Past exam questions

Section A:

Areas of Representation:

• Age
• Sexuality
• Ethnicity
• Class and Status
• disability and ability
• regional identity

You need to answer the question in relation to:

1. Mise-en-scene
2. Editing
3. Camera work
4. Sound

Section B

• Digital Technologies- Phones, ipads etc, evolving technology
• Media Ownership- intuitions, conglomerates, the big 5 companies
• Digital distribution- marketing, VOD, streamed on TV and internet

 

Convergence- Media convergence is the coming together of multiple media platforms, to create a flow of contents across multiple media platforms. It is the corporations and collaboration of media platforms to create lots of different products for their audience.

Synergy- this is the promotion and sale of a product e.g. film soundtracks, figures,  toys, video games. The products help advertise the film itself. e.g. Skyfall released the same time as Adele’s song Skyfall.

explain the ‘standard Hollywood release’- In the standard drill, a movie is first released through movie theaters , then, after approximately 16 and a half weeks, it is released to DVD. After an additional number of months it is released to Pay TV and VOD services and approximately two years after its theatrical release date, it is made available for free-to-air TV.

The 5 main film conglomerates: 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal, Walt Disney

Tentpole- a film that is expected to be very successful and so able to fund a range of related products or films. HARRY POTTER.

Most likely that I need to say the Hollywood film first.

Facts From My Case Studies:

A Field In England- Ben Wheatley

• shown in 17 cinemas and the opening weekend too £21 000
• released on the 5th June 2013
• The target age is 18-25 , aimed at the same demographic group as Shaun Of The Dead and Attack The Block.
• This film’s budget was £316,879 with £112,000 Publicity and Advertising spend supported by £56,701 from the BFI.

Attack The Block- Joe cornish

• The target Age for this film is 15-34 year old men and women but mainly teenagers.
• The film was released on 11 May 2011 in The UK, in 66 theaters.
• The Films Budget was £8M and in the BoxOffice it made £3,831,475.
• The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the UK on 19 September 2011.
• Play.com have an exclusive Blu-ray and DVD double play edition, with a glow-in-the-dark sleeve, featuring the bio-luminescent jaws of one of the creatures.
• Rock Of Ages-Adam Shankman
• Released in cinemas first on the 13th of June 2012 by Warner Bros and Pictures Distribution.
• It was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 9, 2012.
• Warner Bros has a reputation of releasing quality films, therefore it has loyalty, people will not be put off by the distributor as they know they are good.
  This is the normal, traditional release method: cinema- DVD Blue Ray- VOD- TV.

Opening Paragraphs

Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing
and consumption of products in the media area you have
studied.

Digital technologies are forever changing and we are experiencing more and more different and fresh methods in which to access film and its portability. In the traditional hollywood method of marketing and consumption of products, the film goes from the cinema, to DVD and BlueRay then to VOD and then free TV. In the film Rock Of Ages the film was advertised in cinema adverts when people go to watch other films, buses, websites etc. Twitter and Facebook provide a free method of marketing for the company. Ben Wheatleys film A Field In England became the number one trending thing on twitter on the friday night just before the weekend release. Ben Wheatleys active role within the connection with him and his fans provided a loyal fan base in which people tuned into his live Q and A, creating yet more film awareness and a method of marketing.

What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?

Media Ownership is a huge part of releasing a film. The 5 main film conglomerates are 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Walt Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. They are extremely successful and well known, and because of this they can have complete control over the films they release and when and where. They release TENTPOLE films that are expected to be a huge success, for example the 7 Harry Potter Films released by Warner Bros. The larger film conglomerates can release extras and synergy with the film, as they can create extra products aside the actual film, for example, again using Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, they release action figures, wands, generally extra merchandise to go with the film.

The Hollywood movie I chose was Rock Of Ages by Adam Shankman released on 13th June 2012. This films release was standard, starting firstly in cinemas and the film was produced by New Line Cinema (an american film studio) which is a Subsidiary of Warner Bros. Warner Bros is the parent conglomerate of New Line Cinema. This provided the film with a huge awareness as Warner Bros is successful and well known, therefore its films are publicised to the max with a film budget of $75 million. The film was later released on DVD and Blue Ray on 9th October 2012, then VOD followed. This film also has synergy as it released a soundtrack with the film and the DVD has extras where there’sscommentarys from the actors and director.

