to watch more of the film and see what happens. If i could change anything about this opening scene I would make the typography stand out more, i would make it bolder and wouldn't try to disguise it in the background. Another reason why I would make the text stand out more is because there is a lot of action going on in the opening scene so people will be more focused on that and not see or read the typography on screen. I would also make sure there is more dialogue and I would sure less of the narrative is revealed.

Learning Comment 
By analysing other AS Media students work I now know more about what codes and conventions are used in specific genres of films. From watching both opening scenes i now know what i would like to create an opening like the first one which was called 'Captive'. This is because it is obvious what the genre of film is. This is a good thing because it will help engage the audience if they enjoy the film genre. The use of sound is important in an opening scene, when I am making my opening I will use  sounds and music that will create tension. This is so that the audience are more engaged and what to know what's going on. I would add more dialogue to the opening scene but it would only be short sentences so that the narrative isn't being given away. I will also make sure i use a wider variety of camera angles to show different things. For example I will use close ups in emotional scenes where the character is showing facial expressions. Another example is using high and low angle shots to make my characters look small or big. This can be effective as the high angle shot will make them look small and weak and the low angle shot will make the character look big and strong, this could be used in a fight scene.

Typography

In this task I looked at typography, I analysed the colours, how the text links with the film genre or narrative, the position of text and font used in the opening scenes of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and Easy A.

 



Learning Comment
From looking at these two opening scenes i have learnt that the typography is important in an opening scene. This is because it can show us about the narrative through the use of colour and font, it can also engage the audience if the font used bright colours or is big and bold. After looking and analyzing the typography in these two films I now know a lot more about the positioning, colour and fonts and why they are used. I am now more confident in what parts of typography i will use to make my opening scene.

Audience Research

In this task we did different types of research to get a better idea of what target audience we are going to look for when creating the opening scene for our coming of age film. First of all Megan Bennett and Freya Vincent created a survey and put in on social media to get more people to answer it.


Then Freya and Megan conducted an audience research focus group with some AS Media students where they gathered responses on what the target audience thought about some coming of age films and opening scenes.



We also analysed some quantitative data to find out and compare which coming of age films have been the most successful when they were released. We used IMBD and other online websites to find out the information about cinema ticket sales and DVD sales. First of Ella Henely looked at three films these were The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty In Pink. She made a prezi to show the figures and research she has found.

 

The two films I looked at were The Perks Of Being a Wallflower and Superbad. I also made a prezi to show the figures and research I had found.



Learning Comment
From look at the audience research I have now have more ideas of how my group should make the opening scene, and what techniques we should use to engage the audience. From listening to the focus group I have learned that the primary audience would rather have the main characters in the opening scene so they are introduced at the start of the film so we get to know them better

Film Producers and Distributers

In this task I looked at different film distributions these have been major and minor film producers and distributers. I looked at these different ones so i could decide which producer i would want to distribute my coming of age movie.   


Learning Comment:
From this piece of research i have looked at major and minor film producers and the differences between them. I have learnt that major films producers are more likely to spend more money on a film that will make more money, this is because they are more likely to get more funding. I have also learnt that bigger companies are more likely to have subsidiaries. This is a company controlled by a bigger company. The minor film and art house producers are known for creating coming of age films. These minor and art house film producers are recognisable for coming of age films.  

Reverse Storyboards

Wayne's World reverse storyboard done by me
 Juno reverse storyboard done by Freya Vincent
Ferris Buellers Day Off By Ella Henley
Sixteen Candles By Megan Bennett

Learning Comment
From this task I have learnt that opening sequences have specific codes and conventions that they use but this depends on the movie genre. I have also learnt that different directors use different codes and conventions this makes their opening sequence unique. The dialogue used in the opening scene was effective this is because after the first few minutes of the film the audience may know what the narrative about and genre of the film. This will help them to decide whether they will find the film interesting and will want to watch it. The mise en scene used in these opening sequences are subtle but are useful and effective. The mise en scene is effective because it help the audience identify the type of films it will be and the narrative of the film.

