Evaluation: Question 5

Q5 How did you attract/address your audience.

The posters we made for our film were very bright and eye-catching. The ninja child was present on both of the images and in an action pose, which let the audience know the film would be exciting and fun. This would attract them to watch the film as it would be something they were interested in.

The tagline of the posters was a simple two word sentence “Fight Me.” in calligraphy styled red font, which would grab their attention. The colours used are also very high contrast and stand out, grabbing people’s attention. These posters would be put up in cinema halls and around shopping centres. These places are effective as many young people would frequent these areas and be able to see the advertisements. Younger children would likely be shopping with their parents and would be able to see the posters and ask their parents to take them to see it.  The posters could also put in local newspapers to grab the attention of parents who are looking to take their children to a film. Newspapers could also attract other audiences (an older periphery audience) to the film- such as teens who want to see a light hearted comedy film.

The opening itself tries to grab the audiences attention by slowly building up. The first shot we see is of the first credit that fades into a black background. It then the close up zooms out and we see a better look at the black object in the foreground which seems to be some kind of prop hanging. This makes the audience wonder what this object is, although it is evident that this prop is key to the film because of the focus on it. Though this zoom, the non-diagetic soundtrack begins to build and it sounds like people getting ready, which starts building up to the action, preparing the audience. As soon as this shot is cut to a credit, the music gets much louder and it signals to the audience that the main action is about to start, getting them ready for the upcoming story. The next few shots show some key items from the opening. There is a panning shot that rests on the fight me sign and the second sword and then a mid-shot of the black object which is quickly taken by a hand) and belt hanging with the calendar in the background. These two shots highlight the various props and make it clear to the audience that they are going to come up again later in the story. The calendar which is also clearly in the shot shows how the kid has been planning this event, and further increases the apprehension for the audience, as they can tell that something is coming. The next shot cuts to a close up of the kid putting on the black prop which turns out to be the mask, which in the audiences mind relates him to the other objects. Through out these shots, there are cuts to credits which create breaks in the film and coupled with the percussive and looping soundtrack, it increases the tension in the audience.

After this there is a long shot as the kid moves towards the horizon, and a lens flare appears on screen. This shot creates the atmosphere of the kid going towards his goal, as it seems like the light is the bright positive future, and the kid is walking towards it. The soundtrack also becomes quite serene around this point and this compliments the positive nature of this shot. After this there is a time lapse of a tree, with the serene music once again playing, making it seem like this is the destination the kid is going to (as it feels as if this place is where he’ll achieve his goal). There is then a direct cut to a picture of the tree hanging on the wall, which makes the audience realise that the tree is in fact the goal, as it seems the kid has picked the location beforehand. After this, there is a panning shot across the whole wall where there are many different sheets of paper stuck onto the wall, showing how the kid has researched everything. This engages the audience as we can now know a little bit more about the character. The audience get a sense of how the main character is very studious, imaginative and even obsessive. They then begin to wonder what a character like this has planned and become more engaged in the story line. After this pan there is a shot of two hands putting down the fight me sign, which was shown previously in the sequence. This tells the audience that the kid has reached wherever he is going and now seems to be ready, as he is placing down the props to his final plan. His makes the audience question what the plan is, as the simple sign doesn’t really give away much as to what his motivations and goal is.

There is then a series of shots where we cut from various shots of a man to close ups on words which are on the wall that was panned over. The shots of the man show an over the shoulder shot of him looking at his phone and then hurriedly putting it back in his pocket and then a long pivot shot as he runs along his way. This gives the audience the impression the man is late for something or had some kind of prior engagement. The fact that we don’t really see much of his face shows that we aren’t really meant to emphasise with him- while we has a close up of the ninja, we only really see the back of this mans head, so we see the events like an onlooker, making the audience feel less engaged with the man. The next shots are two over the shoulder shots- one of the man reaching the ninja, and then a match on action over the shoulder shot with the man just stopping in front of the camera while we see the ninja in the background. From the man’s body language we can tell he’s slightly shocked and taken aback to see the ninja there waiting. Throughout this sequence of shots to the man, there are cuts to the words, which help build tension in the audience. It also gives them more of an impression of the themes behind the film. The words that are closed up on are to do with ninjas and tell the audience to expect such things.

One close up even shows the words “community together” which is foreshadowing the events at the end of the film to the audience when the hoard of ninjas come to support the main character. This foreshadowing is also mirrored by the soundtrack which has a chanting dialogue worked into the music, making it seem like the Ninja Child’s supporters are cheering him on. The final shot is a slow pan and zoom out, which rests on a mid shot of the Ninja Child as the title fades in. This shot brings together the whole opening as all the props that were dotted throughout have all come together- giving the impression that the kids plan has come together too. This grips the audience as they now know what’s going on, but are not aware of what will happen, and are now excited about how the rest of the film will play out. 

The genre that our film is would be a kid’s action comedy. The audience would be expecting a more light hearted film, with action and humour, and nothing that can be taken seriously. Kid’s films in present times also seem to be quite self-aware and now often take humour from this self-awareness and not only the comedy that happens on screen. This is why this film would attract the audience as the way it is filmed creates an almost serious storyline, as the audience can tell some epic event is going to take place. But because of the details of the props being fake and it taking place in a fairly ordinary setting, the film seems to be more of a mockery of action film conventions,. For example, a very common Chinese or far eastern action film convention is the idea of a lone noble warrior going out to do battle with their arch rival.

This convention in itself seems quite epic, when in an unrealistic or historical setting. However when it is juxtaposed into an ordinary setting, it becomes quite comical.  And example could be from this fight scene in Hero(2002), which is very unrealistic, but still taken as seriouys. However, our film makes it clear this first confrontation isn't supposed to bve taken seriosuly with it's mise en scene and music.

The fact that the ninja is an actual child also makes it comical, as no one would really take it seriously, and that’s the point. The audience can expect they aren’t supposed to be taking the film seriously, even though the camera work and editing give the impression of an action epic with a deep storyline. The audience can spot out the mise en scene elements and already tell this film will not be serious. Thus, the audience can appreciate the film for these qualities and want to watch it for the juxtaposition of serious and comical elements.

The main themes of this film is a challenge. Although the actual challenge in the film is when the ninja challenges the bully in his school one could also say the challenge is  about the ninja child challenging himself to make friends and stand up to the bully. There's also a theme of loneliness and isolation with the kid, which we can see from the various wide shots and solitary shots of the ninja child. These are themes many people can relate to, especially our younger audience.

At the age they would be (around 7 to 13) they would be nearing the age of moving to secondary schools, which is a big time for young kids. It's an age where kids experience many new environments and people, but aren't always mature enough as an individual to take it in their stride, and this tends to result in insecurity and loneliness in these new environments. Often, at this age small problems are blown out of proportion and disputes amongst peers are treated as something serious due to the young people's immaturity. In this sense, the target audience can empathise with the main character, as they'd be more willing to believe the situation the Ninja Child is in and be able to relate to it. They may even have dreamt of doing crazy stunts and challenges such as the Ninja Child in the film, and therefore would appreciate it more. Because the main character is the same age as the target audience, it makes it easier for them to understand and feel familiar with the character and makes them enjoy the film more. This is similar to a film such as Kickass, although it's aimed at an older audience, Kickass is similarly self-aware and draws it's humour from comic book cliches. It is also about an imaginative kid who's trying to live out his dreams, but has much more serious consequences. Another film would be Karate Kid(2010) which had both the themes of a challenge(the kung fu tournament) and the loneliness of the main character.