In contrast A Field In England, a film by Ben Wheatley, released on the 5th July 2013, was released on ALL PLATFORMS as a new revelation and unorthodox approach in which people were intrigued. This film was released in cinemas, DVD, BlueRay, VOD and free TV all on the opening weekend. Attracting a huge audience with a choice of media to see it in.  Ben Wheatley had an active connection with his fans, his film became the number one thing trending on twitter on the friday night before the weekend release

Section B- Practice

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Section B question on film distribution

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

Key words in the sentence: continuing development of digital media technology + Media institutions and audiences.

What does this mean? It basically means the forever changing and evolving internet and the ability for film and TV to be streamed through internet as well as DVD sales which are physical objects. The power of VOD, social media sites and sites that let you watch film and TV. It also includes the ability of carrying films in your pocket of your mobile or on a tablet.

SO….  You need to look at how film distribution has been helped and made easier by the continually changing technology

• A Field In England:

1. This Film was released on all platforms, this was an advantage as it made people more aware of itself as a film, the filmmaker stood out as a risk taker, intriguing people, he was brave to release it on all platforms, meaning he must have had some kind of faith that it would be a success. The platforms the film was released on was cinema, TV, VOD and DVD and Blue Ray.
2. A Field In England had a significant advantage as the film maker had a strong and active fan base, who have a keen interest in new forms of communication and distribution. (12000 followers on twitter)- Twitter is a digital media technology which has a large significance in the distribution of A Field In England.
3. Film4 and Channel 4 supported A Field In England and this was an advantage as both companies already had a reputation and was recognisable for quality innovation, all from previous films that had been supported by Film4 and been a success. Therefore making people trust the companies and be loyal, and thinking that this next film would be good.
4. Aswell as having a television channel, Channel 4 has its own DVD label (4DVD) which also distributes to transactional  VOD platforms such as iTunes, this was an excellent link which gave the film companies which supported it.
5. The exhibitor and distributor was Picturehouse Cinema, it helped devise, refine and execute the strategy. Picturehouse cinema had the major advantage of local loyalty towards its cinemas around the world as it has the reputation of good quality cinemas around the UK.
6. Ben Wheatley also took part in Q&A screenings which showed his active involvement in the advertising and distribution of his film.
7. The involvement of Twitter and other social media sites also play a large part in the advertising and awareness of the film, gaining and pulling in an audience that are anticipating to see the film, but also knowing that it will be on a range of platforms for them to choose which way they see the film.

 

• A Major Hollywood Film (standard model):
• The 5 Major film conglomerates:  20^th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures

1. My Choice of film: Rock of ages: then how the continuing development of digital media technology has helped it. Rock of Ages is Warner Bros.
2. Released in cinemas first on the 13^th of June 2012 by Warner Bros and Pictures Distribution.
3. It was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 9, 2012.
4. Warner Bros has a reputation of releasing quality films, therefore it has loyalty, people will not be put off by the distributor as they know they are good.
5. This is the normal, traditional release method: cinema- DVD Blue Ray- VOD- TV

 

• My chosen film- Attack The Block

1. The film was first released in cinemas, but later brought out on DVD and Blue Ray.
2. StudioCanal chose to promote Attack The Block through social networking sites such as Facebook. Social media helped with the awareness of the film and helped build the anticipation of it.  Film4 Productions had also contributed to the production of Attack The Block, the film also aired on Channel 4 and Film4 without any added cost. Again both companies with loyal and extended customers, people know they provide quality films and have the faith that the film will be good.
3. A website was created supporting the film and keeping fans updated, and trailers were broadcast on TV and social media, again, places like twitter helped create a build up to the opening weekend and get people excited.

SO…….

Overall the significance of the ever changing technology is that it is creating new and easy ways in which we access and watch films. It is also advertising film and making people aware in a way which is simple for the directors and helps with the distributing methods and it gets the audience hyped before they watch it. Social Media sites being the most powerful and simplest way of getting your film talked about, also having a director like Ben Wheatley is a good thing because of his active fan base and interest in having a connection with his audience, showing them he has an interest in the people he is selling to as well as his film.

 

Doc Martin- Exam Practice

Regional Identity displayed in the clip:

Camera work:

• There are long lingering shots of the country side and scenery
• Doc Martin moves through the scenes quickly and the camera follows him, the camera is rushing like him, but the locals are relaxed and slower and their shots are much longer.
• When Doc Martin panics the camera shakes a little bit, his unsettled emotion is displayed through the camera not being still, this is a contrast with the relaxed plumbers and locals.

