CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

Off The Leash! is set in a an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice, in which the public is deprived of the freedom to travel due to a recent outbreak of the coronavirus. From this, a group of young boys protest against the government, asking for freedom, dressing up in animal masks to protect their identity.

The protest group consists of 4 young boys, all with different views on the topic. The set up their protests in the woods and the surroundings, using large placards, flags and flares to show their anger. A news reporter describes them as violent and warns the public that the woods is now a dangerous place and strongly advises people to stay away. The woods is the protestors chosen location due to the fact there is a sense of no laws, being hidden away by the trees, with no clear paths and with no civilisation. The woods are also home to wild animals, which makes the location feel like a natural habitat for the protestors.

For our promo pack, we created a number of different products for consumers. Our products consisted of a number of different T-shirts and iPhone cases. We chose to do iPhone cases because our target audience research concluded that the majority of viewers would have an iPhone device. These products that we are selling 'brands' our film and it gives us good exposure for our production. Having a number of different products on our store meant that audiences have lots to choose from and we can cater for a variety of people. Our independent film companies, Chambers Productions and Mind's Eye Productions respectively have unique company logos and brands which we used throughout the trailer and also through a variety of our social media pages including Tik Tok, Twitter, Instagram and FaceBook. These social media pages have allowed us to share and showcase our talent and behind the scenes footage of our filming on set. It allows viewer to get familiar with the characters and build a rapport with them which is key because we want our viewers to be involved and hooked on at all times. Audiences are more likely to stay hooked with the film if they have a pre-built relationship with certain characters.

Our production engages with the 15-25 age group as we felt it suited their interests the most. We also wanted to create lots of horror and a number of jump scenes which meant any viewers that were under the age of 15 might not like the film which meant we would have received negative feedback. Our target audience is open to everyone, as we feel like there is a wide variety of people who like the horror and thriller genre and I feel like my trailer comes under both of these. Therefore, our trailer will get lots of exposure and lots of people will want to watch. My production team used an original soundtrack, custom designed for our film trailer as our original soundtrack had to be taken down. This worked in our favour as we finished with a unique soundtrack which makes our film stand out and the fact that it was custom designed to suit our trailer makes it flow smoothly. Our main trailer engages with audiences due to the fast-paced editing a long with the popular soundtrack we used.

Our film challenges and uses different codes and conventions. After studying a number of different trailers of well-known films, one convention that stood out to me was intertitles. I took inspiration from this and when it came to my trailer, I added different intertitles. Our film was a thriller / horror film and one convention which I saw a lot in this genre of films were jump scare scenes. This meant that I felt it was necessary to include at least one scary scene in our trailer. After my research, I knew that films are required to produce a BBFC age verified certificate which is what I included at the beginning of our trailer. Trailers also are different to films in terms of continuity. To keep audiences engaged with the trailer, there needs to be a lack of continuity, however it needs to be made exciting and thrilling, especially as ours is a horror/thriller. For us, there needs to be the horror elements involved, like jump scares and fast-paced music. Therefore I added as much thrilling content as possible into our trailer, without giving away the whole plot line. This means that I would make a successful trailer, as audiences will want to come back and watch the full film if they enjoyed the trailer and were engaged. Not only researching trailers, I researched a number of different posters from films like Tenet, Inception etc. which gave me inspiration to make my own and take different techniques from their posters and integrate them into mine. I created a sleek poster with the subject being a man holding a smoke bomb. I felt like this worked well because the protestors in our trailer are seen holding smoke bombs so the poster had a link to the trailer. Billing blocks and awards were also spotted throughout the posters I researched so I took this into my own and added a professional looking billing block at the footer of my poster and spread out a number of award logos towards the header. Another way in which I challenged codes and conventions was the current time period we used for our film. Off The Leash! is set in lockdown where the viewers of the film will be able to create a rapport straight away.

FILM POSTER

 FILM POSTER - OFF THE LEASH!

