Target audience

For our film we haver chosen an intended target audience in which we will aim the film at.

We have decided to go for a 15+ BBFC rating as it enables us to include all the necessary content we need to make our film good and it allows the biggest range of audience suitable, to watch the movie providing them not to be offended or distressed from the scenes. I have retrieved the following criteria from the British Board of Film Classification Website:

What might I see in a 15 rated film or video?

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

The above criteria is what we believe our film falls into allowing there to be clear distinction to who can watch this movie or not.

In terms of our primary target audience, we have decided to go for the age range of about 15-30. The film is more likely to be intended for a male audience, however with the added bits in regarding relationships and emotional attachment it might also cater for a female audience within this age category. The audience will be expecting from the nature of the film a hard hitting moral providing film which creates a sense of understanding of the working class societies embedded in todays Britain. The audience will be expecting an emotional rollercoaster which will hook them immensely to the film allowing them to truly explore the themes and ideas being represented.

In terms of our secondary target audience we are intending this film towards the older population of 30+ as we believe that many adults will enjoy watching our movie due to the adult and mature films it will present. Also I believe that within this group of people not all will want to watch our movie therefore we have made the decision in not marketing it directly to them as it would not be financially efficient.

Ethnically this film will contain a cast from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Therefore this will cater for a range of culturally diverse people expanding the potential audience even further than intended.

We will market this film according to the primary target audience of 15-30 years olds. We will market this film through means of social media which is heavily used by people of this age group especially which will therefore stimulate a level of awareness of the film itself. Also in terms of marketing I believe that already film fanatics will be suitable for the viewing, therefore I believe that advertisements on T.V will be effective in increasing awareness of the film. In order to attract our potential viewers we will need tho use things such as trailers to entice the viewer. The use of reviews also allow people to make an opinion on your film once it is backed by someone else.

I believe that we will need to represent the themes and ideologies which our target audience can potentially relate to. For example with regards to social class, our film explores both working and middle class lives which will allow people from both demographic social groups to internally relate to this. We have placed emphasis on this through the use of many factors. For example we chose specific locations to add emphasis in situations such as the houses used at the start of each introduction of the character to demonstrate the contrast between the two lives. We also used a tunnel which was full of graffiti to try signify the working class element of the film. We also used nice parks and walkways to help express the extent of the older mans middle class lifestyle. In terms of props and costumes, we followed the stereotypes closely with regards to social class. For example Kieran was portrayed in an Adidas tracksuit which signified clearly the socio-economic background in which he belonged to. Also with regards to Mike's outfit he was seen as being dressed in nice, smart clothes which connote a level of affluence.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-audiences-2015-11.pdf

Ident idea

In terms of my company 'Wong productions' Ident I have an initial idea which I still haven't completed as of yet. I am to make an ident following the cultural background of china which coincides with my stereotypically Chinese name 'Wong'. This ident will include the use of chopsticks and rice which will spell out the name of my company. This will be done by the use of stop motion in order to create a short video of about 10 seconds. The video will be of the chopsticks individually pulling out grains of rice and spelling the words 'Wong productions'. I believe this will have comical value and is relevant to the name of my company.

Rough cut No.4

This is our 4th rough cut which we believe is very close to being finished as there are a bunch of minor tweaks left to be added to the film in order for us to be satisfied with it being finished and it not needing any more improvements. This rough cut needs a main title at the end and the music also needs improving for it to sound professional and a few of the clips may need extending or shortening.

Audience feedback - Rough cut 3

This is an example of using our secondary target audience for feedback on our third rough cut. Janet is in her 40's and of a caucasian ethnicity. She felt that the shot at the start required better lighting to enable the viewer to see the characters face. However after discussion amongst the production team, we decided to ignore this feedback as we believe that it does not inhibit the viewers perception of the character.

Rough cut No. 3

This is hopefully our final rough cut before the finished version. It includes all of the necessary content and footage and now needs to be polished off with the titles needed and the company idents in order to make a final version. We believe we have come far with this edit as i am the editor involved with this production. I believe I have chosen the shots as these were the best within the footage provided to me due to the use of lighting and the pleasing and professional look of them. These specific shots involve a good balance of focus on all main aspects of camera work such as audio, lighting and even the acting within the shots.

Social realism - the history and the conventions

The conventions
Social realism is a genre of film that focuses on topical issues alive in a modern society which is represented by different ideologies. Themes such as money, drugs, prostitution and sex are quite usual in modern contemporary social realism films as well as class, religion and political views. Social realism is often there to fight against the stereotypical view in which often other countries perceive the UK to be about. They fight the white, middle-class, southern english and small close knit village stereotype which often other film companies such as working title imply as it is more attractive to the US box office. This is backed by Charles Gants rule which highlights the fact that companies create stereotypes for financial gain in overseas box offices.

