Film research

Here is a thriller that I chose to research about is 'Orphan'. Orphan is a 2009 American psychological thriller/horror film.The movie 'Orphan' comes directly from this unexamined place in popular culture. Esther’s shadowy past includes Eastern Europe; she appears normal and sweet, but quickly turns violent and cruel, especially toward her mother. These are clichés. This is the baggage with which we saddle abandoned, orphaned, or disabled children given a fresh start at family life. The six shots that I have chosen to use to represent the film I put them together by using the snipping tool and editing them to produce a picture of six shots. the first shot linked with the shot which says 'There's something wrong with Esther' is highly effective as it gets the audience thinking of what could be wrong with the character. Also the writing that they have chosen to use is effective as it clearly highlights that the film is a thriller/horror film.
 

The second film I am going to be analysing is Hairspray, the way I have chosen to analyse it is by choosing specific shots from the film a editing and putting these shots together. The first shot is an establishing shot this will have been used to show the audience where the scene/film is set to activate the audiences imagination. The second shot in my opinion is highly effective, it is an extreme close up, the reason I think they used this is to confirm to the audience where the film is set and the time period it was set as it states that it was May 3, 1962. The use of the title 'Hairspray' visually is very effective as the cloudy background has been used to represent hairspray and implies to the audience that many characters in the film use hairspray or that the film is based around 'hairspray'. The close up that is used of 'Tracy' who is the main character instantly shows the audience that she is a happy and friendly character as she is waving a smiling to one of the shop owners and shows that she is well known. 

I am going to be researching about four different films of my choice, two thrillers and two with a genre of my choice. the first film I am going to be analysing is Billy Elliot and the effect of the shots I have chosen to use.  Billy Elliot is a 2000 British drama film written by Lee Hall.
Set in north-eastern England during the 1984-5 coal miners strike, it stars Jamie Bell as 11-year-old Billy, an aspiring dancer dealing with the negative stereotype of the male ballet dance. The first picture clearly represents the time period that the film is set as it shows a character going to play a record. The second shot is effective as it shows the audience the clothing that Billy Elliot is wearing which is short shorts and a vest top, this is effective as it is the clothing that he wears for boxing and is represented to the audience in a long shot. I think the reason for this is so the audiences attention is on the whole picture and not just focused on one person or object, the wallpaper is old fashioned and therefore is not stereotypical for a young boy.

 

 

 


 

 

 





research on audiences

I conducted some research on different audiences and what people might use media for.

Mass audience: large audience, broad and wide an example of a TV programme which has a mass audience is coronation street.

Niche Audience: small but very influenced, often dedicated and loyal.

Quantitative audience:
Qualitative audience research engages with relatively small numbers of individuals in order to gain a complex, detailed and in-depth understanding of their experiences and response to watching a performance.

Quantitative audience:
quantitative research engages with larger numbers that have a statistical relationship to a population as a whole, qualitative research provides descriptions of the responses of particular audiences members to particular performances at a particular time and place.

Before conducting a film piece a lot of research has to take place for the directors to know what different audiences are interested in what type of film they enjoy watching such as genre. Different ways that researchers find out if they're film is going to be successful is by conducting unstructured questionnaires which will provide you with rich qualitative data. In addition, information often is obtained about the audience's preferred channels or formats of communication, respected or credible sources of information, and other issues that program planners may be considering.

Some reasons that people use media for is for:

• Entertainment
• Escapism
• Social interaction e.g. substituting soap operas for family life
• personal identity for example wearing or doing the same things as celebrities to look or be like them
• surveillance which is to gain information and knowledge
•  To learn, in some cases movies teach you good morals, make you feel happier or inspire you.

 There are many reasons that people use the media which is shown above, the audience that our thriller is aimed at I think will watch our film as a form of entertainment and for some people a sense of escapism depending on the interests of our audiences.

I conducted some research to find out the age classification for films and the reasons that films have certain age restrictions.

After researching audiences me and my group have decided to make our film certified 15 to ensure that we have got a wide audience for our thriller

prelimary piece

Here is the story board that me and my group produced so we was able to reflect on this to make our preliminary piece.

This is the preliminary piece that me and my group conducted.

below is my evaluation for my preliminary piece.

practice pictures

I took this photo to represent the emotion isolation, the colours used in this photo is black and white which is highly effective as dull colours represent loneliness and depression. 

With this photo it represents the emotion 'shocked'. This could be interpreted in different ways by the audience as it could also show that she is surprised or excited.



I took this photo in the morning to experiment with different lighting and angles.

I took this photo using my iPod to practice my camera skills.