Question 5

The first thing used to attract our audience to our media product was our film poster, which I feel would attract our audience because of how mysterious it is. The poster will be a quite integral part of the marketing for the film, as it will help drum up curiosity around what the film could be about (because the poster doesn’t really give away too many answers). However, we aim for those who see the poster to be intrigued and want to know more about the film, not to feel confused and bombarded with too many questions, so kept the overall look of it quite simple. I did quote a review of the film by Empire magazine, which was 4 stars, and includes the quote ‘If this is puppy love, lock up your kids’. I chose to include this particular quote because it reiterates that this film is aimed at a teen/young adult audience, thanks to the ‘puppy love’ reference, and because it makes it sound as if the film would be quite controversial. Also the fact that the film received 4 out of 5 stars could make the film that much more appealing (especially when competitors may have less flattering reviews).

The main colours used in my film poster are black, white and grey as these are also staple colours on ‘thriller’ movie posters. However, we did chose to forgo using red, as to not give the idea of it being more of a horror/thriller movie, choosing to use blue instead (as the pop of colour is more eye catching than if the whole poster had been black and white, and as blue kind of reflects the depression of our main character). These colours are all quite intense and dark colours, so I felt they would reflect the intense and dark mood of the character and the overall film quite well. Also, paired with the simple image of just an eye, the colour scheme has quite a creepy yet emotional vibe, which is exactly what we aim for the audience to get from the film itself – as inspiration.

In terms of where we would actually place our film poster, we would advertise in publications that our target audience would regularly read (such as maybe Metro newspaper, Sugar magazine, NME etc.) and in locations they would be likely to pass (such as at bus stops, train stations, in shopping centres and in cinemas). For example, since the new Westfield shopping centre recently opened, and since its right near the Olympic village, which will be packed with people from all over the world this summer, and houses a Vue cinema, this could be an ideal location.

We used several techniques throughout our opening sequence to address our audience and keep them interested. The first technique used was the music. When choosing music, we kept in mind that the character (and target audience) is quite young, so we chose music that would reflect that as well as still reflectingthe mood of the film. For this reason we chose a soundtrack which was quite sombre, yet still sounded quite dubstep (cateringto the age element to still address our audience). Also, even separate from the film, it is quite a good piece of music (it was one of the things quite a few of those giving feedback said they liked), so maybe we could do an official soundtrack CD or downloadable album to coincide with the release of the film.

In terms of mise en scene, we were able to address the audience and keep their attention most through body language and facial expression. The character’s body language and facial expression become increasingly zombie-like as the film progresses, which would keep the audiences attention because it will make them more curious as to what has happened that has affected him in this way (and the point of any opening sequence is to make the audience ask questions).

In editing, one example that I think will keep the audiences interest is the part where Ashley stands still in the hallway while everyone around him is sped up so they are blurring past him. I think this will engage the audience purely because it is quite visually engaging and aesthetically pleasing. Another is our use of colour filters, as all of the scenes either have a grey or pale blue tint over them. I feel that will keep their attention because of the eerie effect it has, make them ask more questions about what will happen.

I'd say one of the best example of interesting the audience using camera is where the paper is throws at the camera, as if we chose to produce the film in 3D itd really jump out at the audience. Another I think will be the various mirror shots (close-up, long shot etc), as I think it’ll which will yet again make them ask a lot of questions about who he is and why he is staring at himself so intently for so long.