2. research

STAGE 2
RESEARCH +
EXPERIMENTS
Jack Hickman

 Research viewing figures, sales figures, demographic and psychographic info. Look up article,
features or stories related to your potential audience
The people that enjoy comedy films are all different so, I will limit it down to the films I included in my mood
board. The first film I researched is Hot Fuzz. This film seems to be pre-dominantly liked by men compared to
women which is most likely because the film is an action comedy film and men seem to enjoy the action genre
more compared to women. The age range for this film seems to be between the ages of 25-39 which would
mean that mostly middle-aged people enjoy this film which probably has something to do with the type of
comedy in this film. The people that like this film also seem to be living in the country of Wales and West London
which are surprisingly, close by to each other. The reason this may be is because the film seems to use a
country town for its setting which may be pretty popular for country dwellers. The social grade this audience has
is ABC1 which is upper, middle and lower classes. The social grade is generally un-helpful anyway for this type
of film as anyone can enjoy it and the film doesn’t focus on anything to do with social classes as well. Politically,
the audience is left which is more towards the conservative viewpoint.
The second film that I’ll discuss is central intelligence which is a duo comedy film that was also featured in my
initial plans. This film is also more favoured by men then women and probably due to the same reason which is
that this film has action in it. The age range for this film is much older at 40-54 which would mean that mostly
older people, those going into their elderly years, enjoy this film. This may be because the characters in the film
are also around this age range too which would make sense for the audience as the film would be more relatable
to them. The people that like this film seem to live in the north-west and north east of England at the border.
There is no way I can explain this as the film is set in a city most of the time and in North America but, its
possible that most of the people that like this film in the UK live in these areas. The social grades are also the
same at ABC1 which is upper, middle and lower class. Once again, this film doesn’t use social class as a major
subject in the film so, its pointless to use it as a means of separating out who likes it or not. Politically the
audience seems to be more to the right which is the liberal point of view though, I don’t see how this means
anything as the film doesn’t go for any perspective regarding the left and right.

 For this you should summarise your primary and secondary research, through this you should then be able to produce
an audience outline that you intend to target. For this you could also produce an audience profile.
For the primary research, most of the people seem to enjoy comedy films which is the genre of my film so, this is a good start and this also helps set
the standards of my audience. The second question asks about the type of concepts people like to see in comedy films and the majority of people
voted yes to wacky concepts which means that I should use some wacky concepts in my production work as my audience would like that. In question
3 I asked if people liked dark comedies or happier ones and everyone voted for dark comedies which is good as this sort of goes with what I am trying
to make but, this can backfire a bit as I may make it too dark for my audience or it will just come across as serious so, I may just have to stick to a
more fun concept which may upset my audience a little but. The next question asked if the audience enjoys some of the more unhappier moments in
comedy films to which, most people replied with yes which means that I should try to include some dramatic moments in the film if I can make the time
for it. The next question asked if the actions are funnier then the words and people thought that the actions were funnier which is good as it is a silent
film and most of the comedy comes from the things the characters will do. The next question asked if slapstick comedy is funny and people
responded with yes and some no’s which is weird as this is a similar question to the last one but, its essentially the same concept and I’ll make my film
funny by what the characters do in the film. The eighth question asked if short films are as good as normal films and most people said yes. This
question is more of a general question and I can’t really change my product around it. The ninth question asked if short films can get their point across
just as well as normal films to which everyone replied with yes which is good because I made this question to just ask in case someone doesn’t like it
just because it’s a short film, similar to the last question. The final question asks if comedies that rely on the same jokes for too long are funny and
people answered with no which is good for my product as, its not funny anyway, and my film will use different jokes anyway throughout which makes
me happy.
For the secondary research the age range was around the adult age range and a bit older so, I will try and incorporate some more mature themes into
the comedy project as I am certain older audiences will enjoy it. The gender audience also seems to be pre-dominantly male which I have already
accounted for in my story development plan as no females will be included and it will use mostly male comedy to please the audience so, this section
is already covered. The locational audience of near London are covered already considering the film is set in Britain and uses British characters but, I
will have to use a form of British slapstick comedy, If it even exists. I can’t help the Scottish audience very well as nothing particularly Scottish can
stand out but, they may enjoy it as it is so, I should probably leave it. The social statuses are both the same as each other and they are upper to lower
class which in my opinion, doesn’t particularly matter that much as my product doesn’t target a particular social status at all so, I don’t have to change
anything to make them like it. Besides, my product is already being targeted towards all the social statuses. In terms of politics, my advert isn’t using
this as a strong basis anyway so, I doubt it matters but, if I would target one it would just be both.

