Evaluation - Question Five

Evaluation – Question Five


How did you attract/address your audience?


Once we were put into our group, Matt, Rachel and I had immediately decided to create a opening sequence in the horror/thriller genre. We had chosen this genre due to watching previous year groups opening sequences and seeing that this genre was the most successful in creating emotion, particularly fear and discomfort, which is what we wanted. Focusing on this particular genre, we had to have in mind the typical conventions of the genre that we had to include in our film. One convention that we decided on was a kidnapping, this is a popular element used with this genre and since we had researched the fairytales Little Red Riding Hood and Changeling it seemed appropriate.Having a male and psychotic villain was another element that we wanted to include. I told the group about the Ed Gein character, who's mother was the cause for his mental state, and how the Texas Chainsaw Massacre focused on and the film was very successful, so he became an influential character for The Toymaker. Having a build up and keeping the audience in suspense throughout the film was a priority for us as a good psychological thriller always leaves you on the edge of your seat. These are vital elements that our audience would expect to see from this genre, so we continued and our ideas developed and grew to reach the expectations.
Analysing our opening sequence it included the expectations of a psychological thriller. Starting with the camera work, we used extreme close ups throughout too keep the suspension up as revealing the Toymakers face would kill the tension and mystery of the film. We only ever, showed his mouth, fingers and clothing, with the exception of the external scenes where a long body shot was shown yet you could still only see the back of the Toymakers head keeping his identity and the tension intact. These shots were very effective as within the workshop scenes, we attracted our audience as they would constantly be thinking, who, what, and why he was there and in this particular place. From researching the psychological thriller genre we noticed that not only did the audience appreciate the mystery and twists of the films, but they also expect and want to see some gore and disturbing scene/shots. The panning shot of the workstation is does this lightly, as it covers the glass of wine, the needles and the tape measure, highlighting a possible drink problem, the dangerous mind of this man and the hint of limited time is shown. But if you notice a the majority of the shots are ECU which created disturbing effect, particularly the shot of the needle going into the eye of the doll, as the audience, much like my teacher, would squirm at the thought of a needle going into their actual eye. These disturbing shots are effective and would attract our audience as it is the gore and shivers are what they expect and appreciate from this genre. This was very similar to that of the opening sequence of the animated Coraline (2009) where the machine is making the Coraline doll except we developed it to suit our genre. However, because we didn't want our opening sequence to have blood and guts seeping everywhere even though it is expected, we decided to take it down a notch. If you analyse the film you will notice that the colour red is very frequent and can be seen on the walls, the dolls coat, on pieces of cloth on the table, the red thread, the red wine, and on the button box. This cinematography was done purposely as red is often seen as a sickly colour and it also tied in with the Little Red Riding Hood which is in the world of our film.
The soundtrack to our film was a vital convention to our genre, as I ALWAYS say that creepy music will set the tone of your film, and too me creepy means a lullaby! Lullabies, fairground sounds and a simple piano tune were famously used in these movies, which create a awesome and chilling effect on the audience:
Rosemary's Baby
The Candyman
Halloween
Childs Play
Chucky
Coraline
Pans Labyrinth

The props on set played a large role in the composition of the workshop scene and shots. They were all precise and thoroughly thought out as we each new the exact idea of what we were going for. Before shoot, we stapled black cloth to four large slats that came together to form the background for out set and we then attached many photography, drawing, and newspaper clippings of little girls across the slats to keep the background busy. This was to give the effect that the Toymaker is twisted and obsessed and has been planning is kidnaps for a long time. This would attract the audience as the theme of obsession and twisted minds is often see in psychological thrillers, which our audience love. We also managed to find an old tabletop to which we scratch severely and tea stained it to give it and older and used effect, also scratches in this genre are commonly associated with danger or mental illness. When we arrived on location, we added additional props to add authenticity to the set, by scattering buttons over the table, tangling thread and cloth together (twisted mind of toymaker), red wine, needles and we also added a sewing machine. This was great as it’s really set the mood and introduced our audience to the creepy workshop which would make them cringe all the way through. We thought it was very clever how all of these items are used in everyday life with no horror or scary connotations, yet when the audience watch and realise what the Toymaker is doing with them, its is then when they will be drawn in through fear, disgust, sickness, and curiosity of what going to happen next.....
I, like many others often like happy endings to films, however, in most psychological thrillers this isn't the case. In recent films like Changeling (2008) where her son was kidnapped then killed. Zodiac (2007) and Saw (2004) where Jigsaw survives and many people die. Therefore, keeping with and realising the success of these movies, we chose to end the movie similarly to Changeling, yet have it so the parents get closure and the killer is found. Due to recent social build up of neglected and kidnapped children which were inspirations for our film, we felt that the audience would appreciate the ending yet twisting to give it a disturbing and psychological end.
Overall, our film has successfully addressed and attracted our target audience as it has Incorporated a balance of typical codes and conventions of psychological thrillers, whilst adding our own and developing additional twist to previously used elements to appeal and grip our audience.

