Film Pitch

Here is Reflection Studios pitch for The Black Widow

Evaluation

While pitching our film, we had a confident outlook on our film and were open to anything the 'Studio Executives' could throw at us. We explained our idea well and in depth making it easy for people to understand. However some people still got confused by the story line so we could have made it abit simpler rather than going further.

However when we went under scrutiny we handled the questions well to explain our idea. We kept calm and answered as well as we could. Overall I think our pitch was very good as we got 'commissioned' by the 'Studio Executives' so people must have liked what they heard.

Sound Editors

A sound editor in a film is the person who put's all the audio into a film, mixing and mastering of a final product. The key elements of this are: Dialogue, Music and Sound Effects. They have to manage the levels of all these.

The first film to have any sound was 'The Jazz Singer' in 1927 there was synchronized dialogue and musical numbers featured. But this still had to be edited by a sound editor using a 'talkie'. As sound in film began to develop, composers shone through and made the film. Here's a link to an interesting new's article about composers being a directors best friend in film processes: Sound Editors, A Directors Best Friend

Sound editing has developed so much now that in the 2013 film 'Les Miserables' the music numbers were all recorded on set, on the day. Well at least the vocals were, the orchestral element was then later recorded and dubbed onto the soundtrack. This was the first time that vocals were actually recorded on the set of a film and is now acclaimed to be one of the best soundtracks of all time. Not only because of the beautiful music scores but because of the amazing sound editors:

Alot of sound editors use foley, which is sound they have made themselves using objects. This was often heard on the radio for radio plays. We even had a go ourselves at making some sounds.

A famous example of this is is the 'Wilhelm Scream' that you might have heard in things like 'Star Wars' and all sorts of Disney cartoons. But these have become a bit of a joke to film makers. However back in the day it was meant to be a serious sound effect. Here's a compilation of where this scream has been used:

I don't think we'd use this sound in our film, as it sounds too comical for the film we want to produce. Well it's used for comedy purposes now anyway so it's not much of a loss from the thriller genre anyway.

I think that sound can really make a film, no matter how good something can look on screen the sound really does make it. Making the sound editor a very crucial role!

Target Audience Profile

Simon Davies is an 18 year old male is currently in his last year of sixth form at Hydesville Tower School (Private School) in Walsall. For two years he has studied Media, Drama, Business Studies and English and is set to achieve high grades to allow him to continue his Business Studies at the University of Edinburgh. 

Simon currently lives with his parents but is hoping to move away when he leaves for university and live in an apartment in which his parents will pay for the rent. In his spare time, other than playing cricket and rugby, Simon likes to go to the cinema with his friends to see films of the genre, comedy, horror, thriller, action adventure and Sci-fi. 

The most recent film Simon has been to see was Gravity with his mates from school. However he prefers the old school thrillers such as Psycho (the original) and Vertigo. Even though his parents are rather rich, Simon has to work on Saturdays and Sunday at the local shop, stacking shelves and serving customers. His parents don't always give him everything so he has to earn some money for outings to the cinema and buying DVD's when they're on offer at his local ASDA. Simon also has to get himself places in his Black Mini which his parents got him for his 17th Birthday; he only recently passed his driving test after failing first time round.

When he's not watching films at the cinema or at rugby training, Simon likes listening to his music, especially Indie, Rock and some Pop Bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy and Linkin Park. Simon's friends don't agree with his music taste and so has to socialise with his mates about films and games consoles. His friends love the film genres he is into and so they all go to the cinema in their free time; mostly Wednesdays.

Target Audience Research

Film classifications can range from a U to 18 in the UK, here are a brief explanation of each rating:

• Universal product. Suitable for children over 4.
• Use of drugs are not prohibited.
•  Mild swearing is acceptable.
• Sexual relations can be suggested however not shown, other than kissing.

• May have some inappropriate themes for children. Parental guidance is advised for children under 8.
• Mild language can be used (e.g Bitch, Cow)
• Smoking and drinking can be shown however not promoted.
• No detailed violence some blood can be shown. No gore.
• Drugs can be shown however should not give out a positive message.

• Infrequent bad language can be used. The 'F' word can be used.
• Sexual relations can be shown briefly or implied.
• Violence can be shown however not in detail.
• Infrequent drug use can be shown.
• Must not linger on dangerous behavior.

• Strong violence can be shown.
• Frequent use of strong language can be used. The 'f' word can be used more frequently.
• Use of drugs can be shown.
• Sexual relations and nudity can be shown.

• Extremely strong language can be used.
• Strong horror.
• Strong blood and gore can be seen.
• Full nudity and sexual relations can be shown.

We had set for our film classification to be a 12A. The British Film Classification states that 12A/12 films can have infrequent bad language, some violent elements, and some sexual elements. With these in mind we thought that 12A films suggest that children under 12 can see it, however must be accompanied by an adult over 18. If we were making the whole film our's would fit into this sort of infrequent adult situations as the main focus would be on the back story of the characters rather than the actual thriller/murder thing going on.

For our general target audience we have a focus on 16-25 year olds, with a mainly male demographic. This is due the the amount of young men this age that enjoy thrillers and horrors more than other audiences.

These two films 'Old Boy' and 'American Hustle' are both of thriller genre's and like most have main demographic of Males age 16-25. Giving us evidence for choosing this specific target audience

Based on the demographic we researched the average young man and what they appear to enjoy the most. This came down to, films (Thrillers, Comedys and Horrors) music (Often rap or rock) games (GTA, COD etc.) and browsing the internet.

Thrillers also seem to attract those of a higher class too, this could be due to the complexity of some story lines

Early Consideration of Evaluation Questions

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our most obvious challenging convention is a female protagonist, however it has started to become more popular. However we also have also challenged an age convention and having a young couple at the center rather than a pair of 20-30 somethings.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Our product will represent teenagers of both genders and how they interact with each other. This will also represent how a conventional Good Girl x Bad Boy pairing will work when conventions and subversions occur.

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

That is unkown at the moment, it depends on the quality of the film and how well it is produced.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We set out target audience for 16-24 year olds and hopefully that will be our audience for the final product.

How did you attract/address your audience? 

We hope that the actual film will attract our audience as we hope to use elements of classic and modern thrillers to build a wide audience.

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

We will learn and use techniques for film making as we go along. These will mainly be in editing and sound.

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

We will have hopefully improved on our skills as film makers, from writing, to filming and editing. 

Film Narative

When we first got together as a production team, we began to look at a few different ideas that would work as a film in the thriller genre. We began to research the conventions of thrillers and where there'd be a gap in the market for a possible film.

As the process went on we began to look at what would look good as an opening and what marks we could access for the coursework. We had struck with a couple of ideas like kidnap films and stalkers. However we embraced the two ideas and thought of 'The Black Widow.'

Plot

A young couple on the brink of a break up, the boyfriend then pushes his girlfriend to the edge of madness. She does not however only take it out on him, but everyone that has done her wrong in her life; Innocence is ruined, thoughts are betrayed, as her world crumbles apart.

For the opening that we will produce, the murder will remain unknown to the viewer until the very end. There will be some clues suggesting that it is the female character however nothing too over the top.

Pro's and Con's

• We had been given some feedback when we began to discuss our film idea that alot of the ideas we thought were original, had actually been done before.
• Idea of hidden identity will work well, if done correct.
• Locations/Props easy to find (Everyday items).