Research for Final Film

I have made a survey to research into my target audience and find out what they would like from my film. Here is the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CVTOtmjaGzTYMvjDrc_2bZ2g_3d_3d

1) Research Results

These are the results of a survey I produced using surveymonkey.com. I asked a number of people using Facebook and by email to carry out my survey so that I could gather reliable data which I could use to help me finding an audience and settling on my film genre and idea.

1)      Are you male or female?

Male – 72.7%

Female – 27.3%

Is important when discussing the type of genre they choose. This relates to the type  of audience which might be attracted to certain genres. When looking at further results in my survey, I can look at what appeals most to a mainly male audience, and think about whether they would come under my target audience.

2)      How old are you?

15-21 – 60%

22-29 – 20%

30-37 – 10%

38+ – 10%

The age range mainly includes a younger audience so the results cannot be    generalised for everyone because the people who took the survey aren’t equally distributed in age. However, some of the older audience are included which means is more reliable than if the survey was only filled out by people under 21. Also, I can use this to my advantage to find out what an audience of the majority being younger prefer in films and particularly whether they would be interested in the one I will produce.

3)      What genre of film do you prefer?

Comedy – 60%

Thriller/Horror – 50%

Sci-fi – 20%

Action/Adventure – 60%

Romantic Comedy – 30%

Romance – 10%

Crime/Mystery – 30%

Drama -10%

Historical – 20%

Supernatural – 10%

Experimental – 30%

The most appealing genres appear to be Action/Adventure, Comedy and     Thriller/Horror. However Crime/Mystery, Experimental and Romantic Comedy are popular too. This means that a male majority audience will prefer suspense and action or something comical, compared to a purely romance or supernatural. This is important as it means that a mainly younger age audience prefers the genre of my film (Thriller/Mystery) meaning that they are important when concluding who my  target audience is. Also, my film will contain some experimental elements, and knowing that 30% of the people who took part in the survey are interested in this genre reassures me that it may still appeal to the wider audience.

4)      How do you mainly watch films?

Going to the cinema – 33.3%

Through the internet – 11.1%

Watching television – 22.2%

DVD/VCR – 77.8%

This shows that most of the people questioned watch films at home, with only a third attending the cinema most commonly. This means that the film is still going to have to be capturing without using all the effects possible in cinema. This implies that we need to make our film visually interesting so it still has an impact on the audience.

5)      Who do you mainly watch films with?

Family members – 30%

Group of friends – 20%

One or two friends/your partner – 70%

On your own – 20%

Because the results show that people usually watch films with other people, we need to take this into consideration. Therefore, when making a film, we will have to be able to attract the whole audience and keep them entertained throughout so that they maintain to watch the film, even when with friends. It’s also important to appeal to all family members and a variety of different audiences so that everyone feels involved.

6)      What attracts you to watch a film?

Reviews and ratings – 20%

Heard from others that it is good – 40%

The good actors in it – 50%

It’s your favourite genre – 40%

A good director – 30%

Description/Advertising – 50%

To socialise – 10%

The most important factors seem to be the actors, description (from either reviews or other people) and genre. This means it’s essential to pick a genre which will appeal to a large audience and to cast actors which give a realistic performance. Results previously show that Thriller/Mystery genre would be popular so I know that a large amount of people will enjoy it. Also, we will aim to cast the best actors possible, so that they give a high quality performance, so that our audience will enjoy the film as much as possible.

7)      What is your favourite film?

The dark knight, V for Vendetta, The Notebook, V for Vendetta, Platoon, The  Hangover, Fight Club, Dodgeball and more.

Most of these films have a tense atmosphere to them, with psychological inclusion   and action or thriller genres, although there is obviously a comedy appeal too. This   shows that an audience containing mostly men are more likely to enjoy a film of these genre types. Again, this concludes that because our film is Thriller/Mystery,    then it will appeal to men as they prefer films of this genre, shown from the list above.

8)      Why did you like it?

