Video Questionnaire

Final Choice for our Distributor

When we were first looking at all the possible distributor options for our short film, we originally decided on Future Shorts, because they are a company who are extremely passionate and enthusiastic about helping upcoming film makers distribute their short films. A positive for Future Shorts is that they have a worldwide platform, which could mean, that even if a film is targeted towards a certain audience, such as a British audience, other audiences in different countries would also be able to watch our short film.

However, from more research into Future Shorts, it was found that it is simply a short film network, who distribute short films that are submitted at seasonal events around the world. Their screenings can take place in a variety of different locations, such as music halls or galleries, and anyone can set up the screening, by purchasing a license to do so. Because their events are set up by people who are independent to the company, while Future Shorts create the set list to show at the event, this means that our preferred target audience may be unlikely to see the film. Therefore, Future Shorts would be a good website to submit our film to, after we have properly distributed it.

Instead, a better choice for our distributor would be YouTube, as YouTube is a platform that anyone can access for free, simply by creating a Google account. Therefore, we have decided to use YouTube as our distributor. YouTube allows content creators to share their work, by uploading to a website, that has over one billion users, and almost a third of all people on the internet everyday watch videos on the site. Overall, it also reaches more 18-34 year olds, which is around our target audience for our own film, than any cable network does in the US. YouTube is a site that is a good platform for ameutur film makers, as potentional audiences can easily find short films on YouTube by making a quick search, in which, thousands of different films will be brought up. Finally, YouTube is the best choice for our short film, as it allows content creators to make their videos monetised through AdSense, which means that content creators can potentionally make a small amount of money through ads when people click on their video, which can be beneficial for small film makers.

Theories on Afterlife

Theories on Afterlife

There have been many theories, surrounding what happens when someone dies and whether or not there is an afterlife. Films have explored many different ideas of what awaits in the afterlife, some films predict that there is a heaven awaiting like in Ghost, theres the idea that your sole waits on Earth until you have completed a goal like in Sixth Sense, or you could come back as a wacky ghost just like Beetlejuice. However there are some real life theories that discuss whether or not there is in fact a life after death. We are researching this, as the afterlife is a key part of our film which will play a significant role in the story.

Quantum Physics:This idea is a science based hypothesis by Robert Lanza who claims that the theory of biocentrism argues that death is just an illusion. He also stated that life creates the universe, and not the other way round. Due to space and time not existing in the linear fashion like we think it does. The famous double-split experiment is used by him to illustrate his point that if space and time aren't linear, then death can't exist in 'any real sense' either. 

Paganism: A vague, shadowy semiself or ghost survives and goes to the place of the dead, the dark, gloomy Underworld. This is the standard pagan belief. Traces of it can be found even in the Old Testament Jewish notion of 'sheol.' The "ghost" that survives is less alive and is something like a "ghost image" on a TV set: a pale copy of the lost original. 

Reincarnation: The individual soul survives and is reincarnated into another body. Reincarnation is usually connected with the other belief, pantheism, by the notion of karma, in that after the soul has fulfilled its destiny, learned its lessons and become sufficiently enlightened, it reverts to a divine status or is absorbed into the divine All. 

Immortality: The individual soul survives death, yet the body does not. This soul eventually reaches its eternal destiny of either heaven or hell. What survives is an individual, bodiless spirit. This is Platonism, which is often confused with Christianity. 

Resurrection: At death, the soul separates from the body and is reunited at the end of the world to its new, immortal, resurrected body by a divine miracle. This is the Christian view. This view is the only version of life after death in Scripture. It is dimly prophesied and hoped for in the Old Testament.

Audience Profile

Audience Profile

It is important for us to have an idea of our target audience before we create the film as the film has to be made specifically for them and their preferences. This means the entire make up (cinematography, mise en scene, sound and editing) has to be all aimed at them to make something they would enjoy watching. For example, we know younger people wouldn't like to watch a film with old British dialogue all the way through it because they wouldn't understand a lot of what is being said of relate to the film as much.

We think our film will best suit audiences within the 15-35 year old age bracket, however we still think some people above this age bracket would enjoy our film. This is because thriller films often attract a wide range of audiences due to their intensiveness and excitement it brings. We especially think our film will attract older teenagers as the characters in our film are mostly going to be in that age bracket, therefore the audience will be able to relate to the characters, which will engage them in the film more. Another reason why our film will attract a diverse audience as the theme in it, someone dying, happens to everyone, therefore a lot of people will be able to relate to the film and engage in it, while also being drawn into the thrilling moments and tense scenes.

