Focus Group Analysis

Focus group analysis
Our focus group consisted of Todd Fletcher, Jodie , Billy Ayres and Maddie Hubert. We selected a mix of people in order get the best range of results.
We first asked was what production company name they thought was best. The options being:

• Nail Nibbler Productions
• CMC Productions
• White Knuckle Productions
• Shade productions

The focus group said that they preferred White Knuckle Productions or Nail Nibbler Productions, finally choosing  but White Knuckle as it has the best connotations to the type of films we will be producing. We have decided to choose White Knuckle Productions as a company name because it links to out genre and the focus group liked it the most.

The next topic discussed was the plot of film and if after reading the synopsis to the focus group we questioned them on if they thought the plot was easy to understand and if they thought they would then want to watch the film. They said that the plot was slightly complicated as it had a lot of elements but not to the point were they would feel so lost they wouldn't watch the rest of the film. They also said that the basic story line was very interesting and they would want to watch the rest of the film.

We also showed them a few seconds of each persons audition tape. We then asked them who they thought looked like they would be best for the roles, based on how focused they were and if they looked like they took on the part the best. The focus group said they thought that Sam Mullins and Jack Ross weren't focused and they thought in their opinion that they wouldn't be best suited for the roles on offer.

Lastly, we asked if after watching the audition tapes and hearing the plot of our sequence if there was any title names they could think of for us to call our film. We gave them the name we had at the moment 'Skitz' and they said they thought it was really good as it provides false connotations of what the film will be about. They said that the film doesn't seem like it will be a thriller and the juxtaposition used is effective as from the title your not 100% sure what to expect.

Final Institution Name

Judging by our results from our focus group we chose for our institutional name to be 'White Knuckle Productions'. Our participants of our focus group chose this particular name from all of those provided. They chose from: Shade Productions, CMC Productions, Nail Nibbler Productions and finally the winning name White Knuckle Productions.

White Knuckle productions come from the idea of the fact that when you experience fear of a tense atmosphere, you clench your hands tight, achieving white knuckles. We thought it would be effective to connect our institutional name with our genre, and conventions of our genre, which is Psychological Thriller.

Focus Group

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Questionnaire results

     

Crew List

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Production Diary 3

Introducing Jordan Diver :)

Due to Jordan's past group members dropping A Level Media, we have gained his company. We are truly fortunate and appreciative of his contribution as he is an extremely  skilled camera man and has a deep knowledge on editing software. We all have nicknames for each other in order to help us bond. We feel that a strong and close relationship between each group member will help us to achieve great success.

Casting

In order to select the most appropriate person to play each of our required roles we chose to audition a wide variety of people . We have decided to do set auditions rather than open ones in order to gain the most appropriate person to play each of our required roles and to be able to trust our cast to be reliable and on time to all rehearsals and filming sessions.The roles we will ask people to audition for are as followed:

• Sid/Sarah- the main character, who in the film is a schizophrenic 
• Doctor- The psychiatrist who is actually the antagonist 
• The good- The voice inside Sid's head who tries to lead him to be good
• The bad- The voice inside Sid's head who tries to lead him to be evil
• Extras: people walking around in the background- this can include a couple or a lonely dog walker   

In the first set of auditions we allowed our potential cast a lot of freedom and did not provide a script but only character descriptions so that we could see how they feel most comfortable acting. This meant we can clearly see who fits in with the dynamics of our idea.We then selected the three most successful actors to do a prompted, second audition. From this audition we will then make a final decision on the cast.

Reception Theory (Phase 2)

Through out our pre production so far we have been very particular when choosing people to audition for parts. We considered :

• Age 
• Ethnicity
• Gender 

We have done this in order to avoid any upset caused to the audience. We do not want any problems or issues to arise from our film. The first Harry Potter film 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'  was criticized for the fact that all the  main characters were white British. The first Harry Potter merely involved actors and actresses of a differing ethnic group to white British, the reason behind why upset was caused. We strongly aim to avoid this entirely and please the entirety of our audience.

Reception Theory (Phase 1)

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Secret Window Opening Analysis (VLOG)

Blumer & Katz Uses and Gratification Theory

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Uses and Gratification Theory- Blumler and Katz

Uses and Gratifications (Blumler & Katz)

People may choose to watch our film for the thrill and excitement. Our chosen genre is psychological thriller thereupon requires the audiences full attention in order for them to think about what is or is going to happen. Our story line is based on mental health. People suffering from mental health disorders may be able to identify with the main character, Sarah who is the victim of mental illness. Our film allows people to escape from daily life and indulge in fantasy. A film similar to ours is The Secret Window (2004).

I would argue that Uses and Gratifications Theory doesn't provide enough information in order to analyse films within our genre. It is Difficult to go anywhere with it, as it relies on what an individual person says to a researcher. Some people, therefore, see it as a research tool rather than a media theory.It sometimes can go too far in empowering the audience and taking power away from the media producer. It ignores the creative process, the meanings in a text and the position of media in society, as it only focuses on the text and the individual and assumes an active audience, but much of the time we are not.

My group and I could create questions based on the Uses and Gratifications theory. Examples could be:

• When watching a psychological thriller, do you enjoy to be able to identify with the character?
• When watching a film do you find that become indulged and escape daily life?
• When watching a psychological thriller do you find that you learn something from it?

This research and the results from questions like the ones above will allow us to included uses and gratifications that majority of the audience enjoy. This gives an idea of what our audience wants from a film within this particular genre.

Production Diary 2

Nikyta Kobilnyk's Audition

Sonny Bridson's Audition

Sam Mullins Audition

Sam had rehearsed individually and returned with a much more promising performance. He was once again very enthusiastic and confident but this time his piece held raw emotion. 

Yoli Wallbanks Audition

Yoli came across as quite timid and nervous, I believed this was due to the lack of script. She had a very professional and focused attitude towards her audition and appeared to be willing to film at very flexible hours.

Mason Marrable Audition

Mason conveyed his confidence and comfort-ability in front of a camera. He was easily distracted which I thought may be a time consuming issue if we take him further, but on the other hand, he was able to take on a number of roles. I feel that with some lessons he wil be able to over come his problem with distraction.

Claudia Messenger Audition

Claudia came across as very timid and sweet when auditioning. She successfully stayed in character throughout the entire duration of her audition. She was very professional and is extremely reliable.

Ian Messenger Audition

My Audition

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My group believe that I am very reliable and played the character well. I was able to stay in character and am able to present a what it seems a kind and caring character and successfully flip it, presenting an evil manipulative character. I am very professional and take this very seriously

Production Diary 1

Institutional Production Company Names

Shade Productions

  

Nail Nibbler Productions 

CMC Productions 

   White Knuckle Productions

We chose these particular names as they all have relation to our chosen genre or us ourselves.

Shade Productions comes from the stereotypical convention of shadows within the Thriller genre.

Nail Nibbler productions comes from the idea of somebody biting their nails as a product of tension.

CMC Productions comes from the first letters of our names. C- Cailin M- Mia C- Claudia 

White Knuckle Productions comes from the concept of "white knuckles". A white knuckle experience makes you feel frightened and sometimes excited, like a rush of adrenaline.