In this question we looked into how we attracted our audience to our film and why they were attracted to our film. This was finally helped with a survey of what people thought about our film.
How We Attracted Our Audience?
Relating back to the codes and conventions of Film Noir
To attract our target audience, we had to focus carefully on
the mise en scene. Firstly, the use of the colour red on the title will appeal
to the younger audience because it symbolises the modern era – we did this to
convey the idea that this film is set in the 1940's but is created in the modern
day. As we are teenagers ourselves, we know that generally people our age are
hesitant about watching black and white films because black and white films are
uncommon nowadays – the ‘normal’ and ‘typical’ type of films that we are used
to are colour films therefore we added colour in the title with the purpose of
appealing to a younger audience.
Another way we attracted our younger audience was through our marketing online, with our website and social media. This attracted a younger audience to our film because now stereotypically a majority of young adults live their lives online, so through having online marketing these people are more likely to hear about our film and therefore see it. On these modes of marketing we were also able to release previews for our film. By doing this people will see these previews and then be encouraged to go and see our film.
Additionally, this will also attract the male target
audience because red symbolises blood which can be associated with crime and
this colour also represents the traditional femme fatale red lipstick.
In the exterior shots, the femme fatale acts suspicious –
she looks around as if she is hiding from someone which links to the ‘being
followed’ theme of Film Noir films. Additionally, most exterior shots are of
her back and there aren’t any clear close ups of her face which gives the
impression that she doesn’t want to be seen; we did this to create an enigma
code – the audience is left wondering who the female is and why she looks so
suspicious. The creation of mystery will attract the male target audience
because it adds to the dark and crime concept that males prefer.
Another enigma code that we used in the opening is the
‘you’re next’ note – Lana Lombard hands it to the detective without any details
therefore the audience will wonder who and where it came from and it adds to
the mystery surrounding the female character - this note will either present
her as a victim or a masked/lying perpetrator depending on the audience's
judgement - thus luring them into wanting to see the rest of the film.
Enigma codes are useful in terms of attracting the target
audience because these codes get the audience thinking – it creates many
questions and as humans, we feel more at ease when our questions are answered
therefore the target audience will want to keep watching the film for their
questions to be answered. The reason why we chose an older target audience
because older people are more experienced and intellectual so they will more
likely notice enigma codes.
Mise En Scene
Film critics will be focusing on how we are going to be able
to portray the 1940's therefore we focused carefully on the mise en scene by
using props such as a rotary dial telephone, old fashioned film cameras and
typewriter to convey the time era the film is set in. We also used character
costumes and the actors use old American accents to portray the time period.
Jazz music is a vital part of film noir therefore we used a jazz piece for the
majority of the opening.
In addition to this, we used typical Film Noir shots: long
shot of Lombard walking towards gate, match on action – zoom on window and zoom
out of lamp, entering the office, shot-reverse-shot – during conversation. We
also used low key lighting throughout the opening.
Another film noir code is the use of a list to display the
titles which can be seen in films such as Brute Force – we included this to be
able to show the genre clearly.
Brute Force Opening
A Dame With a Clue
This will attract film noir fans as we have included a
variety of film noir conventions that the audience will look for and this will
hopefully appeal to film critics as we are showing that we have understood
clearly the codes and conventions of the genre.
Feedback from the audience:
We set up a survey using Survey Monkey with the purpose of
getting audience feedback. We sent emails to people in sixth form as well as
people we work, family members and friends. The email included a YouTube link
to the opening sequence and the survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LTQCTMK
How old are you?
The majority of the people who did the survey are teenagers
and adults - these groups are our primary and secondary audience. This shows
that these age groups were interested in filling out the survey therefore the
opening sequence attracted our ideal target audience.
What is your gender?
As shown above, most of the people who filled in our survey
are female which shows that our film goes against the stereotypical male film
noir audience. 15% of the people who took part are still male so it still
managed to attract that group.
Could you tell that the genre was Film Noir?
Everyone could tell that our film was Film Noir meaning that
we have managed to use the codes and conventions of the genre effectively. We
are relieved by this because we focused carefully and worked hard on the mise
en scene by setting up the props and choosing the correct costumes and
location.
What did you like about our film?
People said that they liked the unique choice of genre which
made our film stand out in comparison to modern films. They also praised the
mise en scene which again, we are pleased with because we really worked hard on
this. We made sure to focus on small details such as the titles and the
costumes to attract the audience.
What could be improved?
A few people stated that we need to improve on the
voice-over so next time, we will use a better quality microphone instead of our
phone to record the voice over. Additionally, the editing could also be improved
by making the pace more consistent and we could have also included more camera
angles during the office scene which would have made it more appealing.
Did you like our film opening?