 Given your idea generation and your audience research, what sort of content would you define
as the appropriate. Consider issues of taste, certification [BBFC might be a good starting point
for this], etc. Look at what you’d like to include and what you are allowed to include.
The things I would like to include don’t necessarily go against the BBFC or include things that I am not allowed to
include. The short film includes no speech so, no vulgar language or offensive slurs will even be used. The film
does contain some violence however, it isn’t particularly bad and isn’t bad enough to warrant a 15 rating but its
still there so, its possible that it would just become a 12A. Considering that my target audience is for older people
means that this doesn’t impact the commercial viability of this product but, I will still try to keep the violence as
low as possible. The short film will also have a strong message about what addiction can do to someone which
some people may not like or may be deemed to be too strong which can effect my target audience however, the
product does not stick to this message that much at all and only becomes relevant nearer the end of the product.
Another reason why the audience may not like it is because this concept is too serious for a comedy film and
may ruin the film. To that end, I am willing to make it more comedic while keeping the theme of the fight as
necessary as possible. My film will not contain any nudity or overly sadistic tones as well as ones that use
sexuality to disgust the audience. My film will not use any drugs at all as the film does not have a drug related
theme aside from one of the characters getting a power addiction from using the teleporter but, this is shown in a
more comical way compared to the films that use drugs in a more likeable way. This film will not condone
behaviour that is bad or can cause harm to others as in fact, the film condemns it while pointing out how
hypocritical people can be. It will however, condone good behaviour and learning to give up on the things that
hurt you and others around you, much like drugs. The only threat in this film is the characters destructive
behaviour caused by the teleporter which leads to a violent outburst but, nothing particularly scary or violent
enough to trigger someone as it is used in a comical way and shouldn’t warrant any triggering.

 Research potential production techniques you might want to use or feel would be most
appropriate – these can be related to camera, editing, story, sound, etc
 You should look at a minimum of 3 related products in your research.
 You should collect clips/still images/how to guides/etc that might help you. When watching
scenes from films, etc you could also ask potential target audience what they think.
 You will need to add extra slides!
 With each technique you should assess whether you can use it or how you might employ or
why you may want to disregard it completely

 The Exchange
This short film is a comedy film about an exchange that
you would see in an action movie. The exchange is
about a man that is been traded for money but, there is
a language barrier as one side is Russian and the other
is English. It just so happens that the hostage knows
Russian as well as English so he acts as the translator
between the two sides. As the film progresses, the
hostage decides to change what the woman says and
what the men say to make negotiations fall apart.
Following this, a shoot out ensures and the only
survivor is the hostage. He makes off with the money.
The camera angles in this film start off with the
establishing shot which shows the scene of the
exchange. The second camera angle that was used is
the close-up shot which only shows the face or
something that is important, usually the face though.
This shot is used at some points during the
conversation for dramatic effect. The next shot that is
used is the medium-shot which shows the top-half of
the characters and focuses on them. It is used during
conversations for some effect; it helps the viewer focus
on the conversation. The two-shot is also used for the
characters on the hostage side which shows their
relationship.
The first editing technique that is used is the use of
subtitles which are added in during post-production to
help the English audience understand the Russian that
is spoken. The next editing technique is cutting on
action where some of the action is cut simply because
the audience is expecting it. It is very good for twists
when it comes to the question of who won. This is used
at the end during the shootout so, the audience doesn’t
know who won until its over.

 The Hit
The next product is another comedy short film about a hit man and the
guy who gives him the job. The story starts off with a man in a red
hoodie sat on a public bench and follows with someone sitting down
behind him. The men talk for a bit before the former gives him a letter
however, the other man does not take the letter for the reason that he
can’t see it so, he asks the man to sit opposite him. The letter contains a
target for the hit man and the red hoodie guy tells him that the target will
be pretty hard to find but, the hit man sees the target on the public
bench behind the red hoodie guy. He looks confused before shooting
the target with the gun going off right next to the red-hoodie guys ear.
The hit man asks for payment but, the guy can’t hear him very well and
after a brief one-sided conversation the guy gives him the money before
he leaves. To further focus on this joke he calls the guy who had hired
them to tell them that the job was done only, this was done after the guy
had been having a one-sided conversation with him for a bit.
The camera angles in this short film start off with a medium shot of the
guy in the red-hoodie looking inconspicuous. Medium shots only show
the top half of a characters body. The second shot used is the close-up
which only shows the face of the character or when focusing on
something. This shot was used for comedic effect as it was used when
the guy could not hear anything with the exception of the ringing sound.
The next camera angle that it used is the over-the-shoulder shot which
is often used during conversations when only one person is talking to
draw people into the conversation. This works because its almost as if
one of the characters is talking to the audience which forces them to
listen to what’s being said.
The editing in this short film is pretty sparse as the characters don’t go
anyway and little special effects need to be used for this short film. The
first effect is the ringing sound in the guys ear nearer the end to tell the
audience that the guy is partially deaf now. The gunshot and bullet were
also added in during post-production as the use of a real gun is illegal in
public and a gunshot going off next to someone’s ear would actually
damage their eardrum and this would have breached health and safety.
The sound of the bullet hitting someone's skull and the blood effect
were most likely also added in during post-production as well as they
would have been impossible to add in during the filming of the product
anyway unless they had extra equipment on standby to help them make
the sound effects which is unlikely.