We researched further into what kinds of people typically watch thriller films in the UK and we found that 53% of the UK population are typically interested into thrillers. 58.8% of these are over the age of 35, this means that we have almost an even split of our target audience being young and middle aged. The target audience of our film will enjoy our very tense and suspenseful short film, as it will conform to the conventions of a typical the thriller genre

Also, due to the fact our film is going to be filmed in the UK and the actors will be British, our target audience is going to be the British. This is because they will most likely relate to the film better as the stereotypical view of the UK (iconic locations and cities, such as London) will not be portrayed in the film. Therefore, if an American audience were to watch the film, they may be confused that it doesn't look like the stereotypical view of the UK.

 

Other films that our audience enjoy are the Scream franchise. These films are similar to our project as they both contain mystery and very tense sequences within them. Another similar film that our audience likes is 'When a Stranger Calls.' This film also belongs to the thriller/ horror genre like our film. These films have suspenseful scenes contained in the film, therefore making our film appropriate for our intended audience. Due to this we can conclude that our film is the type of film our audience would find interesting and engaging.

 

Also, our target audience is going to have easy access to our film due to technological convergence and the proliferation of technology. This means it will help guarantee the success of our film as they will be able to watch it anywhere. Our film will also have technology (such as phones) in the film which will also make the film more relatable for our audience.

 

 

Our film will also be more aimed at working class and middle class people rather than the higher classes as they most likely wouldn't relate to our characters as well as the most common classes. This is because our characters are going to have quite generic personalities for their role and are not going to be from an extremely wealthy background.  

 

We are going to research more into our target audience to find out their preferences and opinions on our film. We will do this by handing out questionnaires and doing a video questionnaire with our potential audience, this will allow us to specifically aim our film at them and make any changes necessary. 

Research into Thriller Genre: Sound

Sound is either diegetic or non diegetic in every film, often in thrillers they have a large usage of both.

  Non diegetic sounds are used very affectively in Thriller films, for example, in the shower scene in Psycho, there was very loud, intense non diegetic music. This helped increase the suspense and tension in the scene, creating a much more thrilling atmosphere for the audience. 

 

A good example of how effective non diegetic sound is in thriller films is in jaws. The music v non music video clearly shows that the scene is a lot more suspenseful with the non diegetic music. This non diegetic music helps to emphasise that they're running out of time and are in a very stressful, tense situation. Non diegetic music can also be used to represent emotion, for example in Jaws, it clearly represent panic between the characters. Non diegetic music can also be used to represent characters and their emotions, for example eerie music can portray a character as being quite untrustworthy and dangerous, encouraging the audience to feel suspicious of them. This is done quite often in thriller films, for example in the film Seven, this technique is used to represent the serial killer as being dangerous.

Diegetic music, such as radios or songs playing in the background, can be used to represent a particular character, like non diegetic music. For example, if a character is in a scene where happy diegetic music is being played, it conveys them as being happy. This technique is used quite often in thrillers and is often used to portray a character as being distressed or dangerous.

Diegetic sounds can also be emphasised to create a much more suspenseful and tense atmosphere. For example, footsteps can be enhanced through echoes to create a much more dramatic entrance/exist. This can be used to convey power and control within a specific character, in thrillers this is quite often the antagonist to emphasise that they are a threat to the protagonist.

Thrillers, just like most films, have diegetic dialogue. However, in thrillers this is used more effectively to emphasise the tension between characters or to convey fear in a particular character. For example, a character who is in danger may scream or ask for help in a very harrowing context.

There can also be non diegetic sound affects which are often used in fight scenes in thrillers, this is to enhance the action scenes. For example, a gun shot sound affect will be used if there is a fight scene involving guns, this usually makes the gun sound louder than it actually would be to, this can also be done if they're fighting with swords or metallic objects, as the objects hit each other, it will be made louder to emphasise the violence in the fight scene. These types of scenes are usually between the antagonist and the protagonist.

Diegetic background sounds are used to make the film appear more realistic to the audience, this helps create realism which engages the audience more in the film.

Title Sequence Analysis

I am going to analyse the title sequence for the horror thriller film, Orphan, which was released in 2009 and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. The film has psychological thriller features, as the film is about a couple, who following being devastated from the loss of their unborn baby, decide to adopt a young girl from an orphanage. However, when they take the young child home, strange things start to happen and it is found that the "child" is actually a 33 year old woman, who suffers from a rare condition, which means that she does not physically grow. This film has similar themes to ours as it features supernatural beings, and has violence in it.

