Anamatic Feedback

Before I finalise my animatic and analyse it blog, I decided to get some audience feedback on my animatic. I did this because this meant I could make changes so my film will appeal more to my audience and so it fits the characteristics of the genre I picked. Nine people evaluated my animatic, and they were all required to mark different sections out of ten than write positive comments and write a few targets to improve my animatic.
The categories i asked for them to mark me on were:

1. Range of shot types and editing transitions- this was asked because to make my opening more vibrant it is important to involve a variety of shot types and edits. Through these I can make a certain character or situation give of a certain impression (for instance a high angle shot to make someone look superior)
2. Appropriate pace and content for chosen genre- I asked this  particularly because as I am doing social realism, I needed to get the pace right and not to boring but not to fast. I also asked the question because I wanted to know if the content was appropriate for my chosen genre
3. Position and order of titles- As one of my earlier posts shows I took particular care in what titles I included in my opening. I asked this, as I feel this is one of the main components to a successful opening sequence
4. Introduction of characters- This is very important, when looking at conventions of social realist openings, I noticed that character is of the most important things, so I wanted to make sure I introduced the main character in a way that would straight away give him a relationship with the audience
5. Introduction of storyline- In my opening I want to make sure that the storyline is introduced the right amount, so the audience get a sense of the setting and themes of the film, but not so too much is divulged straight away. After all, the point of an opening sequence is so the audience keeps watching, not so they don't need to.
6. Clearly an opening sequence- linking to my earlier question about story line, I need to make sure my opening does not end up looking like a trailer. This will be done by making sure not too much information about the full story line is divulged.
7. Use of sound- As I have now decided that I am not using a voice over, I need to make sure, the music fits the mood and also that it fits in with the pace of the editing.

Below, is a graph showing my average score for each question I asked.

This graph shows that my average score for each question was 9 for all of the questions but 2. The question for which I was rated lowest was Question 5 'Introduction of storyline', for this I my average rating was 8. I think part of the reason I may of scored lower could be because in an animatic, it is hard to show what is really going on. But taking this mark in to account, I think I could add certain shots in to show more about my character life and how he ended up in the house where the film begins. My highest rating was for the final question 'Use of sound', for which I got an average of 10. I am very happy about this firstly as I spent so long choosing my music, and secondly because I was worried my that my decision to not have a voice over could slightly effect the sound of my opening.

My average rating out of 70 was 62/70.

The positive comments that were written included:

• The music fits in well with the pace
• Fits genre well
• I like the positioning of titles
• The final shot tells us a lot about the character

The targets I was given included:

• The social issue needs to be presented more clearly
• I do not know the story line

As well as these targets i also received some regarding the quality of my animatic, but I did not include these as they are not relevant to the production of my opening. In regards to the the targets I have noted, I feel that to improve I need to show more of what the character is like, and establish the fact that the setting is not his home more clearly.

Taking all these comments into account, I will go away and make changes to my animatic to fit my audiences reactions. Below is the first draft of my animatic that the sample saw before making the above decisions. Some of the shots say things such as 'distrubution company', this is because I have not yet chosen the names of some of contributors.

Music

I have finally found some music that I think is suitable for my opening sequence. Because of licensing we had to find an unsigned act, and get permission from them.  I went on the website www.mp3unsigned.com, and browsed the website, and I found a song by the most popular act on the website- Redshirt theory. I listened to one of there songs Move On. I thought that fitted the genre well. The song is an acoustic song, with vocals, by a british artist. And I thought this style fitted the themes and setting of my film.  I emailed the artist asking for permission. Below is a screen shot of my email and his reply

In my email, I stated who I was, why I wanted the song, and also who would have access to my video. In my reply which I am still to send, I will state that he will be credited in my opening.

When he replied, he said I could use any of his songs, and gave me a link to his website. When looking at his website, i found hat he is actually quite successful, having designed music for well known computer and console games.

One decision that has been finalised due to the music is that I will no longer consider a voice over. As I like the music so much, I have decided not to have a voice over, as with the lyrics this will be confusing to listen to.