Main answers included: good story, suspense, action, music, script, memorable,  dramatic, impact, style and genre.

This gives us an insight into what people view a good film as and what it should include to be liked by this type of audience. Using this list, we can make sure our film contains all of these elements to a good standard so that it really appeals to our target audience and has a unique selling point as well.

2) Our Ideas

 

Initially we thought of filming a mother in a hospital, who has just given birth. She was to wake up from resting, in a hospital bed and looks to her side to see her child. However, the baby wasn’t there. When she asks the nurses they have to recognition of a child ever existing.

But we slowly realised that this would be very hard to film. The setting would be very difficult to manage and the mise en scene would be very hard to organise and collect, seeing as we would have to gather all the hospital equipment together.

Also, from the results of our questionnaire, we see that this type of genre (thriller/crime/mystery) attracts a male audience and we felt that having a woman as the main character in this genre of film would not appeal to a male audience as they would not be able to relate themselves to the mother.

However, we still liked the idea of something psychological or mysterious, so we kept this genre in mind for our film. The next idea we had was a car crash. We wanted to try and use interesting shots and do something different, so we thought that this was a good idea.

We then introduced a father and son into the scene. This solved our problem of not attracting a male audience, as the main character is a father figure, so men could relate to this. Also, it still appeals to a female audience because the actions of the father are quite nurturing; as he is trying to take care of his son. We then went back to the initial idea and thought about how we could include a sense of mystery into this opening.

Finally we created the idea of the father waking up from the crash and the son not being there, walking away from him, or being taken from him. We then concluded on the idea of the son being taken away from the father and into the woods. This really adds a sense of mystery to the film opening and the kidnapping of the son will add a frightening atmosphere as well, which would appeal to our target audience.

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But, some elements of the film were changed between initial pre-production and final pre-production. Firstly, we changed the characters in the film. Instead of a son and father being inside the car, we decided to involve more of a family, so that the film could be more relatable. Also, this gives us a chance to represent a wider range of social groups so that the film will appeal to all of the people in our target audience. Another smaller reason for doing this was that finding an actress to play the mother character proved to be a lot easier than maintaining commitment from the actor of the father, therefore it gave us more flexibilty when filming as the actress was available more often.

The second thing that we removed from the film idea is the flashbacks. We felt that as a film opening the flashbacks weren’t entirely neccessary and therefore we decided not to shoot them so that we could capture more visually interesting shots which would capture the audience’s attention more effectively. This also meant that there was no dialogue in the film, I think this will this prove to be effective in screening the film as the audience will become more captured in the action and the visual images rather than a script, which will help to create a more interesting film.

Lastly, we talked in detail about the ambiguity of the antagonists and the kidnapping, and we felt that it would be more interesting to only show the audience a slight insight to the kidnapping, rather than including shots of the kidnappers taking the boy out of the car and into the woods. We felt this would attract the audience more, as the narrative would become more unclear so the audience would want to continue watching as the story is revealed. Also, this meant that we could hide the antagonists’ identity so the film would become a hidden mystery which would again attract the audience to a greater degree.

3) Plot Synopsis

Plot Synopsis

1) A mother is driving her two sons home; the younger child, who is asleep in the back of the car, and his older brother. We see shots of the outside of the car, with light and shadows reflecting off of it, and close ups of the younger boy asleep.

2) Many close ups of the other characters appear, with added shots of the road to express progression and a journey, leading the family towards the antagonists.

3) The titles of the film appear, as the shots (including point of view shots) continue.

4) A car turns out into the road and the mother cannot stop in time, as she briefly turns around, which leads to the crash. At this point, the shot shows only black with sound of the crash, representing the blackout of the main character (the older brother).

5) Distant shots then show the kidnappers dragging the young boy through the woods, which reveals the kidnapping. The boy struggles to escape, but is finally killed by one of the antagonists.

6) The location switches back to the crashed car, and the audience sees older brother waking up in the car. A point of view shot shows that the mother is dead in the car seat, and as the camera turns, it shows the empty backseat.

