Final

Here is the final version of Bleached:

Evaluation- Question 6: Use of Technology

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Evaluation- Question 5: Skills Development

Here is a rating out of 10 of the skills I have developed over the course of this project!

Codes and Conventions:

Being a lover of horror/thriller movies myself, I have picked up a lot of codes and conventions of the genre. However, I learned many things from the research and classwork that we were set. For example, I learned the credit structure- which was something that I never really noticed before having to learn about the different positions and jobs. Furthermore, the amount of research that the whole class put in to learning about the conventions of this sub-genre (quick jump cuts, playing with shadows, closeups) and analysing its audiences (YouGov) has really helped me understand the thriller genre enough to create an opening sequence. 

Planning & Organisation

Planning and organisation was something we did really well on in this project overall. From the start, Shir and I planned out what we were going to do- location surveys, storyboard, filming, buying props. We experienced a small delay as we often changed the plot- making some of the planning that we had previously done irrelevant (some location surveys were more suitable for another story). When we finally decided on a plot, everything else went really smoothly- we finished the storyboard very early on- so we were able to gather all the things we needed. Towards the filming day- almost everything was sorted (actors, set)- making us very efficient in filming.

Camera Work

Leaning about the conventions of thriller really helped us with the types of shots we would use. However, we didn't put in as much thought as we could have done on the different types of shots and instead focused on the overall picture- I think this is something that I could really improve on for the next project. I was in charge of filming, which from this project, has really helped me understand more on how to operate a camera and we got to experiment with different types of shots, seeing which looked better.

Visual Effects

We decided from the beginning not to use a lot of visual effects in our opening, so unlike some of our classmates who did spy/action (which required a lot more visual effects), we made ours look simple, elegant and authentic; focusing more on the type of fonts we used and how it would appear- and relied on our plot and camera work. This also made me notice more of the credits in movies, Shir and I went to see The Boy and really liked the style of font they used in the credit, so we went back and changed how ours was, which made it look more like a storybook- which suited our opening a lot better than the previous (modern) one. Also, I did learn a lot from doing a mini project where I worked with 2 other people to create a very short film of the thriller genre. In this project, we decided to do a mirror trick which required us to use After Effects to cut out the reflection and reverse it. 

Editing

Our edit was very simple and minimalistic and we mainly relied on the content. This made editing quite pleasant compared to some of the other groups. We did experience some problems such as the music not being long enough, forcing us to have to replay some of the parts which didn't turn out really good and sounded choppy. We also reordered the events (changed from how the storyboard was originally drawn) which was kind of a challenge as we had to make the new order make sense and use this to build up the tension.

Creative Confidence

The creative aspect of our project was very messy at the beginning. We had many ideas and parts that we wanted to incorporate into the opening, this means that we changed from plot to plot for quite a while before deciding on the one we used. The research that I put into this project has really helped me improve on organising my ideas and also made me understand more of this genre. I think we were able to do well in the creative aspect and in making our opening stand out and unique. 

Evaluation- Question 4: Distribution

How would it be distributed as a real media text?

I would say that our film is somewhere in between being a niche film and a blockbuster.
As it is a dark/noir thriller that carry various controversial topics, it may, naturally, not attract the mass audience.

Furthermore, it may not be appropriate for young children and families- therefore it wouldn't be distributed by many major distributors, Netflix, or made into DVDs, and may be more suitable for being screened at film festivals.

However, people are becoming more accepting of controversial films, and any films similar to ours have gone mass, such as The Silence of the Lambs or have been marketed to the mass media from the start, such as American Horror Story- this may attract major distributors. Being marketed towards the mass population isn't such a bad thing

• I think a release date somewhere from November to October would be suitable for our film as it is not yet too cold to go out (since our film isn't going to be distributed as DVDs or on Netflix). It also means that more people are interested in watching a horror/thriller movie as it is the Halloween season, making our film more hyped up. This also may attract film critics and horror movie lovers more.
• If our film were to be distributed by a major distributor company, I would say Lionsgate Films is the most suitable as it showcases a lot of foreign films of the horror/thriller genre. 

• However, since our film is quite niche, an independent distributor may be used, or it may be screened at a film festival such as Sundance film festival.

         

Evaluation- Question 3: Audience

a) I went on YouGov Profiler and identified my target audience using three movies (AHS, The Silence of the Lambs and Insidious) that I found similar to my opening. From 2/3 of the results, the demographic was liberal female aged around 25 years, however- with further research into movies/shows that are similar to mine, I found that the demography was more diverse (especially upper-class 40-50 year old men). The personalities of these profiles are quiet introverted and 'hipster', most dislike going out and prefer to stay home watching movies.

American Horror Story

The Silence of the Lambs

Insidious

c) My cousin, who fits my target audience offered to give her feedback on what she thought of my opening:

"I would be interested in watching this film due to the following reasons; from the beginning, the sound of the gas being turned on made me feel pretty uncomfortable due to the fact that the cooker being "left on" generally has a negative connotation - something bad is about to happen, (ex: the house burning down). This incident is also something viewers are familiar with on horror movies; the cooker is turned on to signify a "negative presence" in the house, which, in this case, is the man whose face was never revealed. The fact that his face wasn't revealed also intensifies the "ambiguity" effect of this short clip -  as if he himself is an "unknown" spiritual presence. The "music box" soundtrack also provides suspense and along with the dolls, elegant tea cups and the carousel makes the film unsettling due solely to the fact that these objects,  objects that usually portray "innocence" and "sweetness",  are being used in the wrong place and time. Of course, this builds up a very sinister atmosphere - the contrast between the girl's white lacy dress and the dark blood rolling down her cheeks. White is meant to portrayed innocence, and if she is indeed an innocent locked up for "torture", then the saying "the blood of the innocents" can be reflected off this particular scene. Overall the clip has left me very unsettled yet undoubtedly curious - the suspense is so well built and the imagery of each scene so vivid that as a viewer, I am almost able to continue the story in my head - with the music still playing, every object in the room still in the exact same place, and most importantly, although we get very little to no insight about the two characters and their backgrounds, their actions and silent expressions did a good job of revealing to the viewer the "state" of their minds and how they their next actions may play out."

Evaluation- Question 2: Representation

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Evaluation- Question 1: Conventions

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