As I now found music, this means that   my animatic can no be completed.

Mid Story Boarding

I am currently in the middle of the story boarding process. And I have realised that there are certain things I must considering whilst story boarding.

One of the things is which titles I am going to include, and in what order. Through the analysis of the openings that I watched, I learnt conventions, but rather than copying these, I need to decide what I am going to do.

This is the order I have decided on:

1. Production Company- I have put this at the very beginning as this is a convention of most films, and is the norm.
2. Distribution company
3. Distribution company
4. Distribution company- I uses three distribution companies rather than one because it is a convention of social realism to need lots of funding due to a low budget.
5. A Harry Engall Film
6. Introducing Christopher Bainbridge- I have put this actors name first due to him having a main part. I than have a clip of him, to show his importance before any other titles start.
7. Henry Morris
8. Pheobe Evans
9. William Glass- I have used three more actors names later in the sequence, to show the actors of all the main parts. My film involves 4 main people, so these have all been covered now.
10. Thumb- This is the title of my film, this shows relatively early on in my sequence after the director and actors names- as these are seen as the most important to be shown
11. Produced by Sophie Ronge
12. Edited by Vincent Gillan- I have chosen that the first names to be credited after the film title should be the producer and editor as they are seen as very important. And because I didnt want to involve all the credited people so I chose the ones who I thought would be highest up.
13. Music by (not yet decided)-  I credited the music in my opening, as in social realism, music is often seen as very important, due to matching it to the style to the film. I have also chosen to credit the musician as this will be the deal I make with the unsigned act I find when I chose the music I want.
14. Costume design- David Hilditch- I chose to credit costume for a similar reason as my choice to credit music- because I feel that music is very important regarding social realism due to the style and time period that the film is set in.
15. Directed by Harry Engall-  I chose to credit the director again at the end, as this was a convention I saw alot in opening sequences, such as This is England.

Another thing I still need to organise is the music that I will use in my opening, I am currently looking at lots of unsigned acts on the Internet trying to find one suitable.

A thought that has effected my idea a lot whilst story boarding is whether it will be clear that the location my character is in is not his home. This is my only motive, and the only thing I want to portray so I need to get it right. I am using certain shots to make this obvious such as a close up on family photos that obviously are not of his family. And when he is in the kitchen he will make it clear that he does not know where things are. But it I am unable to know exactly what it will look like until i start filming. So i have decided to write a voice over that could be played over the opening (the character voice) talking about his current situation. A voice over would be beneficial as audience will know what is going on. But I am worried it could stray away from the style of my film. I was worried that it would not fit my genre, but the Trainspotting opening has a voice over and that film is very successful as they results of my survey showed. I have decided that when making an animatic I will overlay the voice over on one animatic and leave the other with just music. And I will do the same when editing my final video and than when i get my audience feed back, I can decided what my final choice is. A voice over could also effect my choice of music, as with a voice over the use of music with vocals could sound confusing to the audience.

Costume and Props

Other than Location which I shall write about later there are things I must consider for my opening,.

Costume
The only actor being introduced in the opening is Oliver. I want to dress Oliver in clothes that are typical for someone of his age, but also clothes that do not look to delicate or expensive, due to his traveling lifestyle. I also think the clothes he wears should link to what my target audience should wear, as this will attract them more.

For Olivers top I have chosen a check shirt. I have chosen this because it is versitile therfore fitting Olivers lifestyle. I also chose this because it is warm also suiting Oliver's life. Lumberjack check shirts are very popular, so this will also be on trend.

For his bottoms I chose ripped jeans. These ripped jeans will give the audience the idea that Oliver has had them for a while, therfore they are worn. They have been stone washed, therfore they are faded- also giving the effect of being old. These jeans are slim fit, therefore on trend with my target audience.

For Olivers shoes I chose Brown Doctor Martens. I have many pairs of Doctors Martens avaialable, but i chose these ones because they are very worn, faded and scratched- therfore giving off the right impression.
Although all the clothes I chose will give the impression of being old, they are also on trend, which is important to a younger audience.