Sound:

• The music is a composed score and therefore regionally appropriate, it suits the country scenery and is in harmony with the relaxed locals.
• Doc Martins voice is much louder and more volumised than the other characters, he is the odd one out, his voice is dominant, he stands out from the locals as he is clearly a city man.
• The diegetic sounds have been emphasised, like the sea gulls and shop doors, to emphasise the country side touch in contrast with Doc Martin and his impatience and flustered city ways.
• At some points the music becomes quirky, displaying how he is like a foreigner to the locals as he is different, or how the locals are like a different kind of person to him and he is unlike them.

Editing

• A filter has been put in the first shot which is done outside, Doc Martin is made to look really pale and his suit stands out from the scenery in the background and the old woman. The paleness represents his city ways and his inside office job, where as the locals are always outdoors catching the sun and dressing in clothing that tends to match the colours of their environment like green and brown.
• Doc Martin has lots of reaction shots, showing how he is so used to the city life that all of this country side is not suited to him and to him strange things are happening like the dog coming into his window.
• When he is angry and annoyed the shots are quick and fast, this displays his impatience and short temper, whereas the countryside folk are chilled about all the things he is getting stressed about and their shots are long and slow paced.

Mise-en-scene

• Doc Martin is in a navy suit and tie, clearly dressed for the city and an office job, the country folk are all in farmer clothes and dressed for the outdoors, there is a contrast.
• Doc Martin speaks very abruptly and impatiently, his temper is short and he expects everyone to do as he says, including the dog. This contrast with the locals, they speak west country and not too loudly. They are relaxed.
• One of the plumbers which is really fat, is sat at the sink when its spraying out everywhere and eating and spitting his food everywhere, this displays his feel of comfort and relaxed approach in the village as he is totally at home.
• The room that Doc Martin is staying in is very dark and gloomy, matching his mood and character, however outside in the fresh air with all the country folk, its bright and sunny and everyone is chilled.

Media Exam Prep

Here is my infographic presenting data about the distribution of a major Hollywood film, from a big studio in comparison to A Field In England and another film of my choice.

Media hollywood comparisons

 

Evaluation- Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

We have improved hugely since the preliminary exercise where we did the video for reservoir dogs. Firstly we were simply more organised than before, we planned our characters outfit in advance, meaning we could dress our actor beforehand to see if it looked right for the film.

We took photographs and did practice tears and sweat on our actor, this gave us a head start as we would know what worked and how to make it look real. I have also learned how to work quickly and effectively to produce a good outcome, our Reservoir Dogs video felt so rushed as we spent a lesson filming, and another couple of lessons editing then it had to be finished, with this film opening project Rosy and I managed our time well, making sure we were including as much detail of our plans and what we had done to prepare as possible.

Our editing skill have grown a lot, with the preliminary task there was not that much on the editing style just the basic cutting away of mistakes we had made while recording, where as during the main task the editing was one of the most important things, added effects and cutting away things that didn’t sound as we wished. we also spent along time actually fitting all the part together like the outdoor scenes, and match on action clips filmed.

I feel we were a good team and I feel proud of our media creation.

We have progressed in terms of organisation skills and using Motion and Final Cut Pro. This has made Rosy and I very confident when using it and we know what we need to click to achieve our desired outcome.

I feel we have learned good time management skills as we set the days for each obstacle, we set a date for filming and a date for doing all our preparation by.

When we first began our film opening project it was quite hard imagining the final product and what our film was going to look like, there was so much pressure and the deadline was fairly far away. However I believe we have made excellent progression from the preliminary exercise to the actual final product. We have shown good time management skills by handing in our finished film by the deadline, also filming on the designated days and editing during lessons and our free time.

We have also learned alot about film making in general, you must be organised and know exactly what you want to achieve with your film. You must have actors that are chosen exactly to fit the part! You must also choose your genre and have a good action plan to make the film s excellent as you had imagined.

Another thing we have learned about making a film opening is that it is all about team work, you must work with your partner and keep organised and both have the same goal, for us, this was very good, we worked excellently as a team and are both proud of our film opening. We have also learned each of our strengths, Rosy has excellent camera angle skills that look very artistic and professional, she also edits very well to achieve a stylish outcome. I feel that my strength is helping and supporting Rosy, and also, both of us, together, thinking of what we should do to get to our next milestone.