7) The older brother gets out of the car, confused and frightened. The title of the film then appears.

4) Shotlist

Shot no.	Description	Duration	Shot Type	Sound
1.	Lights are reflected on car roof, camera tracks with movement as wee see it travelling.	00:05	Long Shot	Non-diagetic backing music
2.	Different angle of car, still showing reflection of light coming off it.	00:04	Long Shot	Non-diagetic backing music
3.	See mother driving, thoughtful expression, camera tracks backwards into mid shot.	00:03	Mid shot	Non-diagetic backing music
4.	Image of older brother in car seat, looking out across the open road.	00:03	Mid shot	Non-diagetic backing music
5.	Back to shot of road, with the mother’s hands on wheel.	00:03	Mid shot	Non-diagetic backing music
6.	Mother shows relaxed expression, as she drives onwards.	00:03	Close up	Non-diagetic backing music
7.	Another shot of the open road, to calm audience, as the car travels.	00:04	Long shot	Non-diagetic backing music
8.	A further shot of the family inside the car.	00:03	Mid shot	Non-diagetic backing music
9.	First Titles. Dream like effect added.	00:03	Title 1	Non-diagetic backing music
10.	Shot of the younger son, still resting peacefully.	00:03	Close up	Non-diagetic backing music
11.	Mother appears to look at the son in the car mirror.	00:06	Mid shot	Non-diagetic backing music
12.	Second Titles. Added effect.	00:03	Title 2	Non-diagetic backing music
13.	Shot showing car from side angle, driving along a clear road.  Tracks to follow.	00:04	Mid Shot	Non-diagetic backing music
14.	Exterior shotof the front of the car.	00:04	Long Shot	Non-diagetic backing music
15.	Third Titles. Added effect.	00:03	Title 3	Non-diagetic backing music
16.	The mother looks back at the young boy, turning around.	00:03	Close up	Non-diagetic backing music
17.	See the car still travelling along.	00:06	Point of View Shot	Non-diagetic backing music
18.	The kidnappers’ car pulls out into the road and waits for family.	00:05	Mid Shot	Non-diagetic backing music, faster paced.
19.	See the mother turn back to face the road.	00:04	Midshot	Non-diagetic backing music, faster paced.
20.	Point of view of kidnapper, watching family coming towards them.	00:03	Point of View Shot	Non-diagetic backing music, faster paced.
21.	Blackout of shot, can only see black to make impression of crash.	00:03	No Shot	Sound stops.
22.	Camera switches location to woods, where the kidnappers are taking boy.	00:06	Mid Shot	Non-diagetic sound, different music.
23.	The son struggles to escape from the kidnapper.	00:06	Mid Shot	Non-diagetic sound, different music.
24.	They fight, and the boy is pushed down and finally killed.	00:03	Close up	Non-diagetic sound, different music.
25.	Older brothers eye opens, as he wakes up from the crash.	00:04	Extreme Close up Shot	Non-diagetic sound. Heavy breathing of brother.
26.	Turns to mother, who is dead on the seat. Then sees that the backseat is empty.	00:05	Point of view shot	Non-diagetic sound. Heavy breathing of brother.
27.	The brother gets out of the car in confusion.	00:04	Midshot	Non-diagetic sound.
28.	His face shows worry, as he looks around for his young brother.	00:03	Close up	Non-diagetic sound.
29.	Main Title. Effect added again.	00:04	Title 4	Non-diagetic sound.

5) Storyboard

Shot No.