 Double Trouble
This short film is a silent time travel short film about a boy who has a
crush on a girl but misses his chance to talk to her however, he finds a
watch on the floor. Intrigued by it, the boy picks it up and analyses it
almost as if he were drawn to it. He messes with the watch and this turns
back time to a couple of seconds ago to before the lady dropped the cups
all over the floor. This makes the boy realise what type of watch he has
just obtained. This leads to the boy messing around with the watch to
slowly rewind and fast forward time to watch every bit of the cups
dropping. This turn of events allows him to approach the girl only that
somehow, there is another version of him now and both of them fight for
the right to speak to the girl. They end up messing around with the watch
and fighting through the small bits of time that has already been
established. This attracts the attention of the girl he has a crush on and
she can’t help but be a bit shocked at this. She begins to look at the book
she reading which is the time travellers wife and begins to draw lines
between the situation that is un-folding between her eyes as well as the
book she is reading. Eventually the boy has to break the time machine
due to the amount of clones that are appearing which results in time
returning to normal. He notices that she is gone again and expresses his
dis-satisfaction through facial expressions before turning around to find
the girl stood behind him. The two smile at each other and embrace
before the film ends.
The camera angles used in this short film mostly include the long-shot
which is a shot that includes the entirety of a characters body or small
amount of a particular setting. This short film uses it to show all the
locations of time travel/teleportation in the same frame without
disorientating the viewer. Its also used to show some of the characters
while panning. The next shot is the close-up shot which shows the face or
an object. The close-up shot is used on the guy eating the croissant and
when the lady drops the cutlery and cups everywhere. The next shot is
the medium shot which only shows half of the characters body. This is
used at some points like when the guy is stood over her in a desperate
attempt to hide his clone as well as when trying to slip past two of them.
There is quite a few pieces of editing that was used in this short film that
mostly involve the time travel mechanic. The first one is the part where
they do a disappearing montage for comedic effect which was definitely
added in during post-production. The second piece of editing is the one
that is used on the watch to simulate the the fact that it is
broken/malfunctioning. This wouldn’t have worked at all without the
editing. The third piece of editing was the ability to get more than two of
the same person on the screen at once. It seems that the post-production
editing is what made this short film and without it, it would never have
worked at all.

EXPERIMENTS
Camera/Editing/Audio Experiments
Be prepared to add extra slides

 The filming process involves going out to one of the
corridors in college and recording some clips for our
experiments. The plot to the experiment was a guy
finds a key on the floor and approaches a door to
unlock it. On the other side he finds a guy dancing in a
mirror and he runs off, embarrassed with him self. The
guy who opened the door stands in shock for a minute
before giving a short laugh and leaving. The plot line
wasn’t original as we were given a plotline to follow by
our tutor which is finding a key and unlocking a door
with it. Everything else though was our own work and
we decided to put it into a comedy. We recorded a
couple of clips for the experiment as some of them
went a bit wrong, mainly due to the fact that the
planning didn’t have very good direction so, we
struggled with filming it a little but, we still got it all
done. We were also held back by the amount of
disruptions that were caused by other students who
kept shouting over the audio and who would appear in
the shot. The filming process took even longer when
we had to do 2 films but, we only had to choose one to
edit so, I chose the second one we did.
 Tools that were used
- Camera- we used this to record all of the footage
- Tripod- we used this to keep the camera steady so, we
wouldn’t have a shaky shot when filming.
Note: This process didn’t use tools in editing software as
it wasn’t possible so, I listed the tools we used when
filming.