Evaluation - Question Four

Evaluation – Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

PRIMARY AUDIENCE PROFILE:FemaleAged 18-35FemaleAged 18-35Any ethnic background but English language is necessary in order to understand the filmIdealistic lifestyle includes having children/planning to have children or a family based routine Enjoys riddles and mystery, smart and interested in psychological thrillers.

These all contribute to our primary audiences expectations and enjoyment of the psychological thriller genre. We chose women as our primary audience as the film revolve around the parents trying to find their kidnapped child Amy. As it focus' primarily on the mother, women would be able to familiarise themselves with her character and therefore feel more empathy. Additionally, because our film is one where the audience will be guessing the whole way through our audience will be intrigued and be eager to know the end of the film.

SECONDARY AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Male18-40Ethnic background irrelevant as long as English is one of their languagesLifestyle includes reading and solving puzzles/riddles, they will enjoy thinking of the ending of a film when it's only just begun etc.

Films both audiences would have seen and enjoyed recently would be these as follow.

If you click the links to the following films, they will take you to the IMDb websites. Here you will notice that each of these films share the same elements, scenes, equilibrium's and keywords such as tense, mystery, kidnap and 'twist at the end'. Therefore, making our film a perfect choice for our psychological film loving audience!

*Hannibal

*Silence of the lambs

*Hide and seek

*One hour photo

*Saw I-V

*Dead silence

*Changeling

*Zodiac
*The Hills Run Red-this film in particular has the soundtrack that we originally wanted for our film.

Evaulation - Question Three

Evaluation – Question Three

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

Our film is low budget student film and due to it being independent and not well known it is unlikely to be shown in large chain cinemas such as The Odeon, Vue and Cineworld. Unlike big blockbuster movie our film didn't cast Hollywood actors so it will not be distributed like a big blockbuster movie. Therefore, if it were to be distributed it would have to be done on a lower scale with particular distributors that cater for low budget independent student films.

“Vertical integration used to rule the film industry as it would help promote better financial growth and efficiency in their companies and films. 'the studios' control over distribution was greatly weakened in the U.S. when in 1948 the court case United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. forced the major film studios to sell all their theatres”.

Today major studios and independent production companies compete for screens in theatre, which is a positive thing as it allows other filmmakers like us to get the chance for new films and talent to be exhibited. The film distributor plays a massive and important role in the film industry. The sole purpose of the distributor is to convince the exhibitor like The Odeon to 'rent' or screen your film. Using several marketing techniques, the distributor makes the exhibitor believe they will profit financially by showing the film. Once a contract is signed the film is shipped and advertised globally through digital distribution as well as posters, newspaper and magazine advertisements, television commercials, trailers, and other types of ads whilst making sure that the film is in fact shown in the particular theatre. In our case, Silent Play may be shown in The Greenwich Picturehouse which has 5 screens and will show a range of mainstream releases, foreign language and independent cinema, special seasons and visiting festivals. Other festivals that would be interested in screening our film would be Exposures, the UK’s largest festival of student image work, which takes place every year in Manchester, or Screen test. which provides the opportunity for students from across the country to screen their work in , meet other student filmmakers. One institution that would be interested in distributing our film would be THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE which is a large filming institute that promotes understanding and appreciation of Britain's film and television heritage and culture to the widest possible range of British and world cinema. Another type of media institution that would consider distributing our film would be a distributor such as Dogwoof. It’s a UK based film distributor specialising in social issue films, documentaries, independent films and world cinema. Whist researching on their website, http://www.dogwoof.com/indie/, they say that 'We are also constantly trying new technologies, and new business models, which offer endless opportunities for independent distribution.' Their films often cover the themes of social and environmental issues so maybe our film about a psycho kidnapping toymaker might not attract them as much as The Age of Stupid. click here for trailer. However, they have recently set up Dogwoof Indie “to support independent filmmakers and promote fresh talent in the film industry.” They launched it after the success of a film and now aim for Hybrid Distribution (cinema, DVD and internet VOD). This would be extremely effective for our film as it would reach a wider audience not only at the cinema but within homes as well. Another willing distributor would be Guerilla Films, previously a production company, Guerilla Films is a UK based distribution company and since 1999 made it their sole purpose to distribute British & Irish films within the UK & Ireland. I found that their films have been screened in all the leading UK chains - UGC, Cineworld, Odeon, UCI and VUE as well as numerous independent cinemas which would also be great exposure for our film as it would be expanded to a wider audience and may convince them that our film is of a higher production value. A final potential way for our film to be distributed could be through the internet, one distributor could be http://www.undergroundfilm.com/ who concentrate on independent film distribution the internet. However, a better known site would be YouTube. Using YouTube would be a fast, cheap and accessible way to get a film out on a more global scale due to word of mouth, emails and our viewing figures. But that's the only problem, since YouTube has over 200 million videos it would be massive competitions to get the hits that we need to get it exhibited on a large scale and hit every audience. Overall, getting your film distributed isn't as easy as it all sounds, as its is a much longer process, then I have written including methods of licensing , marketing, copyrighting and logistics. But before all of that you have to convince a distributor that's your film is good enough for them to get the distribution 'wheels in motion', and of course it HAS to be good otherwise....who’s going to watch it ?!