At the beginning of this project we had only used Final Cut once or twice, we had also only filmed with the cameras twice and to be honest we were still a bit unsure of how everything worked on Final Cut, the buttons on the camera, the zooming etc. After completing this AS Media project I can safely say that both of us are confident on Final Cut, Vimeo, Motion, using a good quality camera, using a microphone, editing shots, matching sound to video clips and working together. This project has taught us that as long as you have good ideas and determination, then you are able to reach your goal, no matter how stressful it is. It has definitely taught me that you can learn alot just from simply watching other films, taking inspiration from brilliant famous directors is an excellent tip, looking at some of the most famous and greatest films ever made. You can learn so much from the successful films.

Overall I think we have had a successful outcome, produced an interesting and artistic final product, shown our talent and eye for artistic shots, and worked brilliantly as a team. We both understand each other and both wanted to produce a final piece to be proud of.

 

HERE IS OUR FINISHED FILM OPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daisy Chain

https://vimeo.com/90740615

Evaluation- Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The Technologies We used:

The camera: We used a proper expensive professional camera to film the shots for our film opening. After using it for a couple of hours you get used to it and using the buttons and learning what each one does. We had originally used the same type of camera for our preliminary exercise so we mostly knew how to use it. For some of our shots we used placed the camera on the ground to film as it created a nicer looking shot where the character ran into the shot and you could see her feet only.

Tripod: The tripod was an important piece of kit as it was responsible for making our shots clean and not shaky. We used the tripod with the camera when doing shots of our character walking across the shot or doing close ups. Using the tripod meant that our shots didn’t shake and the were still.

Final Cut Pro: I had only used Final cut about two times before we did this film opening project, the first time was for our preliminary exercise and also for reservoir dogs. As you use it more you become more confident on it, learning which buttons do what and how to edit your shots together in the best way possible. You learn there’s more to editing than putting the shots together in a nice way, you have to consider sound, effects and lighting, motion from one shot to the next, text and how to display it without it looking cheap or not very professional, adding the ident etc. We managed to do some good editing and take some good shots which looked excellent when edited into the film. Final Cut made it easy to cut up shots and put them together in the way we wanted, it is also easy to understand and you learn fairly quickly what all the buttons do and how to make your film look exactly how you want.

Motion: We used Motion to make our film ident which we attempted first but it didn’t fit the genre of our film so we re made it and it was much better and flowed with our film because it has an element of sadness about it so the ident. Our first film ident was too jolly to fit our film, we had used sound on it which we were advised to take away because it was not like a proper famous film ident.

Vimeo: We used Vimeo to upload our videos so that we could embed them in certain blog posts. It took quite a while to upload the video from the computer onto the site but that was because of slow internet connection from home.

Prezi: I used Prezi when doing a blog post which was not in an essay style. It is a different way of presenting information which looks quite good as there is an endless amount of templates to use. I like using Prezi because it gives variety to my blog as it means its not just a series of essays and pictures.

Microphone: We used a microphone to record the sound in our film, however we didn’t actually need it in the end as we ended up not using speech and just using the power of body language and music to represent what the character was feeling. This made it easier for us when editing because there was no sound to match or speech to add on. We still used it but didn’t know we weren’t going to need it as we only decided when we were finally editing the clips together.

Evaluation- Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Who Is Our Films Audience??

As our film is a British social realism/chickflick we decided the audience that would best fir our film is teenage girls. This is because the central character of our film is a girl, therefore a girl audience will empathise with her and understand her more emotionally than boys.

Similar Types of Film to Ours

Looking at our film I would say the genre is British social realism or drama, if we were to make the rest of the film, and also a little chickflick, simply because of the main character being a girl with a dilemma. When Rosy and I decided to make our film opening we took our inspiration from films such as MeanGirls and Pitch Perfect, which both contain comedy and humour. Our film does not, therefore I would place it in British Social Realism. This is because of the British looking teen, and her setting, grey sky. Its slightly like This Is England, however not set in the 80s or 90s. The reason for it being a British Social Realism is because of the lighting, character and story, the characters problem is  mental issue, she struggles with it, making the film a drama.

Films that inspired us:

• MeanGirls
• Pitch Perfect
• Easy A

Films that are similar to ours:

• This Is England (British Drama)
• Trainspotting (black comedy/drama)
• Easy A
• Billy Elliot

I think the film Billy Elliot is quite similar, firstly because of the British essence of it, its a film that’s purely about lifes struggle for acceptance. This links to our film because the girl has the problem with herself, she shares a problem like Billy Elliot. Also the lighting and dullness of the sky making the colours in the film also dull but representing real life.