The title sequence opens a fade into black, before an image slowly materialises on the screen, with what looks like floral wallpaper, which could be able to give a small hint to the the fact that the young child is actually a grown woman. During this, blood red text also pops up on the screen in a creepy manner, which could convey that the film is going to be quite jumpy, as it may have been unexpected that the text would pop up in the effect that it did. As the text popped up, there was also emphasis on the first letter jumping into the audience's faces, which is 'W'. which strangely could represent horns of the devil to convey the fact that the child is evil, which is revealed later on during the film. The first text that pops up on the screen reads "Warner. bros picture present", which allows the audience to be able to see the production company for the film. During this part of the title sequence, non diegtic music and sound effects also play. There is a combination of piano style music, along with a sound effect that appears to be the soft sound of a voice whispering, which can add to the supernatural creepy vibe of the film, and then the sound of a crow squawking can be heard quickly, before transitioning to the next part of the title sequence, which can convey to the audience that the film will involve death, as crow birds are often associated with death. 

The title sequence then transitions into the next shot, to which the non diegetic continues to play, which is orchestral style piano music, that appears to have a sinister feel to it. There is then what appears to be a shot of a tile floor, with a grey scale look to it, that conceals some of the shot. As text pops on the screen like in the previous shot, which has the letters quickly popping out in the blood red colour, there is then a blood of blood that slowly drips down the screen. The tile floor could represent the coldness that may be within the film, as there is a lot of disregard for human life, when it is revealed that that orphan has killed people before. The blood dripping down the screen also represents horror iconography, and conveys that there will be violence or death within the film, which could make the audience feel scared for what is about to happen. As the blood drips down the screen, this is done in a slow manner, which could emphasis that any possible violence or death scenes will be slow and painful. While the blood is dripping down the screen, the text also appears, which says "In association with Dark Castle entertainment", which appears to be giving more information to the audience. The blood then drips down over the text, in a sinister manner.

The scene then quickly cuts to the next scene, in which there is a loud gun like sound effect, as a blood drop splatters to the ground, in a sinister way. There is then an establishing shot, in a low angle, that appears to be showing a building, with trees in the background. The shot is seen in a grey light, which conveys that there may be emotions, such as sadness or depression within the film. The blood splatter grows across the shot, covering the building and trees, which could convey that death has taken over a once happy life. There is then more blood red text, that reads "Directed by Jaume Collet". The non diegetic music increases its intensity, which can contribute to the suspenseful feeling throughout the title sequence.

The shot then fades, and moves into blurred shot of trees in the background, and something else that appears to be more in focus that looks like a swing or another playground style object that is swinging on its own. The trees that are shown in the background also appear to have no leaves on them, which could either convey that the film is set in the winter, or more likely that nothing is alive within the film, as the grey look on the shot conveys a sense of misery. As there appears to be a swing in the scene, this could also convey a family who lost a child, as the swing is seen to be moving on its own, as though it has been abandoned. Evil is again conveyed in this shot, as there is dark red splatter of blood that moves along the shot, before fading in out. Text also appears on the shot, which says "Screen play David Leslie". During this shot, there is also more non diegetic music, that appears both sinister and angelic, which could convey both the sinister and innocent side of the main character, which is the child in the film.

In the next shot, there is then a shallow focus of a person running their finger along a document, as though they are searching for some information. The document could appear to be a birth certificate, as there appears to be a possible date of birth, that possibly reads 'April 20th 1974'. While this is very briefly shown, the shot is shown in a shallow focus, and only appears for a very short period of time, before it is blurred out. This could have been done intentionally, as though to give the audience some vital information during the title sequence, before the film has actually begun, however the audience would probably not think to consider the information given to them, and therefore this continues to add some suspense to the film. After this, there is also more blood dripping down the shot, which continues to provide a sinister attitude throughout. During this, the non diegetic orchestra music continues, to keep the suspenseful and sinister feeling to the title sequence.

The text, which reads "Director of photography Jeff Cutter" starts on the shot with the document, and then continues over to the next shot, which, ironically, is someone looking through photos, where a young girl with black hair is seen smiling at the camera. This close up shot can be used to convey the physical innocence of the character. This can also be conveyed, as the non diegetic music turns more soft to show how the character is young. However, as the person is looking at the photograph, more blood drips down the shot, which goes over the picture of the young girl, which could emphasis that the character isn't as innocent as they seem. The photo as appears to be quite old, which could provide mystery about the character, as she is meant to be a young girl in the present time of when the film is set.

 There is then a quick close up shot of a file, with a picture of a young girl on the front, which could quite possibly be the same girl featured in the photo before. The shot doesn't provide any hints as to what the document is, however, most likely it could be a hospital file or a file concerning a child's history in a care system. In the photo, the girl appears to be quite distressed, with dark circles around her eyes, and a face which doesn't show any expression, giving small hints to the character's possible mental state. However, the shot only appears on screen for around two seconds, before it moves onto the next shot, which enables there to be mystery around why the young girl has some kind of official file.

