Audience Feedback

I showed my film to several people to give there honest feedback on the short film;

Mum (Female 50) - I liked the twist of the action to TV part, although this movie wasnt aimed at my taste which I usually go for 'chick flicks'.

Ross (Male 17) - The action and the twists worked really well and the effects added was great and was obviously created with time, this is the type of film that I would go and see.

Jon (Male 18) - The effects in the film was what I personally wanted to see for an action film.

Creating the DVD Menu

So I decided to make a DVD menu using Adobe After Effects, becasue none of the menu presets I saw I actually liked. So I went for a action menu that matched my film genre (action/thriller), so I got a key shot of the character pointing the gun at the cam. So i decided to use this as the starting point of my menu, and when the character pulls the gun up the shot freezes, then followed by a flash. The flash makes the title and the subheadings appear with the green making background.

The Technologies I have used

To create my film and to get the quality I wanted I had to use a range of programs, and most of these came from Adobe CS4 Master Collection. Most of these programs I had used before but some of them I had to learn from scratch (Illustrator & Premier Pro).

To distribute my film and the making of the film I used lots of websites and programs, these consisted of 'Photobucket', 'Youtube', 'Twitch' and 'Blogger'.

How I will attract my audience

I decided to first make my film address my audience as soon as possible, so I made special effect titles and the first 1:30mins of the film is all action packed. Once uploaded to the internet I will use Youtube to add a description and apply tags to the video. This means when somone types in say 'Action' my video will appear.

Finally I will take advantage of Youtubes annontation feature which will allow me to add text boxes onto my video which can help direct my video more towards my audience. Also the annotation feature will allow me to linkthem away to another webpage, this will be used to show where my inspiratation came from for that particular shot.

The Audience I am directing my film at

At the time of creating my audience I had already chose what genre my film would be (action/thriller). So I then based on what current action films audiences are, so the 'Transformers' film would be directed at 12-25 mainly because of the casting of the film (Megan Fox) and the non stop action. So I decided to ask this age range if they would watch a film like mine and all the boys replied yes and the girls was mixed. So my audience is 12-25 Males. This effects my casting for the film because most boys would want to see a girl, so I made sure I casted a girl for one of the main roles.

My Character

When I started to look at my character, I looked into film which adopted a lone hero who would be constantly on the move. So I researched characters from appocalspe movies like 'Book of Eli', 'The Road' and 'I am Legend'. This gave me inspiration for one of my main characters, he has similar features to all the characters from the film mentioned.

Rucksack - This is a connotation that the wearer does alot of travelling and doesnt settle down, this could mean that the character is possibly in constant danger.
Coat - This peice of equipment is used to protect from the weather and is a connotation for the character is always outside, also that he uses that to protect him from danger.
Hood - This is another symbolic meaning that the character wearing the hood will be on the move and that he is slightly mysterious, meaning that he has something to hide.
Comfortable - These are a denotation for the character is ruged and is slighlty torn physically and mentally. The connotation is the character is constantly moving he would want to waer durable and comfortable trousers.
Gun - These is a denotation that the character is possibly dangerous, although the connotation is the character is in danger.

Digital Grading

You may or may not of noticed but the whole of my film is digital graded.

This was done to enhance the shot to the setting I wanted the audience to feel, so for the energy ball (left) I dulled down the colours to make it look more grim and the saturation down.

I also graded the shot to make it look like 'hope' and the way I done it was make the shots colours more golden and with the sky less dark and gloomy.

Evaluating Nine Frames

This character was introduced differently compared to the other ones becasue when you first see him, he is getting shot and blown up, which matches the titles 'Mankind Fell Apart', but then the title 'But there was still hope' appears and you see him walking and the camera tilts up to his face which represents power. So I had to make this character work with all the titles which I had to carefully storyboard it.

Evaluating Nine Frames

I wanted the title for the film to be in both the 'trailer' of the film and the introduction so I had the title put in the sky and in the sky on TV, this means that the 'trailer' and the inroduction are both the same film.

Evaluating Nine Frames

You dont know a lot about the story at the start because of the 'trailer' but you do know that the film will be about action, so when the characters first came on screen after the trailer I wanted the audience to know that everything is fine. But as soon as they step out of the door I wanted there to be danger so I put a suspense track playing quietly in the background.

Evaluating Nine Frames

For this character I had to think about what he was wearing because he is going to be a rugged hero, so the character is wearing a hooded jacket for warmth. a coat for the weather and the rucksack because this character would be on the move a lot so he needs somewhere to put his processions.

Evaluating Nine Frames

I done this shot purely to tell the audience what Genre the short film is, so in the shot I didn't just have one but three which emphasises that the Genre is Action/Thriller. Also to set the shot I had to digital grade the image to enhance the shot and explosions. This will make the explosions a lot more believable.

Evaluating Nine Frames

These two shots I had to get right in terms of editing because if the transition between the two shots wasn't perfectly timed the character would of jolted around the corner. To make it harder I also wanted a close up of the character with his reaction to the situation, so I had to bear in mind the position of the character for the next shot.

Evaluating Nine Frames

3. This shot was chose because of the setting and location. The building above the character has some barbed wire which is a connotation for either a barrier or danger. Not only that, but the barbed wire is also cut near the end which means that the character has 'cut' or passed danger.

Evaluating Nine Frames

2. This is a shot of an energy ball which I made in after effects, this is a shot which you could quite easily see in an opening scene for a modern day film.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oma9uPz9YYk The Star Wars opening has similar features to mine like it starts with action and then dies down into more subtle shots, this could be because who their audiences are.

To accomplish this shot I used Adobe After Effetcts CS4 and had to create from scratch many elements, for exmaple the particles which emit from the energy ball and bounce of the road, I also had to make a ground plane for the light to reflect of and finally the actual energy ball itself which was built in another composition and then placed in.

Evaluating Nine Frames

1. This is a title shot which I made using After Effects, this is definitely not a standard opening scene to a film but I decided to go for a 'trailer' opening style and all trailers have dramatic motion graphic shots. I also decided to go for a atmospheric-al approach so I added some smoke over the top.

The font I used in this is 'Century Gothic', which is a very clear font with no flicks coming of the end of the letters.

Does my opening develop or challenge current film openings?

Ive decided to start of my short film opening with an action scene which is what I believe my audience would want to see. This idea of an action scene at the start comes from films like Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring also Saving Private Ryan. Although my is a bit different because I've set mine to be like a trailer.

Inspiration for sequence of the trailer :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalm_kkczVM

I set mine to be as a trailer so that not only does it address the audience but it gives the viewer a hint that trouble might be on its way.