 

 

Evaluation- Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have made a presentation on the programme Prezi to display who our audience is for our film opening.

http://prezi.com/l1tsnx8z4far/who-would-be-the-audience-for-your-media-product/

Evaluation- Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Here is our sound cloud recording, written by Jess Morris and said by Rosy Louis

Distribution Case study: Attack The Block

Attack The Block is a British Monster movie which was made in 2011. It is written and directed by Joe Cornish in his directorial debut and it comes from the same writing and production stable as other horror/comedies such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

• The target Age for this film is 15-34 year old men and women of all classes, but particularly teenagers as this is an action monster movie with some comedy in too.

The film was released on 11 May 2011 in The UK, in 66 theaters. On its opening theatrical weekend in the UK in May 2011, Attack the Block made £1,133,859, putting it in third place only slightly behind American blockbusters Thor and Fast and Furious 5; also in the opening weekend Attack the Block had the highest cinema site average by almost twice of the other films. On a screen-by-screen basis, Attack the Block was the week’s strongest performer.The Production Company was Big Talk Pictures, StudioCanal, UK Film Council,Film4 Productions. The film was distributed by StudioCanal.

• The Films Budget was £8M and in the BoxOffice it made £3,831,475.

The films a narrow range of not very well known actors which were south London city teenagers, except for Nick Frost which was an advantage as it brought international Nick Frost fans to this film.

• The films lifetime Worldwide gross was $5,824,175.

The close date of the film being available in cinemas was September 29, 2011, which gave people plenty of time to see it in cinemas.

StudioCanal chose to promote Attack The Block through social networking sites such as Facebook, which would cost nothing but still get people talking. This was good as the films existence was spread through these sites through them talking about the release.

As Film4 Productions had also contributed to the production of Attack The Block, the film also aired on Channel 4 and Film4 without any added cost, which would have resulted in an increasing awareness of the film and gaining extra profit, as well as an option for the public to rent the film on Film4oD.

Digital distribution will become significant in the consumption of Attack The Block, as it will allow for enough money to be made back if it hasn’t already done so, and was also important during the marketing stages of the film, as although little money could be spent on an extravagant promotion campaign, the use of online methods meant that information could be spread quickly.

US distributors were concerned that American audiences might not understand the strong South London accents, and may have even used subtitles if it were to be released in the United States. Cornish acknowledged this during the SXSW Q and A. When he asked the audience, “Can I ask you guys something? American distributors are nervous about language, the slang” the audience said they could understand it.

• The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the UK on 19 September 2011.

Play.com have an exclusive Blu-ray and DVD double play edition, with a glow-in-the-dark sleeve, featuring the bio-luminescent jaws of one of the creatures.

 

Evaluation- Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film is largely based around teenage girls and their problems and how they deal with them

Gender: Females

her clothes are feminine as she wears a skirt and cardigan, this represents her character, she is a normal girl on the outside, you cannot notice her fears and worries. She has natural makeup, displaying how she doesn’t like to be in the spotlight. Her green converse are battered and dirty, suggesting she spends alot of time outdoors as that is her way of calming herself from her anxiety.

In our film opening our character is lonely, she is by herself, this suggests she isolates herself from other people, she likes to be by herself, this is shown when she rushes outside and sits by a tree listening to her music. Her music is her life and keeps her happy and calm.

This character represents the outcast people who feel they are too ashamed or frustrated to share their problems, they keep it to themselves, this is not the way you should handle your worries, however people still do it and it just leaves them sad and worrisome. This character however has found a way to handle her anxiety, she listens to her music, this brings her piece of mind back down to earth where she can wind down and let her fears float away. She represents alot of teenagers across the world who have to handle with conditions such as mental problems, anxiety, fear. The character simply teaches that there is a way to handle it, you must find what works for you, what keeps you calm and happy.

This short film has a setting partly indoors, but is mostly filmed outdoors. There is a meaning of this. The outdoors is a place of nature, there are birds, trees, flowers, grass and sky. The calming sound of bird songs and the whistle of the wind links to the characters anxiety issues as the outdoors provides her with somewhere where she can go which makes her feel happy and herself. She is not a teenager who spends her time on social media, is obsessed with ipads and technology and is wrapped up in her own selfishness. She is a girl of nature who just longs for her anxiety to not get the better of her and embarrass her.

 

 

Distribution Case Study: A Field In England

How was a Field in England distributed?

