The document discusses research and experiments for an experimental film project. It summarizes research conducted on experimental films and their target audiences. Primary research through surveys found that many people watch films through illegal sites to avoid costs. Experiments with filming techniques like jump cuts, L-cuts and cutting on action are discussed, along with using different cameras, lenses, and audio equipment. Challenges like time constraints, borrowing equipment, and organization are also addressed.

1. STAGE 2
RESEARCH +
EXPERIMENTS
Leon Boyce

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

3. IMDB Reviews.
The Tree Of
Life.
Wax, Or The Discovery Of
Television Among Bees.
La
Jetée
Celine And Julie Go
Boating.
I have picked the top 4 experimental films on IMDB and looked at the user ratings to
identify my target audience.
Looking at the
demographic on
IMDB it is clear to
see that the
experimental film
Genre is very
appealing to those
over the age of 18,
to the age of 44. So
a wide target
audience.

4. Rotten Tomatoes Reviews.
La Jetée.Wax, Or The Discovery Of Television
Among Bees.
The Tree of life.Celine And Julie Go Boating.
Looking at the reviews.

5. Primary research.
From my survey I have found
that a lot of people choose to
watch films on Illegal Sites.
This tells me that people do
not want to pay the prices of
cinema or DVD. If my film
takes off then I will not charge
for cinema tickets.
Looking at this set of information
I can see that a lot of people
enjoy the story line of a movie.
But in my case I don’t have a
story line/Narrative in my movie
because it is experimental. So
this my be a problem in
popularity with my film. A lot of
people wont understand it.

6. Due to the response to my question I am inclined to
believe that no one really knows a lot about the genre of
experimental. A few of the responses are positive, but
the rest of them seem to not know what experimental is.
Although this could be solved by them doing a 20
second Google Search, I feel like this could be a
problem with the popularity of my film, many wont
understand the Genre or the idea of the film.
6 out of the 19 responses seems to be negative
or have no opinion on the Synopsis. But on the
other hand I have got a lot of positives which
pushes me even harder to complete the film.

7. Looking at the demographic on IMDB it is clear to
see that the experimental film Genre is very
appealing to those over the age of 18, to the age of
44. So it seems to me that films of an experimental
Genre will be appealing to people of these ages.
This also follows on from my primary research
which suggests that people under the age of 18 do
not have or have very little interesting in the
Experimental Genre. This tells me that my film will
be hard to get of the ground in terms of popularity.
Secondary Research.
Looking at the website Rotten Tomatoes I can see
that an experimental film has to be very special for
it to receive any good reviews. Although reviews
aren’t everything they can help sell a film. But I do
not think rotten tomatoes is a great website to trust
for film reviews. Looking at IMBD “Wax, Or The
Discovery Of Television Among Bees.” received
great reviews, even though it didn’t get reviewed
much. But on rotten tomatoes it doesn’t even have
an official rating.

8. My film will be a certificate PG, because the classification of a U film will states that the
film will not confuse a child. The BBFC claims that any film that is a U should be suitable
for audiences 4 years and over. It also says that it is impossible to predict what might
upset any particular child. So I think to be on the safe side I will classify my as a PG. PG’s
are stated that the film should not unsettle any child aged around 8 years or older so I
know that the film will not confuse any child. I know for certain that my film will not be a 12
or an 18, these age ratings are for the more explicit films. My film will not contain any
sexual content ,drug usage or violence, only buildings. So I know that it will keep to the
age rating of a PG.
U- The films contents should not confuse or upset any children over the age of 4.
PG- The film should not upset those over the age of 8 years old, PG stands for parental
guidance which means it is down to the parent to decide if the film is suitable.
12- The 12 age rating is a lot stricter. No child under the age of 12 years old is legally
allowed to see a film that is rated a 12.
15- The 15 is similar to a 12 where no one under the age of 15 can see the film.
18- 18 is the highest age rating there is. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to watch
an 18 film, violence is allowed, so I drug usage but it can not be exactly shown.

9.  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

10. I would like to use jump cuts in my short film because I feel like in
the experimental genre these are a given. The quick cutting and
flashing of an image in quick succession works well for not only
confusing the audience but also for story telling. Whilst I wont be
using any story telling in my short film, the use of a jump cut will
be incredibly effective. I will use this technique to show flashes of
previous shots in-between the current shot.

11. An L cut is an audio technique when the
audio from the shot continues into the next
one. And a J cut is when the sound from the
previous shot continues into the next one.
I will use a J cut or an L cut in my short film.
I think having the audio of a car driving past
from one shot following into the next shot
will be a good idea. But if I decide to do this
I will have to consider the wind when I’m
filming because if it is very windy the
camera will pick this up and ruin the audio I
want. I would also maybe consider using a
omnidirectional microphone to get the most
out of my audio.

