How did you attract your audience?

When attracting the audience we wanted to use eye catching effects such as the credits and we wanted to include shots that we would attract our audience also. We designed our credits firstly on Adobe After Effects and used an effect to make the words move which fitted in with the genre of our film. Although we encountered a problem because we could not import the credits into Final Express so we had to design them again on Final Express which meant we could not put moving effects on them but we used what we had and made them look good.

    < First                               Final >

Our plot was also key in attracting our audience as we aimed it at teenagers as it was about a teenage relationship and problems involved in them. Our title Behind Closed Doors gives the audience enigmatic feel as we want to watch to know what is behind the doors. Images used in the film including shots were also aimed at our audience because we wanted to make sure our target audience enjoyed the film, we used my bedroom which is a typically 'girly' room and again the plot and teenage relationshop would appeal to a teenage audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The software we used throughout editing was Final Cut Express and Adobe After Effects on the MAC computers. I had never used a MAC computer or any of the software so it was a new experience with me. Firstly before we started editing we had some technical problems with the software which eventually got fixed and we received a basic editing class for Final Express. I then went onto the internet and looked at tutorials on how to do certain things on the software. For our preliminary task we used flip cams to film which were limited in sound but suited the project well as they werent heavy to carry around. We also worked on Adobe After Effects for things such as the credits. The problem I personally encountered with Adobe After Effects was that I designed credits for our film opening but when trying to import them to Final Cut it would not work, this posed the problem of designing credits elsewhere so I designed them on Final Cut instead but they didn't have the same effects on Final Cut which meant I had to work with what effects they did have to design suitable credits.
The overall problem I personally had with the software was simply getting the hang of it and using it properly. I struggled throughout the project as I didn't know how to use it and I didn't understand the way it worked. Editing is one of my main targets to improve on for next year and I will do this by looking at tutorials and asking for help from people who know how to use the software.

Who would be the audience for your product?

After doing our initial market research being our questionnaire we found out our target audience were teenagers aged between 15-18 which helped us with deciding what the genre of the film should be. We also found that most people enjoyed watching horror/thriller and drama's which our film ended up being a hybrid in, we originally planned it as a thriller but we found it having conventions of a drama which worked well alongside the typical thriller codes and conventions. We also found out through the question our target audience liked the openings to build suspense. We did this as when our opening ends the audience are left slightly confused and wondering what is going to happen next. The storyline of our film is about a scorned ex-girlfriend which immediately may appeal to teenage girls who have been through a complicated break up and they could go to the cinema for personal identity. Although this could pose the problem of the film only appealing to females but by adding the thriller twist to the film this could encourage and appeal to males who may have also been in a break up or want to see a thriller film with a dramatic twist to it. When we received our audience feedback, it was shown that appealed to both males and females as the males in the class were also interested into what was going to happen next and enjoyed the thriller twist to it.

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

Our film being a hybrid of drama and thriller means it is more appealing to different media institutions as it won't just be aimed at one type of audience. When doing our market research we focused on two films Obsessed and Prom Night which were both similar to the genre and story of our film. Prom Night was produced by Alliance Films which is a Canadian production company who have produced films such as 17 again and Piranha 3D which are both totally different genre of film but I think they our film would appeal to this institution because they produced Prom Night which relates to our film and they grossed a profit of $57,197,876 worldwide which shows they had success with the genre of the film. They have also produced a film called Pandorum which although is about space and aliens it is a thriller which shows they produce a lot of thrillers and dramas (17 Again) and I think our film would be suitable for the types of films they are producing. The other film we looked at, Obsessed was produced by Screen Gems which is an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures. It has produced films such as When a stranger calls and Vacancy which are both thrillers although are storyline's are very different they all follow the typical codes and conventions of a thriller film and I think our film would appeal to this institution. I personally think the certification of our film would be 15 because it is a thriller and some of the scenes may not be suitable for children. 

How does your product represent particular social groups?

In our product, the social group represented is teenagers. Throughout the film we see how a teenage relationship can take a turn for the worst, and the problems faced in a relationship especially when you are a teenager. It also gives the audience an insight into a teenagers mind and how people deal with break ups in relationships. To gather information target audience information we did a questionnaire and gathered results. By doing this we gathered the information on what our target audience wanted in a film and what they enjoyed when watching films. The mise-en-scene of the film mainly my room where we filmed represents a typical teenage girl with a lot of the colour pink representing teenage girls and appealing to this audience. The genre of the product will also appeal to our target audience as the film is about a teenage break up which many teenagers would of experience and could perhaps relate to this. The representation of a teenage girl in our opening shows how going through a break up feels and the emotions that come with it, although this could perhaps pose the problem with our film only appealing to girls. We overcame this by adding the thriller twist as this is more likely to attract a male audience.
   