A Field In England is an experimental, genre busting film set in the English Civil War and Directed by Ben Wheatley. The date that A Field In England was released, was on the 5th July 2013 in cinemas, VOD, DVD,  and free terrestrial broadcast on Film4. The beauty of this idea is that this particular film was released on all platforms, therefore making the awareness of the film large as you are releasing it on many platforms a larger amount of people are going to see it or notice it. This film’s budget was £316,879 with £112,000 Publicity and Advertising spend supported by £56,701 from the BFI (British film Industry) and was fully financed by Film4. This films release plan was enthusiastically supported by Channel 4, Film4, Picturehouse Cinemas etc. This film budget was fairly low at £316,879 reduced the financial risk and created room for freedom and invention

• The Film was shown in 17 cinema screens and on the opening weekend the film took  £21,399 from the 17 venues.
• 77% of the cinema audience said that they knew that the film was going to be available in television, however still proceeded to view it at the cinema, as you get the cinema experience and excellent quality.
• During the Film4 free screening the film averages 367,000 viewers.
• The total television reach of the film was 918,000 viewers, 1.8% of the population.
• The combined HMV and Amazon DVD and Bule-Ray sales reached 1462, with Blue-Ray outselling DVD.
• The Primary cinema audience was 18-25 year olds, and frequent cinema goers in the 25-35+ bracket which would possibly have been aware of Wheatley’s work. The film audience was expected to skew towards men. A Field In England was aimed at the same demographic group as Shaun Of The Dead and Attack The Block.
• Interviews with the executives suggest the film would not have bettered from being released on single platforms at separate times.

The marketing plan was to build interest across all platforms, including social media channels and related websites, as well as TV channels. From this Wheatley and the whole cast supported the release plan and mobilised their active social fan base by advertising on twitter and other social media sites. This whole release idea was not an afterthought but an integral part of the development. This was a fresh approach to release and looked promising. Aswell as having a television channel, Channel 4 has its own DVD label (4DVD) which also distributes to transactional  VOD platforms such as iTunes, this was an excellent link which gave the film companies which supported it. The Channel was enthusiastic about the approach, the idea of compressing the windows was seen by both sides as a good way of enhancing the value of their respective platforms as it makes people hurry to see the film and forces them to go before its taken away.

One of the key obstacles that this day and date strategy had to overcome was a cinema boycott, which is when the cinemas want the film exclusive to only cinemas and no other platforms to compete with. In this case for a Field In England, if the cinemas had boycotted it, it wouldn’t have made much difference  as it was only released on 17 cinema screens.

A Field In England had a significant advantage as the film maker had a strong and active fan base, who have a keen interest in new forms of communication and distribution. (12000 followers on twitter)

The support from Film4 was a major factor because it has the strength of being recognisable in UK television and Film as a brand which is associated with quality innovation. Channel 4 also offered another important means of marketing to a large audience. The exhibitor and distributor was Picturehouse Cinema, it helped devise, refine and execute the strategy. Picturehouse cinema had the major advantage of local loyalty towards its cinemas around the world as it has the reputation of good quality cinemas around the UK.

The aim of all parties was to build a single momentum around the film in all the platforms to make its opening weekend a real event. Making this plan work with such broad ambitions and many moving parts, was highly challenging and the end result was a considerable achievement.

• Premium pricing for iTunes was not possible as the was not an exclusive VOD window, Apple sets the prices of their VOD offers therefore the film makers have no say in the cost of the VOD price.
• The theatrical release for A Field In England was Picturehouse Cinemas, the company has existing relationships with Channel 4 and Film4.
• A Field In England creates ‘one pot’ where everyone shares the risks and rewards across all platforms so that everyone involved gets treated fairly.
• The film took a risk because it was released on DVD and VOD people could be made suspicious, questioning the quality because when a film doesn’t get released in the cinema first and just goes straight onto DVD it is usually because the film is not that good. This was one of the questions raised about the quality. To overcome this the directors ensured all platform release was marketed as a virtue, entirely in tune with a high quality unconventional film.
• Wheatley himself was a significant part of the marketing plan, playing an active role with helping support the film, he had an active use of twitter and took park in special Q&A screening.
• One aspect of the marketing project was an engaging website commissioned by film 4.0, in collaboration with Wheatley and Rook films.

The opening weekend picked up 2213 admissions with a screen average of £1295 from 17 sites finishing at number 20 in the UK chart.

Channel 4 research found the film averaged 367000 viewers during the free television screening.