Silent Play - Storyboard

Mood board slide
Evaulation
Storyboard
organise
Shooting schedule

Evaluation - Question Two

Evaluation – Question Two

How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?
Our opening sequence only has and focus' on one main character, which is the Toymaker, however, our whole story includes the primary characters of Amy's mother and father. Therefore, we had to represent their social roles of psychologically effected males, being an only child, over-worked parents and neglected children.

With the exception of Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Stephen Kings, Misery (1990), the focal villainous characters of - Psychological - thrillers is commonly males. But in this case Annie Wilkes was an obsessed fan, who kidnapped and held hostage Paul Sheldon when she didn't get the ending of Misery that she wanted. This is similar to our Toymaker character:

• White British male
• Only child
• Mind of a child
• Psychologically affected in childhood as father died and mother neglected him. She only gave him one doll each year on his birthday, to keep him company. We reflected this in our opening sequence by keeping the Toymaker alone and never showing his full face as he was shown love by his mother.• Rarely interacted with others
• Grew bored of dolls as he could never have a conversation with them
• Became obsessed with finding something better and 'doll-like', and found that little girls were perfect. But they soon, wanted to go home but he wanted them to stay so he would kill and turn them into dolls with hot wax- much like Bo and Vincent in House of Wax (2005) who turn people into waxworks to make their figures more realistic-
• Occupation- Toymaker, he owns a rundown toyshop in which he stores and hangs his dolls in. Our opening sequence shows his workstation which would be situated within the toyshop.


Our Toymaker's persona is fuelled by his neglectful childhood, and doesn't want that to happen to other children. Therefore in his twisted mind he sees kidnapping and turning little girls into dolls as punishment for the neglectful parents. Whether or not they win his game, they are taught a lesson on how to treat their children with love and attention. An influential character for The Toymaker is Jigsaw from the Saw (2004-present) sagas. Jigsaw uses a series of torturous games, which his kidnapped victims have to play in order to survive; like the Toymaker leaving notes for the parents for save their children. Jigsaw does this to teach his victims to appreciate their lives and to not take them for granted.

In our opening sequence, although The Toymakers character is age 47-50, we used Rachel's brother Daniel O'Connell who is 21 to portray him. However, through the elements of mise en scene, we were able to mask the age gap successfully.
- The costume was very important in representing the character, as from childhood, he rarely interacted with others and wanted to be very inconspicuous. He therefore wore all black as in long coat and black jogging bottoms, yet had white trainers on as he still craved some attention that he never received when a child.
-Before shooting, as a part of makeup, we also dirtied up Daniel's hands as we felt that it would add to the Toymaker's creepiness. We also wanted to give the audience the chill that we felt when we watched the opening sequence to Se7en (1995) which was the primary influence for our opening sequence, due to the clever camera angles, movements, effects and the actual character within the frame.
- The body language and movement of the Toymaker was very precise and intricate, this is presented particularly when he is threading the needle and handling his beloved Amy doll. This is effective as his slow hand gestures, present to the audience the love and care that he wishes to show Amy. When outside of 'Amy's house', towards the end of the opening sequence, you will notice that the Toymaker, walks very awkwardly and not in straight lines, this is to emphasise the fact that he has a twisted mind and doesn't even realise that what he is doing, as in the way he is walking and the kidnappings, are wrong.
- The setting of our opening sequence was shown to be a basement workshop; within the Toymakers shop. We achieved this by putting up black cloth covered boards, a table, chair, table lamp, and sewing equipment. However to get the eerie atmosphere we had to attach images of innocent little girls to the back slats to effectively show his obsession with girls we also put up images of the doll to put across to the audience the instability of his mind. We scratched and tea stained the table to make it seem old, and suggest that he had been making dolls for a long time, We also scattered the sewing equipment like buttons and needles across the table to show how cluttered his mind is that he doesn't know right from wrong.
-The lighting was very simple and dim throughout the opening sequence, particularly in the workshop scenes, a deep yellow light was used to keep with the eerie atmosphere of the film as we felt it made it look dirtier, whereas the red light made the workshop seem demonic which was not the look we were going for. However, the red light within the red room shots were highly effective we felt as it gave the audience a change of scenery, but as it came up in quick flashes it created a sense of discomfort.
-Throughout our sequence the toymaker never had any human interaction as it was only him and the doll, this represented his character well as it emphasised his sick and childlike mentality. The use of extreme close up and slow stroke we felt were great as they portrayed to the audience his obsession and unnatural love for dolls and children, much like Robin Williams' character Seymour "Sy" Parrish in One Hour Photo(2002) who is obsessed with the Yorkin family. Similarly, Seymour "Sy" Parrish makes collages of the family much like our Toymaker with the innocent little girls.

To conclude the representation of The Toymakers social role was shown successfully and suited the psychological thriller, through the mise en scene elements that we used and the way he lived and the things he did were very similar to other villains that I have mentioned.

Prelim Task - Cast List

Halle Smith
Rebecca Noble