 What elements of your experiments will you include in your final product?
The elements of my production that I will use in my final product go as follows. The first thing I will include is
the fact that, none of the characters in the final product will speak. I wanted to use this for more effect as the
characters won’t be making jokes themselves but, rather, the jokes will come in the form of clumsy behaviour
and some facial expressions that the characters use throughout the film. Other elements that I will use are
the shots that we used in the experiments. These shots include the close-up shot to place emphasis on
faces and the medium shot to show half of the body for focus. These shots may be used to show the
characters when they are walking around the building as well as when they are using the teleporter to
change locations. I’ll also use close-ups on their faces to show how they react to each other. I may use the
long shot as well but, the shot is only good for capturing most of the area yet, it can still be used for some
long distance shots. I may use this shot when they are playing hide and seek to show the different locations
between the two characters as well as when used on them during conversations maybe. The establishing
shot as, it is good for establishing the location that this film takes place in which is college. I may use this
shot to film the outside of college at the start of the film. Another shot I can use is the over-the-shoulder shot
which can be used during interactions between the two characters to help the audience to focus on their
reactions and responses to each other.

 The processes firstly involve placing the clips that
were correct into the premiere file. I then moved them
all into the correct order, starting with the clip of me
walking down the corridor to find the key and ending
with the clip of me standing by the door contemplating
what happened. The clips had to be organised into a 1
minute long short film so, some of the clips had to be
shortened down to fit the maximum length of the film.
The first clip I shortened down was the one where I
was walking down the corridor which went on for quite
a while and could have done with it been cut a bit
earlier when filming the experiment. The second clip
that I edited was the clip where I picked up the key as
in the original, I had picked up the key, smelled it and
made a comment about its smell so, definitely some of
it didn’t even need to be there. The next clip that I had
to edit was the part where the guy ran out of the toilet
and he had continued to run for quite some time
afterwards which was rather pointless in the end and
would only serve to increase the length of the film.
 The tools I used
- Selection Tool- I used this tool to move the clips
around and into the right places.
- Razor Tool- I used this tool to cut parts of clips that I
didn’t need

 The elements of my experiments that I will use in the final product is the editing software that I used which
is Adobe Premiere and it is a good software for editing videos. Its good for my work as it is easy to use
and easy to manage. I will also use the tools that I used in the process which are the selection tool and
the razor tool. I will also use a similar time to the one that I used in the experiments but, I will most likely
use more than the time I used in the experiments as the final product is bigger and will have extra scenes.
I also plan on using some visual effects for my final product as they can help with some of the more
comedic scenes because they, if used correctly, can be used to add colour filters to help elaborate on
some of the more comedic moments.

 This is the audio process for my experiments. In this process I
added the audio to the experiment to finish off the experiment.
The audio is mostly soundtracks that I got from various royalty
free sites but, the one that I like the most was purple planet as it
didn’t ask me to sign up to it or ask that I pay for it which defeats
the purpose of it being ‘royalty free’ in my mind. I added a happy
track to the start as the character is moving around the college
with a confident stride but, the music stops when he encounters
the key on the floor to add suspense. The music starts up again
as the character is moving down the corridor but, its more of a
horror song to add tension when the character is moving through
the corridor towards the end where the door is. The lights also
turn on halfway down which definitely helps add the horror effect
I was trying to go for. As the character approaches the door the
music changes to a more drastic tone and builds up the tension
even more though, it falls flat when the door opens to show a guy
dancing which, was intentional on my part for comedic effect.
After that I simply changed the audio around by making the
sound track quieter so, the background noise can still be heard
over the soundtrack and also making some of the videos mute as
there was some sound that wasn’t necessary to have such as
people speaking and background noise.
 The tools that I used
- Selection Tool- I used this tool to move the audio tracks into the
correct place.
- Razor Tool- I used this tool to cut parts of the audio that I didn’t
need.

The elements of this experiment that I will include in my product are, possibly, the soundtracks as they are pretty
good and I might be able to find use for them in the final product such as during tense moments and during some
of the more happier ones. I could also use more soundtracks from the same place if I need them; soundtracks
that follow the same style as the ones that I used in the experiments but, different enough to show some
contrast. I will also include some of the audio editing tools that I used in the experiments as these helped a lot
and they can be used to alter some of the audio for my product. These alterations include muting the video clips
for my product and altering the volume for the audio tracks so, they aren’t too quiet or too loud. I can also use
some of the tools in my final product which are the selection tool for moving the clips around and the razor tool
for cutting certain clips down and using it to add in parts in-between. I will also try to add more effects to the final
product just so the product looks better and more effective at establishing its point.

