Part 1- Brief

The brief I was working to was to create an opening title sequence of a new fiction film. The sub-genre for our film is a teen Romantic Comedy; we have shown the teen aspect of our film through things such as: music as it is upbeat and lively. In addition to this our film is concerning secondary school life of students falling in love. The title of our teenage Rom-Com is called Graduation Day and we chose this title because the main characters in our film declare their love for each other during their graduation ceremony. My opening title sequence opposes Todorov’s Theory, as it starts with the end of the film. Our opening sequence shows our two main characters Doug and Rose, the viewer cannot really see their faces as we wanted it to be secretive and create a sense of mystery. In the sequence we see Doug helping Rose to move into her dorm room at university, as they are unpacking suitcases and boxes they discover a photo album. From these photos we see the main characters in our film and the credits then begin. However, one photograph is left on the floor and the camera then zooms in on this and the film then starts (going into the past).

Part 2-Who would be the audience for your product?

The target audience for our product is people between the ages of 13-20, but our primary gender is females because Rom-Coms are designed to appeal to them more than men. We also believe that our film is likely to be suited more to females because it is a film that will make them feel contented after watching it and they also like a ‘good giggle’ as well as finding love. Therefore, based on this our film is targeted at a niche audience. Our film would appeal to a person of any race or ethnicity and it will cater for them, as we would have subtitles in other languages for our film. Well are audience are likely to be students at secondary or in higher education, or they may even be working. As our audience is targeted at people between those ages of 13-20, they would enjoy socialising with friends and through social networking sites such as: facebook and twitter. They are likely to enjoy films such as: The Proposal, Confessions of a Shopaholic, 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s Out of My League and Bride Wars. In accordance to our pre-production research we presented our films ideas to a group of 16-17 year olds and overall we received positive and promising feedback from them showing that our film has definite potential.

Part 3-What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Through my research, the types of media institutions that may distribute my media product are: 20^th Century Fox, Colombia Pictures or Summit Entertainment. Through my earlier research into distribution companies I looked into these three institutions, firstly I looked into 20^th Century Fox. They have distributed a range of films in line with our genre, for instance Knight and Day (2010), Bride Wars (2009) and John Tucker Must Die (2008), this film appeals to the same kind of audience that we are targeting for our film. Secondly, I looked into Columbia Pictures they have distributed films such as: Something’s Gotta Give (2003), 50 First Dates (2004) and Hitch (2005). In addition this I looked into Summit Entertainment, which our group chose as the main distribution company to distribute our film. This company has distributed films such as: Twilight (2008), which is a Romantic thriller film and Step-Up (2006), which is a Romantic dance film. Though these films do not really feature the comedy aspect of our film they still would appeal teenagers to young adults which are my groups intended target audience. However, overall the distribution company we would desire to distribute our film is Summit Entertainment as they have distributed a series of Rom-Coms. Most importantly they have distributed Twilight and this film was mainly targeted at teenagers and people in their 20's (mainly female) and this is also similar to our target audience. Secondly, Twilight was a huge success and likewise we want our film 'Graduation Day' to be equally as successful.

Part 4- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

‘Graduation Day’ subverts the linear narrative as our film starts at the end, unlike most Rom-Com films ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Hitch that start at the beginning but it still contains the conventions of a Rom-Com. It is apparent through our opening title sequence that the genre is a Rom-Com. This is apparent as we see the two main characters, Doug and Rose together sharing close moments together e.g. through hugging. The teenage aspect of our film is shown through the unpacking of boxes and bags and also as we see the box with Oxford wrote on it, the viewer realises that they are moving into a dorm room which suggests they are teenagers. Secondly, through the school jumper when she takes it out and puts it on the viewer sees ‘WELLING 10’which suggests to the viewer that it is an end of year jumper. Also, old school photos are shown which connotes memories. In our opening sequence we used a range of shots including: point of view, mid-shots and close-ups. We initially started our sequence with a point of view shot as it shows the viewer her perspective of the dorm room, as she is just moving in. The lighting within our title sequence is quite bright which connotes a sense of happiness. A Rom-Com film that also contains very bright lighting is ‘Love Actually’. In the opening title sequence the lighting is bright which connotes joy as the people in it are seeing their loved ones at the airport. However, we did stick to some of the typical codes and conventions of Rom-Coms such as the couple living ‘Happily Ever After’ as we see Doug and Rose together (in the present) after all they have been through. Secondly, Doug and Rose are seen to be an ‘unlikely couple’ as Doug is a ‘jock’ (one of the popular guys) and Rose is a geek.

Part 5- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

'Graduation Day' is a film that involves many clique stereotypes regarding teenagers in secondary schools. This is portrayed in the photos of our opening title sequence. Firstly through Rose, she is wearing dull colours and clothes and her hairstyle is very simple with a full fringe which signifies a lack of fashion sense. She also is wearing glasses, is holding a book closely to her chest and has a big grin on her face this connotes that she is 'a bit of a geek'. Secondly, the other main character Doug is wearing a baseball jacket which suggests that he is a 'jock' because in America 'the jocks' usually tend to wear baseball jackets. He also has his collar up which suggests he is a little arrogant as he also has his hands in his jacket pocket and it suggests that he may believe 'he's all it'. In addition to this, he appears quite cocky as he has a cheeky smirk on his face and he looks quite 'cool' which suggests he is one of the 'popular guys'. The next character after this is also portrayed to be a 'jock', for example through his hairstyle and clothing. The character shown after, Mary also appears to be a 'geek' through things such as her glasses and pose. Shelby is the character shown next and she is suggested to be quite bitchy through her pose. She is evidently a pretty girl and she is also which signifies to the viewer that she is a little conceited. She is also wearing a black fur coat which suggests she is high in social class and in the photo she is posing how a celebrity would which signifies confidence. Therefore, through all this it connotes to the viewer that Shelby is one of the 'popular girls' in the school. Finally, our last character shown is Ching-Lee appears very goofy through his grin and secondly smart through his clothing. Asians are also stereotyped as being very intellectual so likewise he also fits into this typical stereotype. The close-up shots of the characters give the viewer a huge insight as to their personalities. Since our film is a teenage Rom-Com we wanted to present the different types of people and personalities within secondary schools.