• The release did not include subscription VOD services, such as Netflix and LoveFilm, these followed after.
• 54% of under 35s said online advertising and social media was the primary source of awareness , compared with 35% of the over 35s
• There was 100,000 embeds of the video in third party sites.
• The film was given heavy attention for such a low budget film.
• 58% of men say they would ‘definately’ recommend the film against 35% of women.
• Twitter accounted for the majority of mentions on social media sites with 94% of total traffic. The film trended number 1 on twitter on the friday of the release.
• 68% of the cinema audiences said they would be interested in a second viewing, 27% siad they would consider buying the DVD/Blue Ray, 14% on television and 10% at the cinema.
• The Q&A was a major draw for this film, which may have exaggerated the cinema interest.
• Social Media was the primary source of awareness amongst the target under 35s audience, there was only a minority of negative reactions.
• One promising by-product of simultantious releasing is that cinema, television and on demand audiences can all join the online conversation at the same time.
• On smaller scale some cinemas built in added value extras, such as Sealed Knot drummers and real ale (supported by sponsers).
• The key participants each ensured that their audiences were kept informed of developments throughout the distributionperiod. The use of social media was often exemplary, ensuring a high degree of interaction, showing how different platforms ‘engage’ audiences in different ways.

The art of momentum building:

• A sense of anticipation and expectation is essential to any event and this film succeeded according to all the measurable data.

Evaluation- Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

yourprezi

 

 

 

 

Makeup Video for Daisy Chain

This is the makeup video Rosy and I made of me doing Graces makeup before we filmed, we used final cut to edit it and add music etc.

New Ident

Rosy and I decided to make a new ident for our film opening to fit the theme, we decided on an elegant ident. This consisted of a branch which grows on the screen and a butterfly lands and sits on it, the words ‘Original Sin’ then appear next to the branch as the butter fly stays perched on the leaves flapping its wings. The butterfly then moves off over the words making them disappear as it flies past.

We decided to make the new ident because our old one really didn’t fit with our film and wouldn’t have flowed once put with the opening.

Kevin Smith- Red State (2011)

 Kevin Smith is a film director from New Jersey and his first movie was Clerks in 1994 which was filmed in the convenience store in which he worked but was only allowed to film there when the shop was closed at night however his film won the highest award at the Sundance Film Festival.

He called himself a “fat stoner” before he started making films, simply implying how if anyone works hard enough then they can do it, if they are determined.

He realised for his films to gain an audience he needed to advertise and distribute them in the correct way, get an exhibitor and just basically find people who know how to pitch a film in the best way possible!

Red State-

Red State is  an American horror action film , written and directed by Kevin Smith himself in 2011 , starring John Goodman, Melissa Leo and Michael Parks.

Smith started off in November and December 2010 distributing teaser posters which were released featuring characters from the movie. He released a teaser trailer for his film on 23rd of December 2010.

With this film Kevin Smith was originally going to auction off his film to a distributor at a controversial event to be held after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, however decided to distribute the film himself by purchasing then distributing it under the SModcast Picture banner with a traveling roadshow in select cities starting on March 5th at Radio City Music Hall, taking the film tour across North America before officially releasing the movie on VOD and DVD in September 2011 through Lionsgate,he also released it in select theaters again for a special one-night only engagement on September 23, 2011.

But was it successful?

Obviously there was mixed reviews in terms of the actual film itself and the plot etc however it seemed a success as it was watched and reviewed by many. In October 2011, Red State won the Best Motion Picture award at the 2011 Sitges Film Festival. Smith stated in his book that foreign gross from his Red State screening tour and millions from Video-on-Demand and Netflix streaming rights helped the film turn a profit from its $4 million budget. This just goes to show how important the distribution of the film is when finding its audience and getting the publicity it deserves.

Distribution of films and ‘A Field in England’

In lessons this week we have been looking at the distribution of the film ‘A Field in England’. With this particular film the distribution of it had to be carefully thought out, as without effective distribution , film product rarely finds an audience.

The distributers challenge for a film launch can be summarised as:

• Identifying the films audience as no film has a universal appeal so the has to be a specific type of person the film is aimed at.
• Estimating revenue potential across all platforms- for example sales from iTunes, cinema viewings, DVD sales etc.
• Building awareness and maintaining interest, advertising making sure people know about this new amazing film.
• Persuading exhibitors to present the film, using film sales and film festivals.
• Persuading the audience to watch it by making the adverts and trailers for it intriguing and exciting, also advertising it everywhere like on buses and within cinema buildings.