 This is the filming process for the audio
experiment. For this process, me and a friend
went around college finding sound effects to put
over a scene from Shaun of the dead. We had to
gather a numerous amount of sound clips to use
for this experiment which mostly consisted of
loads of different ones. They include footsteps,
fridges opening, the sound of fridges, running,
panting, food being used and and the ambient
sound of wind. These clips were recorded in
numerous places around college; inside and out.
The footsteps were recorded both inside and
outside of college, the fridge sounds were made
inside of college. The running and panting was
recorded outside of college and the food was
recorded inside of college. The wind ambience
was recorded along with the running and panting
to make it easier. Some of the clips aren’t made
very well so, they wont make it to the final
experiment.
 The tools that I used
- Audio Recorder- I used this tool to record the
audio clips

The only things that I can take from this process is the tool that I used which is the Audio Recorder for
capturing the audio clips as this is definitely something that I need to record clips for anyway. I can’t use any
of the clips for my main product as they won’t actually be necessary at all. Then again, some of them can
actually be used for my final product if they are necessary but, I may just make some more instead. The
audio clips will mostly be similar to the ones I made though so, I can use them for help when making some
more. I could also record the sound effects better and put more effort into the recordings as we had made
them relatively quickly which means that some of the sounds weren’t nearly as good as they should have
been and hopefully, I can do this when making the actual product.

 For this process I added the audio clips and the Shaun
of the dead clip into premiere and began putting it all
together. The sound clips were all put into the right
places. I started by adding the footsteps and the
ambient sound to the clip and luckily the footsteps
matched the clip perfectly so, I didn’t have to worry
about adjusting it that much. Following this, I added
the running and panting sound effect to the clip when
the guy ran past the main character while still keeping
the walking sound going at the same time. After this I
changed the walking to the inside version when he
enters the shop as well as the sound of a fridge
working to help give the feel that the character is in a
store. The inside version of the walking doesn’t match
as well but it still works if I change the timing slightly.
After this, I added in the sound of a fridge opening and
closing which surprisingly, works kind of well though, I
did have to alter it slightly to get it to fit. For the last
part I simply added in the walking sound again
followed by the opening of a ice cream fridge sound
when he does it and the sound of rustling of enclosed
food where it is needed and a slight walk to the front
desk. All these sounds effects fit surprisingly well.
 Tools that I used
- Selection Tool- I used this tool to move the audio clips
around the premiere file; place the clips into the right
places.
- Razor Tool- I used this tool to cut the clips in half if I
needed to shorten them down or if parts of the clip
weren’t necessary for my experiments.

The elements of this process I wish to take over to the final product would mainly be the good job I did with
placing the clips into the right places for my experiments as I did it quicker then I thought I needed which
made it better because I feel more confident that I can do the audio work for the final product. I can use the
same tools as well which is the selection tool to help me move my clips around and the razor tool to cut
down parts of the clips I don’t want but, apart from that, there isn’t that much I can take over but, I plan on
using some more audio effects for my final product as I mentioned prior and perhaps try to keep the skill I
had when placing the clips into the premiere file.

 List all the potential constraints that might affect or limit your production, you
should consider issues from each of these categories:
 Time/Personnel/Cost/Technical/Location/Organisational
 I think that time is a big factor in constraints as I believe that my product will actually go over the time limit by
a somewhat significant margin and this might badly effect my work because I’ll have to remove some of it and
this isn’t good when all of the product is essential so, I may have to cut the story down a little bit to meet the
time quota that has been set by the tutor or else, I’ll fail the project. Personnel can be a bit of an issue as I
need people to help me with acting and camerawork and if they don’t want to do it or, they are just not in then
this can severely effect my work as I can’t get it done without them which will lead to and un-finished product. I
can fix this by having people on standby for camerawork but, this won’t work for acting as I need the same
ones just so, I don’t confuse the audience. I won’t have to worry about the cost as everything is provided by
college and I don’t intend on buying anything new to do this project. I also don’t intend on breaking anything
either so, cost definitely isn’t that much of an issue. The technical qualities of this product shouldn’t effect that
much of my product as the equipment is provided by college however, if any of it breaks or just doesn’t work
then I can just use a spare and the chance of everything breaking is also not likely so, I don’t have to worry
about the equipment that much. As long as equipment is still available when I start filming. The location isn’t
necessarily an issue as I already know where I’m going to film it but, the constraint can easily be that the
location may not be available or that people will just get in the way of the shot all the time which is definitely a
constraint to my production. There isn’t really a way to get around it which is a shame. The organisation of the
piece may also be a problem as if the planning isn’t done by the time I film then it can become a severe issue
as I won’t really know what I am doing. The only way around this is if I get it all organised before I finish.

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