Initial Research into Evaluation Questions

In preparation to begin answering the evaluation questions, I have done some initial research regarding some of them:

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

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘distribution’ as: “the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user, using direct means, or using indirect means with intermediaries. The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing, and promotion.” As such a distribution company is the company that controls the marketing and advertisement aspects of a film - usually operating separately from the production company. Distribution companies are important as they are responsible for getting films their publicity and making the media product available to the largest audience possible.

• Warner Brothers Entertainment Incorporated (also known as Warner Bros. Studios, Inc., Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. commonly called Warner Bros., Warners, or simply WB) is an American entertainment company that produces film, television and music entertainment.
• 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation with hyphen used from its inception until 1985), also known as 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Pictures, 20CFFC, TCF, Fox 2000 Pictures or simply Fox is an American film studio, distributor and one of the six major American film studios. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio used to be owned by News Corporation, but its now owned by 21st Century Fox.
• Colombia Pictures is an American film production and distribution studio of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.
• Paramount Pictures Corporation (commonly known as Paramount Studios or simply Paramount) is a film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor, consistently ranked as one of the “Big Six” film studios of Hollywood. It is a subsidiary of U.S. media conglomerate Viacom. Paramount is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and also the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world, and America’s dest running studio, founded in 1912.
• Vertigo Films is a British film production and film distribution company based in London, England.
• Entertainment Film Distributors is a British distributor of independent films in the UK and Ireland for various production companies, currently run by Nigel and Trevor Green.

Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount Pictures are probably the three companies (from the list above) with the highest budgets, and so I would feel most comfortable with one of those institutions distributing my media product. With that said, first and foremost each of such three companies is a production company and as such may not focus on the distributing of my film as much as I would like them to. Consequently Entertainment Film Distributors or Vertigo Films may serve me better as a distribution company due to their good track record of distributing independent British films - alike mine.

The target audience for my thriller is young adults given the fact that it features teenage characters and has very contemporary themes.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my media product would be young adults between the ages of 15 and 25. Given the relevant and contemporary themes of the thriller, I would target it towards the Western World given the fact that racism, terrorism and fear are sadly very present-day topics that are effecting a wide range of people in such states. Due to the dark themes of the thriller, the target audience will have to be alright with more adult and potentially gruesome content. 

Shoot Day [4] - Reflection

Although our shoot day was a success, that isn’t to say we went without our fair share of problems...

Whilst the decision to change our idea at pretty much last minute was a positive one, in retrospect it caused a number of issues further down the line - such as no longer necessarily being able to follow our shot list or storyboard. All the same, as a group we adapted to the change and went with the new idea as if it'd been the plan all along.

The new idea also meant that some of our props - which we had desperately hunted for - were made redundant... such as the cargo netting. All the same, we decided to keep it within both the storage container and our final shots as it didn't seem particularly out of place, and the Theatre Department at school had kindly lent it to us after some effort of locating it within their vast prop shed, which we didn't think should go to waste.

Likewise, the creative idea to light our shoot entirely by torchlight had consequence in the form of a couple of the torches batteries dying mid-shoot. Thankfully, we found replacement batteries quickly - thus being able to uphold consistency and waste as little time as possible.

Our group also suffered miscommunication throughout the day. Whilst never a major problem, it did mean we ended up squabbling about who should undertake what role, believing that everyone should get the chance to operate the camera and direct. Sadly, not everyone was quite as willing, and nor did we all particularly agree about what shots we wanted - resulting in some of us not being able to film what we necessarily wanted to.

Despite this, everyone did seem to step up on the shoot day and offer some form of worthwhile participation, and at the end of the day, we did manage to successfully wrap on filming with what we hope is a substantial amount of footage to work with. Although it wasn't exactly our original idea, the process of filming and later editing are both exciting ones as we will begin to see our thriller opening sequence come to life.

Shoot Day [3] - Lighting

To make the lighting look convincing, we turned off all of the lights within the storage container and sealed shut the doors with gaffer tape in order to make our location look pitch black. From there on in, we filmed entirely by the torchlight of our actor's props, and as a direct result of such given how some shots were a bit too dark, to help us light the set we cleverly placed tinfoil around the storage container under Matt's skilful guidance so that it remained out of shot yet successfully reflected the light of the torches and thus better lit the scene. In doing so, we had to be very careful that the tinfoil didn't get in the way of the actors and cause any unexpected noises or to fall into the shot. Whilst the technique worked, it wasn't quite as effective as we thought it might have been and so in retrospect I think it may have been wiser to have just filmed with brighter and generally better lighting, as we could have always made it darker in After Effects or some other editing software. All the same, hopefully when we see the footage next week, everything will be able to be seen.