I also have to consider props for my opening.
A lot of my props, such as a cereal bowl and spoon are very easy to find, and will most probably be available at my venue, but there is some that I must consider my self.
I will need to bring a sleeping bag, I will bring one of the ones that pack up very small, so therfore it will not get in the way when filming the scene where Oliver is walking .
I will also have to bring a weekend bag which Oliver will carry. The bag I have chosen will be a Ralph Lauren weekender. I chose this as I wanted to give clues at Oliver's privileged back ground which he has now rejected.
I will have certain things that I want Oliver to always have, a symbol which the audience will straight away know relates to his character. One of these will be his wallet, which has his ID and all the money he has in. I want this to be a symbol, as it symbolises how little Oliver has, and how he is happy with little as long as he enjoys life. Another thing I want Oliver to always have is a pack og Golden Virginia tobacco, and a small leather ciggerete case. I chose these because I think it will add to the cheap look of Olivers lifestyle.
I was in a charity shop at the weekend, when i saw the cigarette case, I chose it because it suited the vintage style of my film, and also because it looked like th kind of think my character would like.

Character and Actor profiles for opening

In the opening the only character introduced is Oliver, the main character. I have chosen a close freind Chris Bainbridge to play the character of Oliver.

Chris

My friend Chris is 17 and lives in my town. He is currently studying drama at a- level, so therefore he will be able to act well enough to make my opening believable. I have known Chris for a long time, so therefore I think we will be able to work professionally together and will not be side tracked. Chris has the certain look that I am going for regarding my character. His style will attract my target audience and it also suits the style and tone of my film. Chris has similar interests and ideas as me, so therefore i feel he will be able to grasp my film idea well, and interpret my character authentically.


Oliver- character profile

Oliver is a 19 year old male who dropped out of school when he was sixteen with little qualifications. He had a privileged middle class up bringing, but his rebellious nature stopped him getting on with his parents and therefore he moved out of home when he was 16- not hearing from them since. Although my audience research showed that audiences would prefer the character to be lower/ middle class, i chose my character to slightly more privileged in the past, to show a contrast with his cheap life now.  When he moved out he took all the money he had with him, and when he turned 18 he was able to access a trust fund which has been set up for him. Since moving out of home, he had a short stint in a youth hostel, before leaving there starting to live un- lawfully. Oliver hitch hikes around from place to place, sometimes staying with generous people but most of the time breaking in to houses which have been left alone whilst the family is on holiday. After living like this for 3 years Oliver decides to contact his cousin who lives in Edinburgh- the first time e has spoken to his famly in years. He asks if he could go up there and live with him, and start to make a life for him self. The cousin agrees happily and swears to secrecy. All this is previous to my story starting.


Oliver is very free willing ad easy going. But is not happy being the little man. This story shows his 'coming of age' and how his character grows from a child to a man. His mannerisms are very subtle, as he is not very loud at the beginning of the film. I want him to give the impression of being happy with himself, and enjoying his own company.

Final Story Line Idea

I have finally thought of an idea for the storyline of my film.

My story will focus on the life of a young 19 year old man named Oliver who has been out of school for 3 years, and has lost all ambition. Since leaving school and home at the age of 16 he has been traveling around the country staying in empty houses who's owners are away or on holiday as he did not get on with any of his family. Oliver's life is a mystery to the audience and all he is seen to have is a bag of belongings and a wallet in his pocket.  The story follows him traveling from his home in a small village in Norfolk to Edinburgh where he is planning to stay with a cousin. He hitch hikes across england and it seems that he will make it. But halfway there he catches a lift with a eccentric twenty year old french man named Berlioz who invites Oliver to a party he is going to that night. Oliver accepts and attends the party that night. After waking up the next morning, Oliver, Berlioz, Luke and Amy (two people he met at the party)  have to make a run for it after Berlioz up sets a gang member. The film than follows the four lost youngsters trying to make it to Edinburgh with Oliver, and Oliver realizes that hitching is a lot harder when there is four of them. Along the way Berlioz gets the group in lots of different trouble much to the annoyance of Oliver and Luke who are getting very close. In the climax of the film the police are called as the group are found breaking into a house, in the panic Berlioz kills Luke and runs away. Heartbroken Oliver tries to run after Berlioz but Amy stops him. The last scene of the film see's Amy and Oliver living together in Edinburgh trying to make money. The film ends on a sand note due to Olivers sadness at the death of Luke. But the film also has a coming-of-age theme, as Oliver has changed so much over his travels.

