Research

1. STAGE 2
RESEARCH +
EXPERIMENTS
Your name here

2.  You MUST conduct a questionnaire/survey/interview or a combination of all three.
Summarise this and add in any other primary research you feel is appropriate
For my research I conducted a questionnaire which I received 11
responses to.
From my research I found that most people prefer the Action/Adventure
genre, followed by Sci-Fi, and Comedy, over other genres such as
Horror or Romance.
In my results I found that 10 people would watch a film which contained
dark subject material, whereas only 1 person would not.
I also discovered from my research that most people prefer TV show
over films.

3.  Research viewing figures, sales figures, demographic and psychographic info.
Look up article, features or stories related to your potential audience
In the superhero genre this year, Wonder Woman made $412,563,408 at
box office, and Spider-Man: Homecoming made $334,198,153. This
shows that the genre is highly profitable and is hugely popular in today’s
society, which is supported by the large amount of films a year, with an
average of 6 in the genre per year.
For post apocalypse films, the box office revenue is typically not as much
as, with World War Z making $202,359,711, however, The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire made $424,668,047, being the biggest earning film of the
genre.

4.  Research viewing figures, sales figures, demographic and psychographic info.
Look up article, features or stories related to your potential audience
boxofficemojo.com. (2017). Superhero Movies. Available:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=superhero.htm. Last
accessed 28th November 2017
boxofficemojo.com. (2017). Post-Apocalypse Movies. Available:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=postapoalypse.htm. Last
accessed 28th November 2017.

5.  For this you should summarise your primary and secondary research, through this
you should then be able to produce an audience outline that you intend to target.
For this you could also produce an audience profile.
My target audience is 16 – 24. For my survey I conducted 10/11 were
either under 18 or 18 – 24.
During my research I
discovered that people of
my target audience
generally prefer the
Action/Adventure genre over
other genres.

6.  Given your idea generation and your audience research, what sort of content
would you define as the appropriate. Consider issues of taste, certification [BBFC
might be a good starting point for this], etc. Look at what you’d like to include and
what you are allowed to include.
For my short film I will be
aiming for the certificate of
12A as this gives me the
largest potential audience,
because almost anyone will
be able to watch it. There is
potential that I won’t achieve
this goal and will instead end
up making it a 15 certificate
due to the content I want to
include, specifically the
themes of suicide.

7.  Research potential production techniques you might want to use
or feel would be most appropriate – these can be related to
camera, editing, story, sound, etc
 You should look at a minimum of 3 related products in your
research.
 You should collect clips/still images/how to guides/etc that might
help you. When watching scenes from films, etc you could also
ask potential target audience what they think.
 You will need to add extra slides!
 With each technique you should assess whether you can use it or
how you might employ or why you may want to disregard it
completely

8.  This show is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a nuclear war has
wiped out most of America, and the country is in anarchy.
 In this the colouring used is mostly orange and teal, which is a
common colouring technique in TV and film as they are opposites on
the colour wheel and therefore look good visually.
 In the explosion sequence in the pilot episode of the show the
creators used an orange coloured sky in order to add emphasis on
the nuke, and chose to have multiple shots of people looking at the
mushroom cloud, before panning up over a house to reveal the cloud
in the distance. This is impactful because the audience will recognise
this as the signs of a nuclear explosion and therefore will be an
impactful moment.
Jericho

9.  In this show, the colouring used is often green or brown, with
other colours being removed slightly in order to give a sense of
loss to the audience, the loss being that of society, and by
emphasising natural colours makes the shot feel dirty, as if nature
is taking back the world.
 Lots of close-up shots are used throughout the show in order to
create tension in scenes which feature the ‘walkers’ or a scene
which has any kind of danger. This technique will be useful in my
film as it will help quickly build tension.
 The show also uses handheld shots during action sequences
which give a sense of motion and movement to the scene,
helping the audience to feel more immersed.
The Walking Dead

10. The 100
 In the 100 the word they live in is shown entirely with earthy
colours, using greens, browns, and blacks in order to
demonstrate nature taking back the planet, which appears to be a
popular theme in apocalypse shows and movies as this is true to
how events would actually play out.

11. EXPERIMENTS
Camera/Editing/Audio Experiments
Be prepared to add extra slides

12.  For the filming process we used close-up shots when Kieran was
running in order to help build the suspense for the audience. This is a
technique I will use for my project, because as well as building
suspense, it also creates contrast to just using mid shots, which
makes it more interesting to watch.
 Another technique we tried was using camera angles to overplay how
big/small people were to create a contrast. This didn’t work too well
and I will probably not use this technique as dramatically in my final
product.
 During filming, we also used a follow shot from behind when we were
walking up the stairs. This is a technique which I might use in my short
film as it is a useful way of showing movement because it helps the
audience feel like they’re walking along with the characters.
 We filmed mostly handheld shots for our experiment which gave the
film a sense of motion when there was action taking place.

13.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your
final product?
 In my final product, I will use low down, close-up shots in order to build
suspense for my audience and to keep the shots different so it is more
entertaining and looks more professional.
 I might use a follow shot from behind of my character for my final
product as it helps the audience feel as if they’re moving with the
character.
 I will use some handheld shots in my final piece as it will help me to
create the intense feeling I want to get from my film, and will help give
the film a sense of motion.

14.  In my experiment I used quick editing in order to gain a sense of
momentum when Kieran was running through the corridor. This
was in contrast to the slower cut of myself and Ben walking up
calmly up the stairs which shows a complete difference in tone to
the audience and helps keep the piece exciting and different. As
well as the shot speeds, I also changed between close-up shots
for Kieran running, and mid shots for Ben and I, which again
created a contrast between the two settings, which helped for the
build-up when we eventually collided.
 I used music in my experiment in order to further emphasise the
contrast between the quick and slow, by using the music in the
faster, running sequence, and keeping it silent during the
walking, but also in order to create comedy later on when the
showdown occurs, as the music stops when we turn to Joe who
isn’t meant to be there and continues again afterwards.

15.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your
final product?
 In my final product I will edit the shots to feel slower by using
longer shots in order to demonstrate the dark, gloomy, post-
apocalyptic world my character is living in.
 I will edit in music in my piece, making it my main source of audio,
with only a couple of other sounds which will create emotion,
making the audience empathise with my character and feel sad
for him.

16.  In the Shaun of the Dead
experiment we created audio using
ADR and edited it into a clip of the
film in order to recreate the scene
as accurately as possible.
 I am going to use ADR techniques
in my film in order to make it feel
more cinematic. I will mostly use
this over live audio with the footage
as the piece is only 1 minute long
and there is zero dialogue,
therefore using ADR makes more
sense as there is less likely to be
as much background noise.

17.  What elements of your experiments will you include in your final
product?
 For my final product I will use mostly, if not entirely ADR audio
throughout my piece, rather than live, on set audio, because there
will be zero dialogue in my piece, and ADR allows me to get the
specific sound I want, and reduce background noise, giving my
piece a more professional feel.

18.  List all the potential constraints that might affect or limit your production,
you should consider issues from each of these categories:
 Time/Personnel/Cost/Technical/Location/Organisational
 An issue I may have with my film is location and budget as I will have to dress up
a location in order to make it look like it is part of a post-apocalyptic world which
could be difficult on a small budget. I aim to overcome this by limiting my film to
one room and by dressing it with a simplistic design, using mostly props to create
the post-apocalyptic setting, rather than set design.