For our target audience research task we decided to make an 8 question survey to gather some responses on people's favourite genre of film, type of music, director/s, actor/s and most importantly what they liked or disliked about particular films of our chosen genre and what they liked most about a recent or favourite film. We will be using these results in the next few weeks and the duration of constructing our opening sequence to to achieve a high quality and captivating opening sequence that will entertain and relate to our target audience. Demographic Profiling - My opening sequence will be mainly aimed at males in generation Z and Y. Also for people who may live in a rough or deprived area where crime is also high as the plot line will be relatable to them and inspirational. As the characters have come from unemployment the target social groups will be group D and E. Psychographic Profiling - We will aim at the strugglers and succeeders as our movie shows characters who's one goal is to succeed for rewards and fame but have come from being criminals and 'losers'. These were the results we received:
Knowing their age and gender will help us find out each of their different interests so we can match our opening sequence accordingly.
The films we listed were all under the Action-Drama genre which is the same genre as our opening sequences. The reason for this is so we can see what captivates audiences in these genres so we can try and replicate some of these things in our film opening.
As we have previously done research on different film directors, we asked people which director they preferred. Now we will be able to look at the results of our favoured director - Steven Spielberg, and how they achieve what they do, for example, their style and camera movements.
Our opening sequence is based upon a music group so we must play music that our audience can relate to. To do this we what genres our audience listened to and preferred the most and this turned out to be Grime, which is what our opening sequence contains.
You can also see our results viewed in a spreadsheet by copying and pasting this link into your browsers search:
Pain & Gain is a 2013 American biographical crime comedy-drama film produced by Paramount Pictures in 2013. Directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg as Daniel Lugo, Dwayne Johnson as Paul Doyle, and Anthony Mackie as Adrian Doorbaal. The film is based on a true story Pete Collins published in a 1999 series of Miami New Times articles, which shows the kidnapping, extortion, torture, and murder of several victims by a robbery gone wrong, by an organised group of bodybuilder criminals associated with the Sun Gym. The film's title is a play on the commonly used motivational phrase, frequently used in fitness: "No pain, no gain". The genre would be Action/Drama with some comedy elements to it and based on crime. And the target audience would include Crime Action lovers due to the tense but fast paced as well as people interested in how this story evolves as it is based on a true story.
Firstly we see an establishing shot of Wahlberg doing sit ups halfway up the wall on the roof of the notorious 'Sun Gym'.
This is a close up shot of Wahlberg doing his sit ups, the effect of using a close up of his face at this part is to add reality as you see him straining showing that the routine he's doing is hard and painful. This part could be seen as inspirational as his life was all about getting bigger and stronger so it's showing how hard you have to work to be like him.
This shot is a POV (Point of View) shot of Wahlberg turning his head around from being upside down as he has spotted the police cars and vans pulling up to the side of him. The shot and the turning of the camera is done very realistically.
At this point Wahlberg notices the mess he is in as all these police and SWAT teams are coming for him. This headshot perfectly shows how he is feeling at this point showing his shocked and helpless expression and that he needs to think of something quick to survive.
This shot is a handheld camera shot so it is quite jerky as it shows Wahlberg running erratically away from the police so the camera is mirroring this to show panic.
This is a wide shot that shows the first bit of key detail which is that it's set at in 'JUNE 17, 1995' and shows the police SWAT team jumping out of their truck with their guns and weapons. They are all wearing green/black uniforms almost looking like an army outfit, they are padded and are visibly strong men to show they have power over Wahlberg.
This shot is really zoomed out from the target (Wahlberg) as he jumps from the roof in order to try and escape the police, this is to show the height at which he is jumping from as in the shot his body looks small showing how far away the camera has to be to catch this.
This is another close up of Wahlberg's face showing his anger and panic. He knows that he will probably not come out of this situation well as he is blocked off in all corners but this face is showing that he will not go down without a fight.
This is the last shot of the opening sequence showing Wahlberg running from the police but getting hit by a police car. This part is shown in slow motion therefore we are able to see all his expressions very clear. And this slow motion is a completely opposite of the camera movement from the rest of the opening sequence which was very fast paced and jerky.
This opening sequence would be classed as Non-Linear as although we kind of understand what is happening as we can see someone clearly running from the police, however we do not know any details of who this is or what he has done as this is actually a scene from the end of film as after it shows Wahlberg in the gym therefore it leaves the audience confused and wondering why he is running from the police, and leaves the rest of the film to unravel this.
Transformers 4: Age of Extinction is a 2014 American 3D science fiction action film, produced by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth installment of the live-action Transformers film series. It was directed by Michael Bay and written by Ehren Kruger, with Steven Spielberg and Bay as executive producers. It stars Mark Wahlberg, with Peter Cullen reprising his role as the voice of the famous Optimus Prime, as the lead roles. The film was released on June 27, 2014, in IMAX and 3D and achieved a box office of $1.104 Billion.