Evaulation- In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?

Our product follows typical conventions of a thriller film yet when filming and scripting we as a group realised it followed a hybrid genre of Drama-thriller which isn't what we intended to create originally but we followed it through and worked with this problem and solved it. It follows these conventions because during our market research we studied film openings of Obsessed and Prom Night which are both thrillers, and we took the conventions they used. The conventions of a drama that our film follows is a strong storyline throughout with a climax and problems faced by the main character and a dramatic storyline which engages viewers and follows the story of a character. The conventions of a thriller that our film follows are tense music creating an enigmatic atmosphere for audiences, our opening incorporated dark lighting which is usually seen in and throughout a thriller and lastly a twist to the storyline which is dark and takes a turn for the worst where it climaxes. Our film follows the film Obsessed quite closely in terms of storyline as ours follows a scorned ex girlfriend out for revenge whilst in Obsessed it showcases problems in the work place, but both follow a scorned woman who is infactuated with a male. We studied Obsessed closely because we all liked the storyline and was interested by the climax and events that followed during the film. Although we did not follow all the conventions as I explained earlier we originally intended to create a thriller but crossed into a hybrid, we overcame this by studying both dramas and thrillers which Obsessed followed also.

First Draft- Unfinished Film Opening

This is our unfinished draft of our film. We needed to gather ideas for what our target audience would like to see in the ending. Our film was screened during one of our lessons which the rest of the class sat and watched, then at the end we asked what they liked, disliked and what could be improved and as we had not finished the ending it was a good experience for us as we got feedback from our target audience on what we should improve. 

Location

These are images of my room where the whole opening title sequence was shot.

Company Logo

This is our company logo, BALD PRODUCTIONS. When Daniel was working with us, me and him both designed this on Adobe Illustrator. We used the outlines of the three girls and one boy to represent ourselves and BALD stands for Bethenay, Anika, Licia and Daniel. We thought this would be different because it isn't a typical name you would relate to a film company but it represented us all well. 
As we were making a thriller we decided to make the background reflect our genre so we used an effect which looks like a blood splatter which reflects some of the codes and conventions of a thriller film. 

Script for Behind Closed Doors

Storyboard for Behind Closed Doors

Organisation of Actors and Location

George Tasker:
-Co-starring                                                                                   Problem we faced
-Playing ex boyfriend of main character      <--- Originally Daniel was in our group and was supposed to
                                                                            play the ex-boyfriend but he left which posed our first
                                                                            problem of finding a new actor.

Location:
When we first brainstormed ideas for location we wanted to film outside and in central London, when it came to filming we changed this as due to restrictions and limitations on the cameras we had to film during school hours and going to London was not possible and would of taken too much time and also there would of been too many distractions and problems. We then decided it would be a better idea to film in my house, specifically my bedroom where the whole of the opening was filmed. This was more accessible as my house is not far from school and it was a quiet environment so we encountered no problems.
My room fitted well with the story line of our film as it represented a typical teenage girls room.

Actress - Bethenay Longley 

We filmed at my house we and decided I should be the main protaganist. It was easy meas there was nothing I was unfamiliar with, (with regards to setting) so I was able to be herself and act the best that I could. Also, I willingly offered.

Camera - Anika Rahman (Me)

Anika liked working with the cameras, but the cameras we were working with were a lot different from flip cams but she took to it well and gained a good knowledge of using the bigger camera.



Editor - Licia Johnson

Licia was able to adapt and get used to using the Mac before all of us, therefore we decided it would be best if she became our film editor.

Preliminary Task

This is our continuity sequence which we filmed in school on a flip camera. We had to include three shots which were 180 degree shot, match on action and shot reverse shot. It had to be no more than 2 minutes long and we had to edit it afterwards. This gave us experience with using the final cut express software which was quite hard to use and I personally struggled with using it, this was a problem I encountered but to the best of my ability tried to overcome this. The continuity sequence prepared us for our opening title sequence

  <-- This was the storyboard for our continuity sequence.