AS Coursework Reflection- Research and Planning

AS Reflection Page- Research and Planning

Research and planning was one of the longest phase we had throughout the whole process. This was where we had to analyse many opening of films made by various film institutions which would give us an insight of what we could use within ours. Without this phase we would not have been able to complete or even start to produce an opening two minutes, as this phase would determine what was going to be involved and how we were going to do it.

What real media and audiences did you look at?

Once we finalized the genre we were going to use, we needed to decide what certificate the film would be, as it would help determine what audience we would be targeting. We would either have picked a certificate 15 or 18 as these are what horror films are usually targeted at, as certificate 12 is usually only contains mild horror, which wasn’t ideal for what we were going to include. We decided our film was going to be targeted at 15 year olds and above, (so certificate 15), as it would provide us with a larger target audience, meaning an increase in popularity. This therefore meant we could make our film as scary as possible, but not as gruesome as a certificate 18 film. We then researched what this age group would expect to see, for example, they like there to have scary elements, featured within the film, which we needed to ensure we had present. We also looked at official film websites to see what they did during the marketing campaign, such as, watching the official trailers. Furthermore we looked at previous horror film opening’s on YouTube, so we could see the reactions and comments of our target audience, so we could take their dislikes and likes into account for our opening film.

How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

We always had to remember what audience we were targeting, in regards of what contents we could and couldn’t include, within our opening two minutes. As it was target for 15 year olds and above, it meant that we couldn’t have too much gore or blood during our production, as it would not be appropriate for our audience. However, we did include a little gore, such as, the blood on the protagonist’s hand, which follows the conventions of a horror, but also creates an enigma. The target audience research also helped us to avoid shots the audience did not like, which would hopefully make our opening two minutes more popular. The real media research allowed us to see what previous international horror films had done, as it would show us what shots they used and how effective each of them were. This again means we know what the audience does not like and what they do like.

How did you record all that research?

The real media research was recorded on the software called ‘Blogger’. This allowed us to see all the research we had done, so we can reflect and look back on what we achieved and what we needed to do for our opening horror. However, to find out what our target audience liked and expected in a horror opening two minutes, we sent out questionnaires’ to the public to fill in. This meant we could collect the data and form graphs to show the comparison between categories. Therefore, it was easier to see what we required for our film. Using graphs and data allowed us to present our research nicely and clearly, so it was crystal clear on what our target audience preferred. We then uploaded our research onto our blogs, to add to our development of our production.

What primary research was undertaken?

The primary research we recorded was analysing opening two minutes of films; from rom-coms’ to action. This allowed us to see what genre we wanted to do and saw what each genre consisted of. This analysis gave us an initial idea of what shots were used and the effects of each of them, within the opening minutes. This then led us to generating ideas of the storyline and plot of the story, as this would then lead us onto the second research, which is where we went into fine detail. Deciding what the plot would involve, caused us a struggle as we came up with numerous ideas. However, as I have said, we made questionnaires, which helped us choose which idea to champion for.

 What secondary research was undertaken?

After choosing which genre we wanted to do, had to begin to dig deeper, in finer detail. This is where we started to analyse costumes from antagonists in horrors released by industries, which generated a design for what our antagonist would look like. We also looked into what the protagonist characters wore, when they were safe and when they were covered in blood. After analysing film openings and producing designs for our antagonists and protagonists costumes, we began to commence secondary research. This is where we had to find the location, or in our case, two locations, which was very important as it would affect the entire atmosphere of the film. This lead to us researching make up tutorials, in which I experimented on making cuts and bruises-very effective.

How did it inform the production?

This research became the basis and foundation of what our opening two minutes was going to be like. This allowed us to see the development from our initial ideas to our final production. Furthermore, the research told us what we could include, regarding the age certificate, what would be effective to use for clothing for each character, as different colours and object connotes different meanings etc.

How effectively were the storyboards/ shot lists / scripts followed?

The storyboards we created were hand drawn and was put into an animated format, which meant we could keep the story on repeat, meaning we could easily flick through what shot we needed to use and what the shots were meant to look like. The storyboard allowed us to see what our opening two minutes was going to look like and was basically the instructions on what to film. These also had information written below the picture, which gave information, on the duration of the shot, what shot will be used, the sounds within the film and even if there was dialogue present in the shot. This made it easy on what we had to do as it gave a step by step method; but how effectively did we follow it. Well, we did use the storyboard very accurately, apart from a few shots as these disrupted the continuity of the film. This meant we had to discard them and use different shot types, which would make the opening two minutes fluent and continuous.

The shot lists we produced told has how to do the shots and what shots gave what effect, for example close up shots meant that whatever the camera is focusing on, had some sort of significance or was used to increase tension. This meant we could refer back to this list if we needed to reassure the effects of each shot. During the filming process, we did substitute a few shots into the opening two minutes, such as the low angled shot under the water, as it was a much more effective shot than others.

We also made a script for our opening two minutes, which mainly consisted of description rather than dialogue. This was because we wanted to build continuous suspense until the horrifying cliff-hanger at the end. However the description within the script allowed us to direct our actor on where to be, her posture, body language and expressions, which made it easier for us to direct. We followed the script reasonably well, as it aided us with filming; however we didn’t need it as much as the storyboard and shot lists, as these gave us more information during the filming phase.