The opening sequence starts by zooming out to reveal the vast amounts of space craft and the edge of Earth. The camera moves in one slow, steady motion, revealing each detail bit by bit. There is a quiet piece of background music being played which signifies that something bad is about to happen. The fact it is in space and showing all the spaceships as well as the black and blue colours shows us that this is a sci-fi film.
Now we see the 'Transformers' title appear also in a futuristic, sci-fi like font. The camera is now completely zoomed out and we see the full range of spaceships, this shows the progression they have made. As an audience we don't know yet where these spaceships have come from or where they are going. Although we can suggest that as the only bright light we can see is a glimmer of the sun that the spaceships may be moving towards this light.
The scene then changes to a shot underneath a waterfall which slowly pans downwards. The lighting changes from low key to high key as it is bright and only natural is used which could suggest something positive. However, this is a low angle shot looking upwards at two huge. scary looking spaceships. The way this is shown is that these spaceships clearly have the most power currently as we can hear the roar of their engines over the sound of the waterfall. The audience could now have the idea that perhaps an attack is happening.
As the camera moves down to ground level we see a dinosaur looking creature fighting off some smaller creatures for food. They scuffle around for only a short amount of time before the larger dinosaur shows its domination being the only subject visible. Until the camera cuts and changes to the other side of the animal and zooms into its face. The creature shows almost a shocked and scared facial expression as it looks up into the sky. The use of a close up shows clearly this animals expression but also shows that this creature may be the dominant figure on the ground, but whatever is currently up in the sky even worries it, which shows the force these space ships may be bringing.
The scene then cuts to an alien arm and hand with six claw like fingers and a hole in its hand moving across a blue aura. This is only happens for a few seconds which leaves the audience confused and intrigued. At the end the hand seems to press something or attract something from this blue liquid. The fact the camera is only focused on this hand shows it could be of some sort of power and possibly starting an attack. The colours of black and a swirly blue continues to fit the conventions of a sci-fi film as well as the alien arm. We can hear both a background piece of music which is very slow and at a low pitch suggesting this is something bad or evil and we can also hear the crackling of the alien hand moving around this blue water.
We then move to a shot where we see a long dried up sort of river or valley with lots of these dinosaur creatures running away from the spacecraft's in the sky. We see one dinosaur quite high up at the same height of these spaceships to show the size difference between the two. Also we now see that there are many more spaceships than the original two we saw. This time the camera angle is high and looking down on the animals again showing the dominance the spacecraft's have.
The next part shows a carpet of lava that was shot down by the spaceships which is swarming the whole ditch and chasing after the animals. This shot shows the animals running for their life with the spacecraft's in the background again showing their dominance.
Here we see the lava eventually catching up with the animals and engulfing into flames. As the audience we feel sorry for the animals but also we are on the edge of our seat as its an intense scene and we want to know why this has happened and what will happen next.
These last two picture show firstly the force, power and speed this lava is travelling at as it bounces of the rocks and fills the canyon. The final picture which is the end of the opening sequence shows the complete canyon filled with this red hot lava with the ever-present dominant force of the spaceships looming over the shot. There is a contrast between these dark coloured spaceships and a gloomy sky to a bright red and orange lava on the ground. As the scene ends with this we as the audience continue to wonder what role did the alien creature play in this violent attack and why. And what will happen next...
This would be an example of a linear opening sequence as even though you don't yet know the who, what or why this is happening it is a clear storyline. Some of the binary opposites shown are Good vs Evil, Force vs Nature, Alien vs Animal. Overall this opening sequence does fit the target audience as it has all the action of a typical 'Transformers' film plus the added mysterious sci-fi edge to it.
1.What have you found out from doing this activity?
I have found out how detailed some title sequences are and the order in which most names and roles come up for example: Daniel Craig who's the main actor is one of the first names to a Location Production Manager who is one of the last.
2. Has anything surprised you?
The thing that surprised me was how many names and roles there were involved in this film and this was inly a few of them, and the amount of detail the roles went into.
3. What do you notice about the style/font of the titles? How does this communicate the genre?
The font used in Skyfall made it look smart and upper class which showed how important the font can be in changing the mood of the opening sequence.
4. What are the titles that you will need to include in your opening sequence?
All actors and the characters they played, Producer, Director, Editor, Camera Operator, Props/Costumes
In class we discussed the main parts of our Opening Sequence Treatment Plan with the rest of our class. The class were asked to write something positive, a question and something to improve on.
Positive feedback we got was that our plot was well thought, detailed and all the topics were covered, and that crucially our idea was interesting and intriguing. One particular positive comment was the acknowledgement of our title 'This Life Ain't Fair' which the person thought was well thought out and fitted the themes and genre of our film.