REFINEMENTS FILM POSTER by Finn Hanley

FILM POSTER ANALYSIS 

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE

For our film OFF THE LEASH we wanted to create a line of merchandise. This is useful because it creates it supplies two key elements. First of all, the money involved. If people are looking to buy our products, we will be earning money from these sales. This allows us to recoup some of the costs involved in the production of the film. It also increases the profitability of the film. The merchandise allows for free marketing. If consumers were to purchase a product, that product is then exposed to the public. If customers were to walk around in public with one of our products like a phone case or t-shirt, lots of people are going to see it, giving the film 'free' marketing. When people see the film art, or even just the title, they will associate it with our film and it means they are likely to visit our social media platforms or look at content related to the film. Some of the products that we are offering include phone cases and T-shirts. Both the products come in a variety of sizes and colours, allowing for a wider range of consumers. We want to allow everyone to access and use our products, so offering a wide availability means we are more likely to sell the product.

Phone Cases

T-Shirt

SOCIAL MEDIA (TIK TOK)

 

I took up the task of running a Tik Tok account for our film - OFF THE LEASH. This allowed me to set up the account and make videos to show the public. I took the art from our various social media profiles and used it for our profile picture. This is so that everyone that sees the video and sees the account will be able to see our movie art. I created a Tik Tok account because the platform is one of the most used in the world. Releasing videos on this platforms allows our content to be exposed to lots of people. Tik Tok is used by a younger age group so I made our first video with this in mind. I wanted to create a fun and dramatic video to keep the audience interested. With the younger age audience, they are more likely to become uninterested quicker. Because of this, using fast paced editing and loud music will keep the audience interested throughout the duration of the short video. Throughout the video I added a series of short intertitles. I showed that this project was from the same people that created SUSPECT. This can lure in former audiences of the previous film and we will have an already built up audience.

PLANNING: COSTUMES

 

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PLANNING: PROPS

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PLANNING: RISK ASSESSMENT

 

Risk Assessment	Hazard Proposed	Hazard posed to whom	Risk Level	How Risk was Controlled
Journey to location of filming.	Walking from Esher to the woods  and back from to Esher from the woods– cars.      Travelling via train to and from Esher – big step between train and platform, fast moving trains, public behaviour.                  Travelling via car to and from Esher – be aware of other drivers and pedestrians.	All 4 of us.               Sam, Finn                              Ben, Matt	High               Medium                              High	We took extra care when travelling to our site of filming, always looking both ways when crossing a road.   Sam and Finn will take extra care when entering and exiting the train making sure to check how big the gap between the train and platform is. Make sure to stand behind the yellow line on platforms. Avoid public confrontation.   When driving always check your mirrors and stick to the speed limit to reduce chance of accidents. Always look for pedestrians.
First Aid	Tripping/falling when filming in the woods.           Falling ill/sick Lack of vision - animal masks greatly reduce vision.	All 4 of us               All 4 of us All 4 of us	Medium               Low High	Take care when walking on uneven surfaces. We will carry plasters at all time to accommodate for any cuts.   Taking appropriate measures to help individuals who feel unwell i.e. calling their parents or getting them water. Walking slowly through woods when filming.
General public	Theft - drone, laptop, phones. Assault	All 4 of us                 All 4 of us	High High	Always carry items in a zipped up bag and never leave unattended when filming. Always checking we still have our valuables.   We will walk through public areas as a group of 4 in order to look less approachable. Will not speak to any other members of public.
Public incidents	Terrorism - caught up in terrorist activity leading to injury or confusion. COVID-19 lockdown - preventing us from filming.	All 4 of us All 4 of us	High High	We will follow given government guidelines and be aware of our surroundings so we do not get lost. Make sure everyone knows emergency contacts if needed e.g. 999. Making sure everyone follows covid-19 government guidelines and not breaking the law. Waiting until after the lockdown to continue filming.