Film Research

Last Wednesday me and 3 of my friends went to see 'Safe Haven' a recent, romance film which had an element of mystery behind it. I thought this film would be useful as me and my group liked the idea of having something else going on within the romance to make it more appealing and compelling to watch. Also, the female protagonist in the film, Julianne Hough is an up and coming actress which is an option which received more votes than expected and certainly more votes than the option of 'Well known' actors when regarding my audience research survey.

The film is set in a small town in North Carolina and portrays a small, close, community which isn't dissimilar to 'The Last Song', another romance story which also shields a mystery and drama side. This made me curious as to whether it would be best for my film to be filmed in a more small, secluded, suburban community as oppose to a city which from my survey results was a more popular answer. However, I understand that I should have the target audiences preferences as my priority but also need to consider what would work best with my narrative and plot.

Within the film you see the character of Katie played by Julianne Hough live a secluded life from the rest of the community however, you see her get to know them and meet Alex, a widowed shop owner who takes a shining for Kate. This again shows similarities to our idea of a story as our main female character is going to be living fairly alone in a big house after the death of her husband and at further points throughout the film.

The film continues to show Katie's battle with herself letting down her guard to Alex, his children and the rest of the community and her constant struggle to keep herself from her past, which throughout the film we see catching up with her. Safe Haven shows the the two, Katie and Alex falling in love and how both Katie and the Alex's children quickly grow attached to one another. Which is something which shall be shown within our film also.

Katie's past soon comes back to haunt her and Alex finds out the truth which is also what will happen in my story however it will be the other way round and show the female revealing the truth of a past (different to the past of Katie's in Safe Haven) and how the characters deal with the findings to conclude the story.

Me and my friends found the crux of the narrative extremely gripping which is what I want my audience to feel when watching my film. I found watching Safe Haven very useful as it reassured me that my idea was approrpiate and has the ability to be very effective.