Shot Image

Type of shotDuration

Sound and Dialogue and Camera Movement

1.		Long Shot. 00:05	Lights are reflected on car top, camera tracks with movement as it travels. Soundtrack in background to fit mood of scene.
2.		Long Shot. 00:04	Different angle of car, still showing reflection of light coming off.Backing sound continues.
3.		Close up. 00:03	Se mother driving, thoughtful expression on her face, tracks backwards into Mid shot. Backing sound continues.
4.		Mid Shot. 00:03	Image of older brother in car seat, looking out across the open road. Backing sound continues.
5.		Point of View Shot. 00:03	Back to road, Point of view of mother driving. Backing sound continues.
6.		Close up. 00:03	Mother shows relaxed expression, as she drives onwards. Backing sound continues.
7.		Mid shot. 00:05	Another shot of the open road, to calm audience, as the car travels. Backing sound continues.
8.		Midshot. 00:03	A further shot of the family inside the car. (interior shot inside car). Backing sound continues.
9.		Title 1. 00:03	First titles appear, with added effect. Backing sound continues.
10.		Close up. 00:03	Shot of the younger son, still resting peacefully. Backing sound continues.
11.		Mid Shot. 00:06	The mother looks at the sleeping son in the back of the car, in the car mirror. Backing sound continues.
12.		Title 2. 00:03	Second titles, effect added. Backing sound continues.
13.		Mid shot. 00:04	Showing car from side angle, driving on a clear road. Camera tracks to follow movement. Backing sound continues.
14.		Long shot. 00:04	Exterior shot of the car, from slightly above. Backing sound continues.
15.		Title 3. 00:03	Further titles, effect added. Backing sound continues.
16.		Close up. 00:03	Now the mother turns around to look at her son in the backseat. Backing sound continues.
17.		Point of View Shot. 00:06	Exterior shot showing the car moving along still. Backing sound continues.
18.		Mid Shot. 00:05	The kidnappers’ car pulls out into the road and waits for family. Backing sound continues.
19.		Midshot. 00:04	Another shot of the mother as she turns back to face the road. Backing sound continues.
20.		Point of view Shot. 00:03	Point of view of other driver. He sees the mother drive closer. The mother crashes into him. Backing sound continues.
21.		Blank Shot. 00:03	There will be an all black shot to represent the crash. The music stops here, non diagetic sound of a car crash is added.
22.		Mid shot. 00:06	Camera switches location to woods, where the kidnappers are taking boy. Different backing music begins.
23.		Mid Shot. 00:06	The son struggles to escape from the kidnapper, trying to break free from his grip. Backing sound continues.
24.		Close up. 00:03	They fight, and the boy is pushed down and finally killed. Backing sound continues.
25.		Extreme close up shot. 00:04	Older brother in car opens his eyes quickly, as he wakes. Backing sound continues. Breathing of the brother also.
26.		Point of view shot. 00:05	(of brother) Turns to his mother, who is dead, then sees empty backseat where younger brother was. Backing sound and breathing.
27.		Midshot. 00:04	The brother gets out of the car, still confused. Backing sound continues, breathing stopped.
28.		Close up. 00:03	Face shows panic, as he looks around in search for his little brother. Backing sound continues.
29.		Main Title. 00:04	Title of film appears, effect added. Sound still included.

6) Script

We decided, when discussing our film ideas, that we would not include any dialogue. We came to this conclusion as we felt that a script would take away from the interesting visuals we plan to produce; therefore making our audience less captured.

Also, because of the music and rise in tension as the narrative progresses, we felt that a script would take away from this suspence and destroy the mood and tone we are trying to create for our film.

Furthermore, we felt that there was nowhere in the film opening that would work well with a script, as a use of dialogue never seems appropriate to add at any time. Instead, we thought it would be more effective to show a characters feelings through body language (shown through midshots) and facial expressions (shown through close ups). This means that the audience can still empathise towards characters, without having to include the disturbance of a script.

7) Location

The location of the film will take place in three main areas; Great Hyde Hall (a private area surrounded by woods as seen in these photographs), a small housing estate, and a main road. This will clearly show the movement of the car and will make it clear to the audience that it is a long journey. The majority of the filming will take place at Great Hyde Hall, an area as stated before which includes a main drive way, surrounded from each side by woodland and greenery. We felt this was a very good place to film as at night the woods will make the setting feel dark and ominous, creating the thriller genre we are trying to produce. Furthermore, a lot of natural light comes from above, and when the moon shines through the trees at night, it creates a mysterious and scary setting which will add to the atmosphere of the scene. Also, there are two small turnings, as seen below, which we could use as the pull out point of the kidnappers’ car and where the crash takes place, which is very useful. Additionally to this, as it is a private area, the roads will be quiet and therefore the filming should be undisturbed. Overall, we felt this was a very good area for filming, due to the practicalities, setting the mood and atmosphere and in producing the setting we had in mind.

