RESEARCH FOR FINAL TASK KAYLA BISIGNANI QUESTIONNAIRE AUDIENCE

RESEARCH FOR FINAL TASK KAYLA BISIGNANI

QUESTIONNAIRE

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS • After surveying a couple of students on what genre they preferred and what they would like to see in a film opening, I ended up with a tie between horror and action. Two of the six students both chose comedy, although one of them leaned more for romantic comedies. • When it comes to what they like most about their favorite genre, they all chose plot, although a couple of them admitted to sometimes watching a movie just because their favorite actor was in it. None of them said that they watched a movie just because of the director.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS (CONTINUED) • When it comes to the film opening, the explanations were pretty different except for two. Two of those that I surveyed, one chose comedy and the action, wrote that they would want an introduction to the characters. The other person who chose comedy wrote that they would like to see jokes, funny actors, and engagement with the audience. The other action film chooser said that they would like to see plot foreshadowing, and one of the horror choosers would like to see a sort of backstory on the antagonist.

THE GIVER – FILM TITLE NOTES • White text on black background that gives short backstory. • Establishing shot of location. • Everything is in black and white. • Voice-over of the main character giving elaborating more on the backstory. • Title in white and simple font. • Medium shot of children playing. • Close up of man getting medication through his arm. • Another long shot showing a couple of houses (main character is still narrating).

THE GIVER • All throughout, non-diegetic violin playing a slow tune. • Main character introducing a minor personal problem and a bigger problem. • Unintentional foreshadowing. • Close up to main character’s face. • Eye line match to trees, first time color is seen. • Goes back to close up of main character’s face and everything is black and white again.

MALEFICENT – FILM TITLE NOTES • Establishing shot of a castle. • Voice-over of an older woman narrating. • Long shot of the kingdom and the seas. • A lot of natural light and vibrant colors. • Long shot of a tree on a cliff. • Close up of young Maleficent’s face, then zoom out. • Many more close ups and long shots of Maleficent and of the places she’s in. • Non-diegetic happy violin music and non-diegetic “Whoosh” of wings. • Close up of different creatures.

DIVERGENT – FILM TITLE NOTES • • • Opening starts with movie title. • • • Non-diegetic voice of woman telling backstory. Close up of grass field and then tilt up. Establishing shot of the city. Colors seem dull even with plenty of natural light shining on them. Long shot of people walking. Large quantities of people are wearing specific colors: either all blue, yellow, grey, or black and white. More long shots of people walking around. Long shots of the different factions and narrator giving explanation of each one. Each section has a specific color. Another establishing shot of the city.

CONCLUSION • All three films that I chose seemed to have very similar openings. In all three of the openings there is non-diegetic dialogue that gives the viewer a backstory. They also start out with establishing shots of the location and throughout the opening a couple more long shots of the whereabouts are added in. In the opening of “The Giver” and of “Divergent”, the title of the movie is displayed, but in “Maleficent” it is not. • Color seems to be very important in “The Giver” and “Divergent”, but in the opening of “Maleficent” it doesn’t seem like color has meaning, yet they are vibrant and the scenes are filled with natural light. In “The Giver”, the whole opening scene is in black and white and the only glimpse of color that we see is when there’s an eyeline match between the main character and some leaves. In “Divergent” color is also very crucial to the story, and it is established since the beginning. In the movie color is used to divide the people in sections and give them certain qualities. In “Divergent” color also represents social class. “Divergent” is also filled with natural light, but the colors seem very dull.

CONCLUSION • In “The Giver” and “Maleficent” we get introduced to the main characters in similar but also different ways. In “The Giver”, the main character (who is also the narrator) gives light to a personal problem that he has, and at the same time unintentionally foreshadows. In “Maleficent”, we get introduced to the main character and we receive details of the main character. In “Divergent”, we don’t get introduced to the main character yet, but we get introduced to the different sections and the narrator describes the main qualities the people from each section have. • When it comes to sound, the three movies differ. In “The Giver” there is nondiegetic sound of a violin playing a slow tune. This plus the narration is the only sound we hear. In “Maleficent” there is non-diegetic happy music and it is also filled with sound effects of the wings and her magic. This is the only movie of the three where diegetic dialogue is included. Finally, in “Divergent”, there is a calming tune made with a violin and piano, both non-diegetic. It is also filled with diegetic sound, such as the noise of the crowds, the train passing by, and chatter between the factions.

FILMS THAT INFLUENCED ME • The movie that influenced me the most is “The Giver”. When I first got my idea for my movie pitch, I was influenced by it without realizing it. I will the concept of non-diegetic narrating that all movies seemed to have, and I will take “Maleficent”’s narrative example to introduce my character and give some backstory. Color is also going to be a main focus on. I will take example from “Divergent” and include non-diegetic calming music. My film will start with an establishing shot of the location and then the camera will turn towards the main character. To do this I will take examples from the “Giver” which includes establishing shots of the whereabouts and then switches to the main character. The movie that influenced me the less is “Divergent” because other than the colors I won’t be taking any other inspiration from it, while with “Maleficent” and “The Giver” I will be looking at as references.

WHICH FILM COMPANY WOULD PRODUCE MY FILM? • The company that would produce my film would be Paramount Pictures. After researching the Big 6 movie studios, I believe that Paramount Pictures would be the most likely to produce my film because a good amount of their movies are targeted towards young adults and also include fantasy themes. A couple of movies they produced are “Mean Girls”, “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” and “Star Trek”.