Social realism is often centred around working class life amongst, a majority of the time, council estates situated in rough areas within Britain. Social realism captures the normal working class lives which often involve crime and gang culture. There is often a dark and sinister approach to these movies which means they are not for everyone with the average BBFC rating being 15. This means that the audience variety is inhibited immensely and therefore whilst the big stereotypical films are busy exposing a wrong image of what Britain looks like the stereotype is only going to grow stronger. Below is a list of the conventions.
- Explore issue of drug, street violence, crime and murder 
- Always reflects life of 21 century, were sex is currency, drugs are easy to come by and violence is a way of life
- Characters experiencing extreme poverty, and are unable to provide for family
- Characters in debt
- Majority of characters working class
- Live in poor environments and houses – typically set in council houses, and areas where crime , drugs and violence are rife 
- Sons and daughters are usually influenced by example set by parents
- Camera angles and shot are usually hand held
- As the are realistic fictional film’s there’s usually no special effects or CGI
- Protagonist characters are usually rebels and are against the capitalist system.

History

Early British cinema used the common social interaction found in the literary works of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. One of the first British films to emphasize realism's value as a social protest was James Williamson's A Reservist Before the War, and After the War in 1902. The film memorialized Boer War serviceman coming back home to unemployment. Repressive censorship during 1945-54 prevented British films from more radical social positions.

After World War I, the British middle-class generally responded to realism and restraint in cinema while the working-class generally favored Hollywood genre movies. Thus realism carried connotations of education and high seriousness. These social and aesthetic distinctions have become running themes; Social Realism is now associated with the arthouse auteur, while mainstream Hollywood films are shown at the multiplex.

Producer Michael Balcon revived this distinction in the 1940s, referring to the British industry's rivalry with Hollywood in terms of "realism and tinsel." Balcon, the head of Ealing Studios, became a key figure in the emergence of a national cinema characterized by stoicism and verisimilitude. "Combining the objective temper and aesthetics of the documentary movement with the stars and resources of studio filmmaking, 1940s British cinema made a stirring appeal to a mass audience," noted critic Richard Armstrong.

Social Realism in cinema was reflecting Britain's transforming wartime society. Women were working alongside men in the military and its munitions factories, challenging pre-assigned gender roles. Rationing, air raids and unprecedented state intervention in the life of the individual encouraged a more social philosophy and worldview. 

A British New Wave movement emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. British auteurs like Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, and John Schlesinger brought wide shots and plain speaking to stories of ordinary Britons negotiating postwar social structures. Relaxation of censorship enabled film makers to portray issues such as prostitution, abortion, homosexuality, and alienation. Characters included factory workers, office underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, runaways, the marginalized, the poor, and the depressed. "The New Wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline.

This information was retained from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_realism#In_film

Production update 3

We have made a lot of progress since the last production update post I submitted to my blog. We have filmed all the extra fade away shots needed to produce a fluent piece of work. The opening now includes a music backing track which helps with the professionalism of the film, the music also adds to the atmosphere in which the scene emits. We now need to include our titles and polish off the film to make it look perfect and then we will be complete! So far I am happy with the overall progress made by me and my fellow group members. I believe we have come a long way from the start and are finally seeing the nearing of the end of the production of this short film opening. We have concluded that the work is up to date in terms of footage and audio. This therefore means that the only thing left to do it the editing side of the production which shouldn't take very long at all as it is available at all times during school meaning we have plenty of time to get the work done. As well as the idents and the titles needed which is Louis' job we should also include a smooth, fluent and professional look to the short film which will involve getting rid of any imperfections and making it complete.

Exam question

I have received a disappointing mark of 20/50 and some constructive feedback from my teacher on an example exam question:

Milo, while this is a decent attempt, you would score low for this answer because of the major omissions in what you've written about. Social media is touched upon but not with reference to specific examples. You had the whole internet to use for this so there should be much more detail.

Because of this feedback I have understood what i'm required to do next in regards to completing a better answer in which I need to, in order to receive a good grade in this course.

http://wongproductions.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/exam-question.html

Targets

In order to make Abridged a successful piece of work and a production of a film opening to be proud of, we need to make some targets in regards to achieving that. These targets include the following:

• Retain all needed footage - Kieran and Mike on a bench.

                                                    - Kieran walking about the town.

• Complete company idents

• Compose the music for the movie opening

After these changes and targets have been accomplished I believe that we will have a decent film opening which will enable to retain a decent score in the coursework.