Director Case Study: Jason Reitman

                                                                                                                

Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman is a 37 year old film director; he was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1977. Before he became a film director it was Reitman as studying for a pre – med degree at the University of New York He is the son of famous director and producer Ivan Reitman. Ivan is famous for producing the Ghostbusters movie and directing Ghostbusters 2. Reitman earned Academy Award nominations for Juno (starring Ellen Page), and Up in the Air, (starring George Clooney). Jason has been around film sets due to his father being a director. Due to the fact he has grown up on a film seethe was surrounded by famous comedy actors such as Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. Occasionally, Jason has even worked as an extra on his father’s film.  When he was younger he spent time in the editing room of his father films sets and learned the directing process.

He started out making short films whilst he was at the University of Southern California. Instead of taking offers for commercial feature films he started making his own short films and commercials instead. Reitman was asked to direct the film ‘Dude, Where’s May Car?’ twice, he declined both times. His first feature film was called ‘Thank You for Smoking’ and it was made in 2006. Thank You for Smoking was originally a book written by Christopher Buckley, and then it was made into a screenplay then into a film by Jason Reitman. The film was a huge success a made $39 million worldwide.  The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.  During an interview Reitman said due to the success of TYFS, he would be making another adaption of a book. This book was called ‘’White Collar Satire”.

After working on “Thank You for Smoking”, Reitman worked on the film Juno. After Juno premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival it created a lot of buzz in the media Juno was then released in December 2007. Juno is one of the most talked about coming of age films on the web. Reitman received Oscar nominations for Juno. The awards were for best picture, Diablo Cody’s screenplay, Ellen page’s performance as the main protagonist and Reitman was nominated for best director.

From looking at the opening scenes to a few of Reitmans films it is clear that the narratives are similar. This is because most of them start off with the main character being in trouble or getting into trouble. The story is about the character trying to get out trouble. This doesn’t always work which gives the film an unpredictable ending. This makes his films seem interesting because it makes you wonder how the problem will be solved and if it does ever get solved. The music used in the opening scenes are often upbeat. The music used in Juno is a song ‘’All I Want Is You’’ by Barry Polisar. The song fits well with the camera angles and shots used. Reitman almost never adds extra sounds in his opening scenes but occasionally he will add a few diegetic sounds if they are needed.

Reitman has a certain style when it comes to opening scenes, the camera almost always pans across the screen during the opening titles. The pan is slow which allows you to see the typography on screen and the picture or scene. The panning usually follows the protagonist’s movement for example in Juno the pan follows her walking down the street. In the opening scenes of Juno Reitman uses close ups, he used this camera angle as it shows the facial expressions on the characters face. We know this is a coming of age film due to the fact the close up and long shot camera angles show a teenage girl. Through the use of mise en scene Reitman tells us a bit about the narrative of the film, it shows us the film is a happy film this is because we see the protagonist smiling during the opening scenes.  

Learning Comment:

From this piece of research I have learnt a lot of information about Jason Reitman and the different techniques he uses in his opening scenes. I have learnt that using a pan or tracking shot is effective as it makes the opening smooth and flow from one scene to the next.  I have learnt although the problem is solved it doesn’t always get solved in the predictable way which makes the narrative interesting. When I make my opening scene the narrative will be unpredictable but the problem will still be solved by the end of the film. I will use this idea because it original and not many directors use it. I will make sure that the film links with the coming of age theme

History of Coming of Age Films Timeline

Learning Comment

In this task I have learnt that coming of age films use opening sequences to engage the target audience or demographic audience for the film. Most coming of age films have a target audience of teenagers aged 13-18. This is because the films are about teenagers and they may feel they can relate to the film. Another reason the target audience is teenagers is because the phrase coming of age means your transformation from your teenage years to adult life. This means that the demographic audience is E because it's for students and teenagers. In the opening scenes i looked at it was clear to tell they are coming of age films. This is due to the fact that the protagonist is a teenager. As my opening scene is for a coming of age film i will use a teenager to play the main character. When i make an opening scene for my film the main protagonist will star a lot, this is so that you know he / she is the main protagonist. I will give subtle hints to the narrative and genre by the colours, typography and sound I will use. 

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