It then quickly fades into the next shot, which is of some wooden stairs in an high angle shot, possibly in the child's house, with the same blood from the other scenes that appears to roll down it, as though it is showing that some violence may be likely to happen in the house during the film, and then the blood expands to fill the majority of the shot. There is also non diegetic music, that could possibly be the sound of drums, which, as it is a shot of some stairs, could possibly convey that someone may fall down the stairs, and bleed to death. The text on this scene reads "Executive producers Steve Richard".

There is then a close up shot of a picture of an eerie looking woman in a Victorian style photo frame. Overall, there is a generally creepy look to the picture, as the woman appears unnaturally pale, with dark shadows over her eyes, given her face a sunken skull look, as her mouth also appears to be stuck out, along with her wind pipe. Her hair is also long and black, and appears to be slightly matted. This picture could emphasise that she is the biological mother of the girl seen in the previous shots, as they have the same long black hair. The photo frame is also seen to be on the same tile wall, that was also featured in a previous shot, which could connote that her character appears quite cold, as one would expect tiles to be. Blood is then seen to drip down over the character, from the top of the photo frame and over the character's head, as though she is possibly evil, or has created something evil. The non diegetic music here appears quite suspenseful, as the character is being shown on screen. There is also text next to the photo frame that says "Story by Alex Mace". 

It then quickly cuts to a medium shot of a woman, who appears to be in visible pain and screaming, in shallow focus, and seems to be on a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown, which could emphasise that she is giving birth. During the shot, the lighting is incredibly dark, which could convey a very twisted thing to come, especially if this character is giving birth to an evil character who may feature later in the film. It can also be seen that there is a small blood splatter at the side of the shot, which grows bigger as it continues onto the next shot. The next shot is then a close up of the woman's facial expressions, in which the audience can more clearly see her facial expressions, where she appears physically distressed, with her eyes closed tightly together, and her mouth in a wide scream. The text that reads "Production designer Tom Meyer", quickly pops up on the screen over the character's mouth, which could have been placed there in order to convey that she is screaming but no one can hear her. During this there is also non diegetic music, that could convey what the character is feeling, as it appears quite intense.

It then cuts to a person who is shown in a close up, who appears to be in a wheelchair and bleeding blood, which could be the same person featured in the previous shot, as a result of the pregnancy. The close up shot of the person bleeding out makes it appear as though she is isolated, as it seems that, in what you can see, there is no one around her. This shot also represents how graphic the film may be, as she appears to have a serious injury. During this shot, the music also is conveyed to be quite solemn, as she seems alone.

There is then another close up shot, which shows the same person being slowly pushed in the wheelchair through what appears to be a hospital by someone wearing scrubs and white shoes. During this, the person is still bleeding, which is dripping onto the floor as they walk. Text also pops up on the shot here, which says "Film editor Tim Alverson". This scene is quite mysterious, as the use of close up shots means that the people are not being revealed to the audience, except their feet.

It then moves to an overhead long shot of the person being pushed in the wheelchair, in which the trail of blood can be seen behind, which can emphasis the extent of the person's injuries, as it appears quite alarming to see the amount of blood that there is. However, even in this shot, little more information is given, as to why this person is being slowly pushed in a wheelchair through what appears to be a hospital ward, and as to why they are continuously bleeding. The non diegetic music here also conveys quite a creepy attitude.

The next shot cuts to something completely different, and shows an unidentified figure, dressed in dark clothing, walking down some stairs, that appear to be the same wooden stairs that are featured in an earlier shot, with blood running down them. The unidentified figure is holding a long, sharp silver knife. The text that appears on the shot simply says "Ronnie Yeskel", which could give a hint to the audience that the character featured on screen is the actor's name mentioned.

The next shot shows the girl in the pictures in a close up, where she is seen to be wiping off makeup from her face, which could hint to the audience that she has been trying to act older than she physically looks. There is then an extreme close up, which further shows the audience of the character wiping off the makeup. The use of these shots showing the character wiping off makeup could also portray her trying to cope with a disease that means she looks physically younger than she actually is, as she is seen vigorously wiping it off.

The next shot is a close up of the girl again, in a shallow focus, which shows the girl with the makeup one, which could be presumed to be what she had just wiped off her face, and she also appears to be quite distorted in the shot.

The title sequence then takes an intense turn, in which more information about the young girl is actually revealed to the audience, in a close up pull focus, in which the young girl is seen holding a knife, looking sinister, and then the pull focus goes to what appears to be another woman, possibly tied up and distressed.

Finally, there is a strange looking shot, which shows a character starring into what appears to be smashed glass, while her facial expressions appear to seem evil, as though she has just committed a crime, and is in a poor mental state. The final shot goes back to what is seen right at the beginning, which is the building, along with the trees, which could convey to the audience that this particular place is the main setting for the film, as there appears to be significance to it. There is then the non diegetic sound of glass smashing, as the title 'Orphan' appears on the screen.

Research into Thriller Genre: Cinematography