8) Props Needed

1)      All costumes for mother, the two sons and kidnappers

2)      Two cars, preferably:
- a saloon family style car
- an everyday, hatchback, car

3)      A toy/teddy bear for the son to hold while asleep

Also needed:

1)      Make up to add shadow to kidnappers’ faces

2)      Torch lights for use of kidnappers and to use for lighting

9) Casting and Costumes

Casting

The casting shall be as follows for our film:

Mother – Susan Hogan

Older son – Jackson Hogan

Younger son – Cameron Hogan

Kidnappers – Jackson Hogan and Ross Webber

We have chosen these actors because we believe they will give a realistic performance so that the audience really believes the opening of the film and what is happening.

Also, these actors fit to the roles they are playing to add to our efforts of making the scene seem realistic. The young boy is at the same age we pictured the son, and we are using a mother figure as an actress because she plays this role in every day life, therefore meaning she has a good idea of how she can recreate a mother character in the film. The older son (Jackson, our editor) is also a drama student at our school, and therefore can portray a believable performance which is important as he is the character shown with most of the emotion.

Costumes

The costumes for the actors in our film shall include everyday wear.

- For the younger son it will be a winter coat, trousers and trainers. We felt that this is quite realistic and it will also present the young boy as particurarly innocent and youthful due to the protective clothing, which almost looks to large for him (see below) to emphasise his child-like character.

- For the older son it will again be a winter coat, jeans and trainers, but more adult wear. We wanted to keep it again quite simple, but also relatable. Therefore, we chose clothes that are worn by other males of a similar age so that the audience could relate to the character while maintaining the believability of the film.

- For the mother we had planned a coat with a dress/feminine top and jeans to express the traditional image of a mother. This would create the feeling of a typical family, meaning the audience can relate to the characters even more. In addition to this, the mother plays quite a fragile role during the crash, and she often nurtures the young boy by checking on him, so we felt this costume would emphasise her role as a mother.

All of these costumes make the actors and actresses seem more realistic and someone the audience would see in everyday life. This creates a relatable image within the film so that the audience believes the performance and can be addressed by the characters who represent similar social groups.

Consequently, the kidnappers will not be traditionally dressed to disguise themselves, because we do not want to create a cliché image of perpetrators, as this will make the film seem too unrealistic and the audience will not be able to relate to them. This is a way in which our film will differ from typical conventions of a mystery film. This is to make the film seem more believable so that the audience can really involve themselves in the action and we felt this would give our film a unique selling point as well. However, the kidnappers will wear dark colours and we shall use make up to add shadow to their face to represent their dark characters because we still want to make it clear that they are perpetrators.

Below are some photographs of the actor playing the son and the costume he will be wearing.

Additional Props

For the cars, we have chosen to use, preferably, a saloon family car and a hatchback. We settled on these types of car because we wanted to present the characters as coming from a typical British family, with no specific class. We wanted to do this so that all ages and people of different backgrounds of our audience can relate to the father and son and will therefore make the characters more likeable as a whole. The hatchback was to make the kidnappers revelation more suprising and to fit in with the costume design by making the characters less typical.

Another prop we will include in the scene is the son’s small toy. This will be a bear or action figure which many young boys carry around with them. We thought that this would make the child appear very innocent to the audience, so the audience will sympathise with the child when the kidnapping takes place. We thought also about using the toy to represent the son and how he becomes a victim. After the kidnapping, we would show the toy being stepped on, or thrown, to get across the unjust abuse being forced upon the son.

(further work on ‘older posts’ link below)