The majority of our questions were based on how will we get hold of a studio which a main part of our opening sequence will be filmed. The answer to these questions is that Oscar his own studio which we are able to use. Another question was how we will get our moving shots to be smooth. The answer to this is that we will record this shots a number of times so we are able to choose the best option and as we are filming to try and find ways to make the movement of the camera as smooth as possible.
Some points in which we could improve on were making sure we really make the storyline and characters clear even though our opening sequence will be Non-Linear. And to make we have asked permission from record labels and owners for any pieces of music we want to use.
Overall the class feedback was important and will help us improve our opening sequence not only from our specific feedback but also from listening to other group's ideas.
Our film is an Action-Drama genre with an underlying theme of crime and music and it is about a group of upcoming music artists who at their recording studio get disturbed by a group of men in balaclavas. At the end of the opening sequence there will be a gunshot sound followed by a black screen and a title showing a flashback of '1 year earlier'. Due to this our film will be Non-Linear as it cuts from the present to the past. Our target audience is 15-22 year old males and will apply to 'The Succeeders', 'The Aspirers' and 'The Strugglers' due to Psychographic Profiling. In our first few shots of the group in the recording studio as the mood as good and high we will make the colours bright to add to this mood. However when the mood changes to the group robbing a corner shop in need of money, the colours will be blander and darker to show this to the audience.
Overview:
A more detailed description of what will happen in our opening sequence is that it will start with the title 'This Life Ain't Fair' then the shot will fade in and move through the door into the studio, to then pan around the whole studio showing an actor in the booth rapping, a producer and some friends chilling on the sofa. The person in the recording studio has just finished a song, an exchange of dialogue occurs with the producer who praises the rapper. Following this the friend on the sofa makes a joke with the rapper about the song, this joke continues between all of the characters and the mood is high until they are disturbed. Suddenly the groups discussion is interrupted by the loud noises of a motorbike. To which there is a close up camera shot tracking the motorbike down a road. A wide shot shows a gang all with balaclavas on running to the front door and banging on it. The friend who was on the sofa gets up and opens the door only to receive a hit to the face with a gun. As the rest of the music artists are standing behind their friend the producer says the line 'This ain't fair, what did we do?'. The man in the balaclava simply replies with 'This Life Ain't Fair', which is the title of the film. The shot then goes black with a loud gunshot noise. Then the titles '1 year earlier' appear and an establishing shot of the same group - the rapper, producer and friend is shown. They proceed to plan and rob a corner shop. The producers voice is talking over this scene about what's happening and why and his feelings at this time. With a soft piano song playing in the background. Other music and sounds we will be using are some low tense music and party music.
Synopsis (of the whole film):
A brief plot of what will happen after the opening sequence is that it will continue on from the past until it reaches the Disruption part of our Narrative Structure and Todorov's suggested structure that most films follow - which is what was shown in our opening scene up until the gunshot. However this time it will be resolved. So, from the beginning another friend of the group gets killed during one of the robberies. This angers the group but inspires them to change their ways and try and make it in the music business. It takes them a while of lots of hardworking and making a lot of music but eventually they get signed and start making money from the music business. So they have reached their goal and dedicate it to their friend who passed away. This is then the part of the film where the opening sequence happens again. As at the end of the scene a man in the balaclava is pointing his gun at the music groups friend who's on the floor; most people watching would have come to the conclusion that the friend would have been killed by the man in balaclava. However what actually happens is that another member of the gang all in balaclavas shoots and kills the leader which will shock the audience as it will not be what they're expecting.
Some details of Mise en Scene, themes and equipment:
Overall we will have 7 characters in our opening sequence which will include 4 of the 7 of Vladamir Propp's character types: a hero (the protagonist being the rapper), the villain (the antagonist being the leader of the men in balaclavas), the princess (which would be the music groups wealth and fame that the men in balaclavas are jealous of) and a helper (who turns out to be a member in the team of villains who kills the leader and helps out the rapper). Some of the binary opposites present in our opening are Past vs Future, Good vs Evil and Gang vs Gang. The locations we will be using are Oscar's recording studio and some streets around Raynes Park, we hope that these locations and are opening sequence as a whole will show people a different side of London. Our themes which we think will relate to our target audience are the idea of a normal group making it in the music industry and making money, themes of gangs, crime and violence. In regards with equipment we need to use, all costumes will be supplied by the actors themselves, we will have to rent out a lighting kit from school so our shots look professional, and both myself and Oscar have our own DSLR's which are able for use.
Risks:
Some possible minor risks that my group could expect are trips from loose wires and burns from hot lighting equipment, however we will take the correct precautions necessary to ensure this doesn't happen, such as taping down any loose wires and wearing gloves when handling lighting equipment. In our opening sequence we will also be shooting tracking shots where as we don't have professional equipment it will be hard to get a smooth shot, although we will make sure we shoot this a number of times so can then choose the best ones.