The narrative of the two minute opening has been planned in much more detail.

The opening will focus only on the character of Oliver. The opening will start with him waking up on the sofa in a sleeping bag. He than gets up changes clothes, and stuffs all his stuff in a bag. The audience will than see him make breakfast- he will look quite lost in the house as if he doesn't know where things are. He will than look at the calendar and there will be a close up on a date with a note saying 'back from Spain today'. The viewers will than see him clamber out one of the windows and leave the house. The end of the opening will be him walking along a road waving at cars. Until one finally pick him up. I have decided to leave the driver of the car (who has no part in the story) unknown, as in my opinion the opening should only focus on oliver and no one else. The last shot of the opening will be Oliver getting out of the car at a garage and waving bye. Here the music will stop.

Audience Profile

After reviewing my questionnaire results, I have created two audience profiles for my film. One for a male member of my audience and one for a female member of my audience.

Questionaire Results

I handed my questionnaire to 16 male and 16 females, 32 people over all. I wanted to give it out equally to each gender so I would have a fair representation of my audience. Below I will be analyzing the results to certain questions from my questionaire that i think are the most relevant.

Question one-

1.     What is your Age?

<> 16- 25

<>  26- 35

<> 36- 45

<> 46 +

 

Results

This chart shows that the majority of the people who agreed to do a survey on social drama films were of the ages 16-25. Followed by26-35. This shows me that my audience is quite young. I think from these results my target audience should be roughly from 18- 35. I chose this because although the age 16 was quite high, this would limit what explicit content my film could involve.


Question 4-

What social class would you say you are?

<> Working class

<> Middle Class

<> Upper Class

 

Results

 These results showed a very strong signal that i should focus my film towards the middle class. There was no people who considered them selves as working class that agreed to take my questionnaire. And only two people who said they were upper.

Question 5-

In an opening sequence of a film, what do think is most important?

<> Introducing Characters

<> Introducing  Location

 

Results

These results confirmed the conventions that I wrote about earlier. More than 75% of the people i asked said that they would rather character be a bigger part of an opening than location. This helps me a lot, as it means that starting to plan my opening will be a lot easier.

Question 6-

What social aspect would you say us most original for a social drama?

<> Drink and Drugs

<> Gang culture

<> Sexuality

<>Family problems

<> Travelling

 

Results

This shows that the most popular story line was drink and drugs, closely followed by sexuality and traveling. Although drink and drugs was the most popular, I personally thought that this was a theme that most people would go for and could very typical. Therefore traveling and sexuality will be more big themes in m story. I think the reason that gang culture was less popular was because of the area my questionnaires were handed out. And I think that family was less popular because this would be less popular with a younger audience, and most of the people who filled out my questionnaire were  young. 

Question 7-

Which of these films do you like the most?

<>  This is England

<> Quadraphenia

<> Trainspotting

<> Kes

<> Room for Romeo Brass

 

Results

These results show that This is England is the most popular with the public. And the film kes the least popular. I think this has a strong correlation with he age of people who did my questionnaire, due to when the films were released. The film trainspotting- which is my favorite of the list- came second, which i thought was positive I would love to take inspiration from this film.

Question eight-

 

What gender would you prefer the main character to be?

<> Male

<> Female

 

Results

These results show that my audience would prefer the main character to be a male. 20 of the 32 people i questioned said that they would prefer a male character. This is very important due to character being very important as my earlier results said. 

Question nine-

 

What social class do you think is more suitable for the main character of a social drama?

<> Working Class

<>Middle class

<> Upper Class

 

Results

These results show that the most popular choice was working class closly followed by middle class, with only one point between them.