An example of the type of home-made tinfoil reflector we created and how we used it when filming is ever so sort of explained within this video I found on youtube:

Shoot Day [2] - Filming Equipment

The camera we used to film our Thriller Opening Sequence was the Sony NX5 due to the fact that it shoots in 25FPS and with a resolution of 1080p. For more controlled shots, we also used a vinten tripod as it was easy to adjust and with the addition of an attached dolly handle we were also able to make our pan and tilt shots smoother and easier to execute. I really enjoyed being able to both film and direct and I hope that I will be able to do such again soon. The Sony NX5 was surprisingly easy to use, and so the experience was really enjoyable as we didn't have to fret about what we were doing. Matt also taught us how to change the lens and gave us a few cool ideas in terms of shots - such as a handheld tracking shot.

      

We were also given a shotgun microphone with a pistol grip to get clearer recordings of the sound used within our sequence and so after filming our sequence, we decided to record some additional foley sounds to use for the purpose of our editing.

  

Shoot Day [1] - Preparing the Set

Whilst we wanted a cluttered storage container for our set, there was just a bit too much junk within our location so we had to empty some of the stuff out in order to get more room for our actors to move about. In total, it took us about half an hour to empty everything out and a further ten minutes or so to arrange our props - hiding knives and weapons where we wanted them, hanging up cargo netting, filling the gasoline cannisters with water, checking all the torches were working, etc... 

Above is a time-lapse of us refilling the container (filmed by Millie and myself), and below is a photograph of what the final set looked like with our three actors (from left to right: James, Freddie and Georgia) doing a practise run.

 

Shot List for my Thriller Opening Sequence

Shot No.	Shot Description
1	Wide shot of the complete sequence.
2	Initial establishing shot of the storage container.
3	Wide shot of the three characters entering.
4	Close-up of Georgia entering.
5	Close-up of James entering.
6	Close-up of Freddie entering.
7	Wide shot of James engaging with the left-side of the storage container.
8	Mid-shot of James engaging with the left-side of the storage container.
9	Close-up of James engaging with the left-side of the storage container.
10	Wide shot of Georgia engaging with the table items.
11	Mid-shot of Georgia engaging with the table items.
12	Close-up of Georgia engaging with the table items.
13	Close-up of the table items that Georgia is engaging with.
14	Sweeping shot of the ‘Warning: Danger’ sign.
15	Wide shot of James and Freddie engaging with the chest of drawers.
16	Close-up of James and Freddie engaging with the chest of drawers.
17	Over-head shot of James and Freddie engaging with the chest of drawers.
18	Close-up of James taking the nails from the drawer.
19	Close-up of Freddie taking the knife from the drawer.
20	Mid-shot of Freddie placing the knife down on the table.
21	Close-up of Freddie collecting the pipe.
22	Close-up of Freddie collecting the tape.
23	Mid-shot of Freddie taping the knife to the pipe.
24	Behind mid-shot of Freddie taping the knife to the pipe.
25	Close-up of Freddie taping the knife to the pipe.
26	Mid-shot of Georgia telling Freddie to be quiet.
27	Mid-shot of James finding the medical box and handing it to Georgia.
28	Close-up of James finding the medical box and handing it to Georgia.
29	Close-up of Georgia exploring the medical box.
30	Wide shot of the three hearing the first monster noise.
31	Mid-shot of the three hearing the first monster noise.
32	Close-up of the three hearing the first monster noise.
33	Mid-shot of Georgia telling Freddie to stop.
34	Close-up of Georgia telling Freddie to stop.
35	Behind wide shot of the three hearing the first monster noise.
36	Behind mid-shot of the three hearing the first monster noise.
37	Behind mid-shot of Georgia telling Freddie to stop.
38	Mid-shot of Georgia picking up the torch and turning it to the door.
39	Close-up of Georgia picking up the torch and turning it to the door.
40	Behind mid-shot of Georgia picking up the torch and turning it to the door.
41	Hand-held shot of the complete sequence.
42	Hand-held close-up of James and Freddie engaging the drawer.
43	Hand-held close-up of Georgia engaging the table items.
44	Hand-held mid-shot of the three characters hearing the first monster noise.
45	Behind hand-held mid-shot of the three characters hearing the first monster noise.
46	Behind hand-held wide shot of the storage container being hit.
47	Hand-held wide shot of the storage container being hit.
48	Wide shot of the three collecting the map book.
49	Mid-shot of the three collecting the map book.
50	Close-up of the three collecting the map book.
51	Wide shot of the three reading the map book.
52	Mid-shot of the three collecting the map book.
53	Close-up of the three collecting the map book.
54	Close-up of Freddie’s finger tracing the map book.
55	Wide shot of Freddie talking to the other two.
56	Mid-shot of Freddie talking to the other two.
57	Close-up of Freddie talking to the other two.
58	Mid-shot of the book being shut.
59	Close-up of the book being shut.

