Final Opening Title Sequence - 'The Will'

Final Opening Title Sequence - 'The Will' 

CCR Task 4 - 'How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?'

CCR Task 4 - 'How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?'

For the is task i created a Wix website to explain how i integrated the software, hardware and online technologies on my media A1 coursework.

Here is the the link to my website which answers CCR Task 4's question - https://matthewiveson0.wixsite.com/my-site-2

CCR Task 3 - 'How did your production skills develop throughout this project?'

CCR Task 3 - 'How did your production skills develop throughout this project?'

For this task I made two timelines explaining how my production and research & planning skills developed throughout the duration of my A1 media course

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CCR Task 2 - 'How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?'

CCR Task 2 -'How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?'

For my group and I's opening the sequence 'The Will' we have decided that our target audience is men aged 30-39, we did previous research which helped us come to that conclusion (Demographic research - https://matthewivesona1media.blogspot.com/2022/03/target-audience.html) and (Similar product research - https://matthewivesona1media.blogspot.com/2022/01/research-different-poison-berries.html).

I have additionally picked out 5 key moments which will help me to explore how the target audience is engaged:

The blurry reflection on the vinyl is a unique stylistic choice which will be appreciated by slightly more mature young adults as the shot will instantly cause them to raise questions and thus they keep watching. It also doesn't establish anything due to the illusive nature of the shot but once the vinyl starts playing music the camera pans up and reveals the location and the man, this engages the target audience by slowly revealing more shot by shot so not giving any details away without meaning too, which i turn hooks them in through the questions they may ask.

The cutting open of the berries will engage the audience via their intrigue of what they may be used for, almost causing the audience to become like detectives and thus drawing them into the story and the narrative behind this suspicious berry potion. Also the detective aspect may also appeal to our secondary audience of women aged 40-49 as they have given high ratings to similar products such as And Then There Were None and Line of Duty which both revolve around murder and crime.

When the man draws up the poisonous berry mixture up the syringe it provides some hospital/medical experiment imagery which is the first major clue to the audience that something is wrong and not all is harmless. These clus provide escapism which can be taken from Blumler and and Katz's theory of uses and gratification, specifically providing Entertainment which allows the audience to be able to relax, the target audience is engaged especially since by 30 people usually begin to work, have job and possibly start a family so a break from the stresses of life can be very useful for them.

When white powder is added to the beaker it causes the potion to fizz and react which visually provides a huge contrast to the crimson red berry juice and turning it into some kind of mini volcanic eruption. The fizzing diegetic sound effect is loud and obnoxious which will alarm the viewers and engage them with this specific sound design as this is completely out of the ordinary in every way shape and form which will spike their interest. 

When the man opens to door to the woman there is a big reveal of her with a funnel which provides to connotations of the potion he just made will be traveling down that very funnel into her throat. With our target audience some personal identity with the woman may be discovered as she is effectively silenced from talking and describing her feelings which is a topic many men struggle with now and the stigma of boys don't cry and that the public believe men should toughen up and therefore cannot express their feelings either.

When the poison berry potion is being poured down the funnel she begins to shake and react to the potion, this is the climax of the sequence and will act as the peak for the target audience engagement, this is due to the reaction of the woman and her crying and choking sound, therefore indicating not only is this potion is harmful but it is lethal. 

In conclusion i think my group and I were successful in engaging our target audience as suspense was slowly built gradually form the start till the climax of the opening sequence through the preparation of the sinister poison potion which hinted and gave out subtle clues of the ill intentions of the man, if anything we could have added more effective clues to the audience as the sequence was very subtle so maybe adding the plastic gloves for him to use would definitely make the berries seem more threatening.

My Film poster for 'The Will'

The poster design centres around the idea that something so simple and innocent can become sinister. This is reflected through the berries and how the opening sequence revolves around them being cut up and sliced (some may presume this is for a fruit juice or smoothie) but if you look at the connotations you will discover this innocence is not the case and that they are being used for evil intentions.

The sylisation and theme of the poster will help sell it towards the slightly more mature younger adults who appreciate the vintage look of the film as well as the detective aspect which the audience can almost partake in whilst watching. The vast amounts of red insinuate danger and warning, even if it may not be obvious, do not ignore 'red flags' of which many pop up in the opening which lead to the death of a completely innocent woman.

The film has the age rating of 15 because there is a moderate quantity of violence in disturbing death sequences such as in the opening but in addition to the gore the focus will be on the dark beauty of these scenes rather then the obscene gore in franchises such as the Saw and Hostel film series' which go overboard on the grim gore aspect, where this film will not go in that direction. The rest of the film also focuses around the crime aspect whereas similar products such as line of duty have the age certification of 12 so a balance between the two leads to 15, which I believe would definitely be suitable according to the guidelines of the BBFC.

The release date of the film is the 1st of October 2022 because this is the start of the build up towards halloween, so everyone is beginning to feel in the horror/ spooky mood, this film serves as the perfect introduction into October with its psychological thrilling nature whilst taking aspects of the horror genre into one stellar package. Additionally, the film is not released directly on halloween as on that day people will not be watching films but be trick or treating and thus this would not provide a significant viewership and also after halloween people become in the mood for christmas films so this is why the films release date is where it is. 

The tagline 'Not everything is as it seems' is the key component to this film poster as it signifies that anything normal could really be sinister such as the berries that could have been used for a peaceful craft whereas they were being used for despicable evil. The tagline also implies that anyone you know could not be a friend but really an enemy such as the man is murdering his sister in order to acquire the will which is truly shocking to the audience and is an example of the worst human behavior imaginable.

Netflix would distribute my film as it is one of the largest streaming platforms worldwide and has over 200 million subscribers; it is known for releasing large blockbusters such as Red notice yet also released smaller indie films such as Tucked, additionally the horror netflix
original trilogy Fear street was very successful despite not undergoing a cinema release. In addition to this Netflix would market my film through predominantly New media sources such as instagrama and tiktok which would spread the film across a large audience, this adheres to Henry Jenkins' theory of spreadability which implies if marketing is not sharable it will not succeed which is why the reveal moment of the 'funnel and poison' murder plan will be featured in this viral marketing campaign to engage and intrigue consumers. these reasons accumulate to why i have chosen Netflix to distribute 'The Will'.

The downside to there not being a cinema release is that there will be less individual paying individuals who will each pay to watch the film on the big screen whereas at home a group of people can watch for the price of 1 subscription; but this could even be so to a greater extent since password sharing is a huge issue netflix faces where friends share passwords with each other and only pay for 1 subscription between all of them. Despite this netflix do market the films on TikTok, instagram, youtube and other social media platforms as well as recommending targeted films to each subscriber based on their previous watch history and prefered genres. This targeted marketing will ensure 'The Will' will get across to a global audience and to the our specific target audience who engage with the film and understand its meaning.

CCR Task 1 - 'How does your product use or challenge conventions and how it represent social groups and issues?'

CCR Task 1  - 'How does your product use or challenge conventions and how it represent social groups and issues?'

For this task I created a video explaining why my media product used and challenged certain conventions as well as how the opening title sequence represented social groups and issues.