Upper class was very un-popular. I am happy with these results as they match the conventions of social realism characters.  

Questionaire

I just completed writing a questionnaire. This questionnaire will be handed out to people in the public. I am writing it so it can help me define my audience, and also so i can learn what my audience will prefer. Audience research is important as otherwise i will not know who to aim my film at

Questionnaire for audience research.

Please tick one answer for each question. Thank you for your time.

1.     What is your Age?

<> 16- 25

<>  26- 35

<> 36- 45

<> 46 +

I have asked this question about age because age is one the most important things about your audience. Knowing your audiences age insures that your film will be suitable for an age group but also because it can include things that your audience will enjoy.

2.     What is your occupation?

<> At school, college or university

<> At work

<> Unemployed

I asked this question because i felt that as i am doing social realism it was important. Many social realism films involve people who are un-employed, but i wanted to know the the content of films mirrored the audience.

3.     What is your gender?

<>  Male

<> Female

This question was asked because I felt that your audience gender determines what themes should be involved. Although my genre is social realism, this still leaves lots of space to explore other ideas. Different genders would prefer to watch a film on different social issues.

4.     What social class would you say you are?

<> Working class

<> Middle Class

<> Upper Class

 I chose this because when i choose what social issue I should aim my film at, i want to know what social group would most enjoy it. Social realism normally involve working class people, but i do not know weather working class people enjoy the films.

5.     In an opening sequence of a film, what do think is most important?

<> Introducing Characters

<> Introducing  Location

I asked this question because i felt that this is a decision i should take very seriously. Although the conventions i learnt about guide me towards character, I wanted to get the audiences point of view.

6.     What social aspect would you say us most original for a social drama?

<> Drink and Drugs

<> Gang culture

<> Sexuality

<>Family problems

<> Travelling

This question was perhaps the most important as it would determine my story line. But as I am doing social realism, it was also less important, as the opening would not involve the story very much- as the conventions say. 

7.    Which of these films do you like the most?

<>  This is England

<> Quadraphenia

<> Trainspotting

<> Kes

<> Room for Romeo Brass

This question was asked because I wanted to know what social realism film was most popular, so i could than draw ideas from the popular ones to see what audiences like.

8.    What gender would you prefer the main character to be?

<> Male

<> Female

This question was asked because character is very important in social realism openings. So getting the main character right is very important.

9.    What social class do you think is more suitable for the main character of a social drama?

<> Working Class

<>Middle class

<> Upper Class

I used this question for the same reason as the one above. Although the conventions of social realism normally are that the main character is working class, i wanted to see if my audience thought differently. I used the term 'Social Drama' in this questions rather than 'Social Realism' because \i did not think that all members of the public would know what social realism was. 

Conventions of chosen genre

I have finally chosen which genre to base my opening sequence on- Social Realism.
As the genre I chose was social realsim, i have decided to put together a list of conventions that i should follow.

1. From opening such as Kidulthood and A Room For Romeo Brass  I found that the actual story is not divulged into very fully. Although the story is not told, a strong convention is characters being introduced. I found the character is normally the main part of social realism openings. Normally the opening will introduce the main characters weather its 1 or 10. 
2. I also found that use of camera is very important. The camera use is normally very simplistic, not cutting very often, and having very long duration shots. There is also a range of shot type, from long shots of locations, to close ups of characters. 
3. I found that editing was used to create an effect in the openings i watched. I found that the editing was normally used to show a change in time, using quick cuts, to show time going fast or slow dissolves to show time going slowly. 
4. I think that location is very important in social realism openings. In all three openings I wrote about there was an obvious establishing shot at one point. The location was used to show something about the characters involved such as there lifestyle, social class or family.
5. In terms of character i found that all the main characters in social realism came from a working class background. Some could come from a middle class, but never an upper class. This is very important, as if i broke this convention my chosen genre could go completely wrong.
6. The use of sound in social realism openings varied. All were diegetic, letting the audience hear everything that is happening in the scene. This is very important as it made the openings more realistic. I also found that the music that played over the openings was all music that was either from the time period the film was set in, or the type of music the characters would of liked.