Evaluation Q5

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract and address our audience we uploaded our opening film sequence onto youtube which we then used as a means of attracting our audience. Youtube uses tags which link similar films together. For example when you play our opening sequence in youtube, below the video there are tags as shown in the print screen below which link similar film openings, this attracts the audiences we are targeting because it means they can watch more film opening sequences.  

One of the tags is linked to opening title sequence which provides audiences with more opening sequences. When I clicked tag it took me to a page that showed more opening credits linked to the same genre as our film. This allows the audience to view a wide range of opening film sequences to with horror/thriller. This is a good way of how we are using youtube to attract our audiences.

To attract the attention of the audience we have used an engaging “Halloween Horror” sound track which creates suspense. Similarly the opening credits of ‘Se7en’ and ‘Panic Room’ also use dramatic engaging sound that gets the audience thinking and creates suspense, this shows how thriller/horror films use sound to inform their audience about the film genre and draws their attention to what is coming next. My opening sequence displays the opening credits in various positions similary 'Panic Room' displays its opening credits through various angles. This refers to the genre conventions of thriller because thriller movies use quick obscure shots that build tension and show discontinuity between the shots similary the showing the opening credits in different posiyions and angles reflects this convention as showing thiller as unpredictable.

We have used a range of shots which create suspense of what is going to happen next. For example there is a pan shot used which makes the audience feel that someone is approaching Megi, this will draw the audiences attention. The camera zooms into her f ace, neck and arm showing bruises and blood. This gets the audience thinking about what might have happened to her and who did it. To add extra emphasis to the whole situation we have used dramatic non-diagetic sound in the background which creates suspense and thriller. For the victim we chose an innocent school girl this draws the audience’s attention as they will feel sorry for her and will want to know what happens next.

There are a few parts in the music video which show flashbacks about what Megi was doing earlier that day. This draws in the audience as the flashbacks may show what Megi is thinking about or it may imply that the kidnapper was following her. When Ally walks towards Megi the audience want to see who the he is, however the camera focuses on him his feet walking towards her and this creates tension amongst the audience as they want to know what’s going to happen next. Also when Ally is standing in front of Megi he says: "So where were we" this implies to the audience that he is going to carry on abusing her. The screen then goes black and a gunshot sound is used which makes the audience feel that she is dead.

In my view the unique selling point of our opening sequence is the gunshot near at the end of the sequence because although it implies that Kucy got shot the audience are not sue what happened to her. think attracts the audeince because they will want to carry on watching the film to see what happens to the girls, who abused her? and why? Also I think that the sound track is a key element of the opening sequence because without this it would not create suspense for the audience and it the sound informs the audience what genre the film is.   

To find out what stood out to people I went around school to ask people what they thought of the 'Retribution open sequence. You can see the feedback in the videos below:

Summaiya said that she likes the shot of the smooth pan which goes around Megi while she is unconscious on the chair. This tells me that the wide range of shots used our opening were useful in engaging the audience.  The pan has been emphasised with the dramatic thriller music which makes the audience feel that someone is walking towards Megi. Also using props like the trolley as we did for this shot give this clip a professional look.

Later on that day me and Zarah went to get more feedback:

Ally said that he likes how the Opening credits appear at different times because its makes it look dramatic which represents the thriller genre of our film. This relates to how the music emphasises the opening credits. In terms of improvements he said that the opening sequence should have been longer, this is a positive improvement because it tells me that he wanted to watch more. So the idea of a cliff hanger at the end makes the audience want to watch what happens next.