Ultimate Outline of my Thriller Opening Sequence

A final summary of everything that our Thriller Opening Sequence will be composed of:

Opening Sequence Plot (what we will be filming):

The plot of our Thriller Opening Sequence follows what appears to be three teenaged delinquents breaking into a locked storage unit. Trying to be as quiet as possible, they begin scavenging throughout the container for anything that may make an effective weapon. However, upon one boy gaffer-taping a knife to some kind of pole a bit too loudly, the trio attract some unwanted attention from some kind of creature from outside the container. In a moment of heightened tension whilst the group are staring at the door, frozen in fear, the container suddenly starts getting thrown about. After the sudden tremor ends, the three teens scramble about whilst one gets out a map book. One of them says that they must move on if they wish to live, and they all agree.

The Actual Film Plot (what we will not be filming):

The rest of the plot would explore the survival of the three teens and whatever creature they are hunting/being hunted by. The ambiguity of the Opening Sequence attracts viewers and keeps them engaged as a result of their curiosity and desire to know more - and it also allows us to play with a lot of ideas should we ever make the movie in its entirety.

Cast:

           

Freddie Gass, James de Winton, Georgia Hehir.

Costume:

Dark, ‘common’ clothing. We want it to have a rather tacky, ‘chavvy’ look to it, but for it to still be effectively warm and comfortable.

Props:

Torches, duct-tapes, cargo netting, saws, gasoline canisters, nails, screws, pipes, knives, first-aid kit, barbed wire.

Location:

Cluttered storage container.

Set Design:

A lot of clutter at the edges of, and upon all the surfaces of, the set - with a single table in the centre and a chest of drawers at the back.

Meet the Team

From left to right: Alejandro, Theresa, Millie and myself.

Final Preparations and Last Minute Decisions

As a final preparation before filming our Thriller Opening Sequence, my group and I decided to do a practise run in costume and on location with a member of the production team supervising as to give feedback on things we may have overlooked.

The first thing we noticed was that with a cast of five the set was incredibly cramped, and so first and foremost we were advised to cut down to three - removing ourselves of one boy and one girl. After doing so, Matt (the member of the production team) went through the impracticality of our plot - why would a large group of seemingly capable teenagers be making rather 'rough-and-ready' weapons to attack one single, unarmed boy? As such, he advised that we make them hunt something large and ambiguous, something worth their numbers and preparation, like some kind of monster…

We agreed, and as such changed our idea accordingly; consequently, when we go out to film later on we will have these changes in mind. The costumes, location and set design will remain the same.

Reminding the cast of final details before filming

To ensure that all of our cast members are sure of where we are to meet and of what they are to bring tomorrow, we decided to send out one last email to them all:

Confirmed props for my Thriller Opening Sequence

Today Theresa, Millie and I visited the school's Theatre Department in order to ask for a few props, such as knives, nails and cargo netting. Whilst not overly willing to lend us them, in the end they accepted and told us that on the morning of our shoot day (Tuesday 19th January) we could come and collect them from the Theatre Foyer.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, Millie would be unable to obtain the hockey sticks and tennis rackets over the weekend and so we decided to scratch such ideas. However our teacher, Katie, agreed to bring in a red petrol canister for us, as well as some torches, and so we collected the rest of the torches from around school. Barbed wire and the other petrol canister were already within the storage container, ready for us to use.

Confirmed location for my Thriller Opening Sequence

Instead of a shed, for our thriller my group will now be using a highly cluttered storage container. We had a quick scout of the location, and confirmed that we will be using it for our thriller.

Confirmed Shoot Day - Tuesday 19th

Today we found out the day that we will be shooting our thriller: Tuesday 19th. Upon hearing such news, we decided to send an email to our cast to make sure that they are definitely available.

Confirmed cast for my Thriller Opening Sequence

Requesting the cast for my Thriller Opening Sequence

Having decided upon the characters that we'd have within our thriller opening sequence (three teenage boys, and two teenage girls) we sent out an email to people that we thought would be good to play the parts.