Part 6-How did you attract/address your audience?

I consider that my group and I have reached our target audience because when we presented our treatment to our Media class a few classed our film as a ‘potential hit’ and they also believe it would be ‘funny to watch’. This feedback was very positive and it was what we needed because if a class of 16-18 year olds like our idea it is very promising for our film. When planning our production we believed that the music would appeal to our audience as we initially wanted an Indie band called ‘Give Me The Sun’ to record a version of The Jets- ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ and this idea proved successful as from our audience feedback some stated that they ‘love Give Me The Sun’. We thought the music would appeal to them because it is upbeat and fun and that is the kind of music that teenagers enjoy and listen to nowadays. Also, I believe that our audience will relate to the type of characters we have featured in our film because there are ‘geeks’, ‘popular kids’ and ‘bitchy girls’ and these type of people are usually in most schools. Also, the characters in our film are between the ages of 16-18 years so our audience will be able to relate with them as they are likely to share the same day to day experiences, for example in school. Our audience also liked the fact that we showed the pictures of the characters and how they faded from one to another in our sequence. The part of our treatment that was the least successful according to the audience feedback was how our opening title sequence worked as some people said that they did not comprehend how our opening title sequence would ‘go from being in the present to going in the past’. So the work was improved by us ensuring that the title seems does not seem confusing and this it is understood well.

Part 7-What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When we initially started our planning of our opening title sequence we intended on using a digital SLR camera to get clear photos of our cast and so we did which was god as these pictures played a very significant role in our sequence. We also used a tripod to take these photos so that they looked straight and professional, as if they were school photos. For the filming of our opening title sequence we used a Canon video camera which at times was good but at other times it made our filming appear indistinct, therefore we had to be certain that everything appeared the way we wanted it to. We also had to use a tripod at times so that so that the filming did not look unstable or unprofessional. For the editing of our sequence we used Final Cut Pro, this carried booth negative and positive aspects but mainly positive. The negative aspect was that we did not have any prior knowledge of this software so it took me quite a while to familiarize myself with it and at times the software left me rather confused. However, in the end I learnt how to use it and it made our opening title sequence to look fantastic because: we could speed up certain parts of our sequence, we were able to cross fade the pictures of our characters, we were able to cut things precisely where we wanted and we were able to add text in different places. I think Final Cut Pro was one of the successful uses of new technology as it made our title sequence to have more of an edge because of the flexibility it gave us. The least successful was the Canon video camera as it made parts of our title sequence not to appear clear. I have learnt how to use a tripod and how significant it is when filming; as if it is used incorrectly or not used at all it can virtually ruin the opening.

Part 8- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I feel that our preliminary was great and the whole idea we had for our opening title sequence was so effective, but for some reason when it came to the time of filming those ideas did not really come to life and it was not as good as what we imagined it to be. believe that my research into the codes and conventions of Romantic Comedies was effective as I looked into the type of colours used; the typical camera shots used and so on. I also quite liked looking into the opening tiles sequences of Rom-Coms such as: ‘A Cinderella Story’ and ‘Hitch’ because it showed me how much information the viewer can receive just from looking at the opening sequence; the codes and conventions from the Rom-Coms we looked into also helped us regarding the plot of our film and as to what include in our film, for instance the typography and colours. I have also learnt how to analyse opening title sequences and I realised how little details in the sequence can explain to the viewer a huge amount regarding the film. I have also improved on my filming techniques as I was not really capable of filming things on a camera before this task. Another successful aspect of my task was that we used Final Cut Pro to edit our opening title sequence, gaining knowledge on how to use this software was a great advantage because it made our title sequence look more effective and advanced, rather than using other types of software like IMovie. Though I found using this software challenging at times because it is quite complex but it still gave our title sequence more of an edge. However, I do consider that our story initially may have not been designed or understood well as we had to recreate them twice, which was time-consuming. Therefore, I do not really feel that our group planned the opening title sequence well because the first two times we shot the sequence the filming was too basic. So, due to this we had to re-do our storyboard twice. Secondly, we had to film the main part of our sequence three times before it was actually effective and this was due to a number of factors. Firstly, the lighting was a major issue regarding our title sequence as it negatively affected the atmosphere of our sequence and we were unable to see the pictures of the characters well. We also did not consider the mise-en-scene the first time we shot the sequence. Also, we did not include a range of camera shots and angles which made our title sequence look very elementary and not very efficient. In addition to this, the acting in our title sequence was not really carried out to the best ability and due to this we had to re-film because if the acting is not really good it is unlikely that it will interest people into watching the film. Furthermore, the music featured in our sequence was a major issue, we wanted a band to record The Jets ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’ but they were not responding well to our requests, but towards the end of the project we had to settle for one of their songs and it fitted our opening title sequence well. Another major issue concerning our title sequence was the actors as we had to keep changing them each time we filmed, because they were not available. So, all these things were very time-consuming and it meant that we had to work under a very strict deadline. Nevertheless, we still managed to complete our final editing in less than one week and the footage looks much better, as we have included a range of shots such as: point of view and the acting as far better which contributed to us having a successful opening title sequence.

Editing Complete...

We have finally completed the process of editing our opening title sequence!

Our Opening Title Sequence