12. If I were to use cutting on action, I would use it for example
when a car were to drive past. This would also tie into the
use of an L cut. The car will drive past and I will cut on the
action of the car driving past but I will also have the audio of
the car driving past still playing behind the next shot. I could
do something similar with a train. Or even a stranger walking
past.

13. EXPERIMENTS
Camera/Editing/Audio Experiments

14. During filming for our test film I didn’t really have control of the
camera, I was an actor in the film. So someone else in the group
took the role of camera man. We filmed using a Canon 700D, an
18-55mm lens and a tripod. Me and Charlie were acting in the short
film so we had little control over what was happening behind the
camera.
During the first ELS as a group we wanted to get a shot with a small
amount of movement but still enough for it to not look like a photo.
We experimented with a zoom shot but because of the zoom wasn’t
smooth we decided to not use that shot.

15. This shot was picked to show me and Charlie in conversation. We are walking away
from the camera, although when we were shooting I didn’t know that the camera man
decided to zoom. The zoom is slightly clunky and doesn't’t really work with the type of
shot I had in mind. But I only noticed this when I was working in post production.

16. We stuck to the 180 degree rule when we were shooting the conversation scene.
This is to stop any confusion between characters and to make the conversation
flow. Although I felt the scene should’ve worked I don’t feel like it did because I am
out of focus. The audio also wasn’t very clear because we decided to film down in
‘quite’ construction where it was really noisy. So the conversation is actually
drowned out to the point where it is hard to hear.

17. This scene was shot with a wide angle so you could see Jude running around
the corner into me and Charlie. Because this didn't’t really work we had to cut to
black as he ran into us. To make it work a little better we also shot a scene
where we all made up and shook hands. But it still looks incredibly clunky and
broken. Overall I feel like the filming didn’t go to plan. A lot of the shots were out
of focus, the audio was hard to hear. We are also missing a few shots we had to
create our selves. Also the film is 30 seconds shorter then it needed to be.

18. I am not big fan of the way the final video came out. This style of
shooting isn't what I'm looking for to use in my final video. It looks good
but I don’t think it works well together. Next time I will work in a different
group.

19. Editing this video I used a standard premier effect that I found in the transition section.
This looks good and works with the style that we were going for, which is a show aimed
at 16-24 year olds. This is the only editing I did on this video.

20. I like the transition from the establishing shot to the hall scene. But I
don’t think it would work with my experimental short film. But I do think it
works with this style of filming.

21. During recording the audio we ran into some trouble with the wind
interfering with the sounds. But overall it worked very well. Our task
was to dub some audio over a scene from Shaun Of The Dead. I
really enjoyed this task and felt like the audio we recorded work well
when placed over the scene from SOTD. During the editing process
I added reverb onto any sounds that were heard from the inside of
shop. This is so there is a clear change in sound when Pegg walks
into the shop. I choose some elevator music from YouTube to use for
the inside of the shop because anything else would’ve got me a
copyright strike on YouTube. I also made some audio fade in and out
when Pegg passed the things that were making sound. So when he
walked past the car with the alarm it faded as he walked further
away.

22. The audio I felt went very well. I liked recording it. And I liked dubbing
the audio over the clip. The fading in and out of audio is a good skill to
have. I will use this in my final video. My plan is to have the audio fade
in and out but also overlapping, so the sound from the previous shot will
fade into the next shot. I have no reason behind wanting to do this, I just
think the idea its self is very experimental and will give the audience
something else to think about.

23. I feel like time will definitely be a constraint on production, I will have to time my
shots well to get the perfect shots and I may even need to shoot some shots three
or four times to get the exact shot that I want. Personnel wise I do not think I will
encounter any problems. The cast in my film is very minimal, with only one person
needed. Maybe no people will be needed at all if everything works out. But in a
worst case scenario I have someone lined up to create a small amount of movement
in every frame if I need it. I will definitely not encounter any problems with cost
because my film will cost £0 to film. Also because I have no camera equipment I will
have to borrow some from college. I will need a tripod and working DSLR. But
because I am working outside of college in my own time I will need to hire the
equipment out. I would like to shoot outside of college in my own time so I have free
reign on how I can create the film and shoot it. If done in college time then I am
limited to the college campus which is less then ideal for what I need. Organisation
will be key to getting everything complete and done on time. So I will triple check all
my planning and make sure it is all done and up to date.