The top six distributors are also the major studios and these include:

• Sony Pictures
• 20th Century Fox
• Warner Bros
• Universal
• Disney
• Paramount

These studios occasionally make a tent pole film in which they take the risk as the film has to be huge, for example Harry Potter as the studio already knows its success therefore being responsible for it as a film wouldn’t be too much of a risk as the film is notorious for being greatly loved and already has fans.

A Field in England cost £300 thousand, of which £184 of this was allocated to media advertising, and the rest on film prints, advertising production, publicity, premiers and related costs. the average Hollywood movie cost approximately $100 million to make and a further $50 to distribute. A Field in England used typical UK co-production and found partners from UK TV in Film4 and 4DVD.

A Field in England used various platforms in their audacious approach to distribution generating media interest and debate about the future of the current Hollywood model with its staggered release windows which usually take months. This approach was a release in more than one platform which made sure the film found its audience and let people come to it without having the panic of being around for one week before its gone because another marvel movie fills the cinema screens.

Advantage of releasing a film just in the cinema:

• People like the cinema experience, the atmosphere of all the other movie fans around you appreciating the content of what they are watching. The film is a spectacle and every audience member appreciates it. Cinemas also have the excellent sound systems, food and drink, comfortable seating, big screens, imacs and also the 3D visuals. People like that as it i a trip out and doesn’t disappoint.

Disadvantage of Cinema

• Can be expensive, the food is usually over priced so that the cinemas make a profit, you would have to pay for parking if you drove, and if you include the price of the actual cinema tickets then a trip to the cinema can be up to£20 for two people. Is that good value for money? I think that VOD is better if your talking in terms of money.

Advantage of releasing film in VOD (Video on Demand):

• This includes buying or renting the film from places like iTunes, Sky, BT Vision, Virgin or Amazon. You pay a one time fee and have access to the film for a certain number of hours, this is convenient, you don’t need to leave the house, you also have an instant service and because you have bought it electronically, there is no disk so it cannot get accidentally scratched etc. Also there are no adverts because you’ve paid for the film so they wont bore you with extra irrelevant things.

Advantage of buying the film in retail:

• This is buying the DVD, this has advantages such as you can watch it as many times as you please and there is no limit, also you can pause and stop it when it suits you. You also have control over the volume, when you watch it and where. There are also special features and maybe directors commentaries and if you are deaf you can get subtitles. You can also buy the film in Blue Ray which improves the quality, sounds and visuals. Some people appreciate it more than others meaning you can have almost a cinema experience in your own home.

Advantages of having the film on TV:

• First of all its free, all you have to do is tune in at watch it at the right time. You can also record it on your TV which means you can fast forward the adverts and watch the actual film whenever you want.
• It generates word of mouth because people might discuss it at school or work the next day ‘Did you see ‘bla bla’ last night?’. It simply increases awareness of the film, making it have a wider audience and be a big talking point. It would also be trending on twitter whilst being shown, again generating advertising.

Disadvantages:

• The quality is lower than that of a cinema screen or blue ray.
• The film might be played in daytime and if it is a 15, the censored parts will be cut out, possibly making the film not make any sense. This can be a burden if its your favorite film.

Typical Hollywood films tend to be released in the cinema first before released on DVD, VOD and TV. Huge Tentpole films like Harry Potter,  Avatar or The Hunger Games were all released in cinema with a big build up of advertising and lots of anticipation. These films already had an approved audience therefore taking the risk of releasing the film on one platform and having trailers and using posters on buses etc didn’t make the audience loose interest. However sometimes anticipation can be a down side of releasing a film as it subjects people to piracy which is illegal, the main reason why people illegally watch new films is because it may have been released in one country and not another, the simple answer for this problem is for release dates of films to be on the same day in all countries.

Digital Democratisation: the idea that digital technologies will disrupt the hegemony of the media industries, enabling the public to produce and distribute their own content and have a greater freedom of access to content.

Pop Up Cinema:

Film can be great in the cinema and at home, but it can be enjoyed in other countless venues or scenarios. Pop-up cinema is a creative and non traditional mode of exhibition, where films are screened in car parks, gardens, board rooms, community centers and pubs.

The Great British summertime provides an excellent time to do Pop-up cinema, screening both old and new films.

Here are a couple of examples:

Pop-up cinemas can be seen as Urban Recycling, as they re use disused settings, having a vintage feel of decadent interiors, popcorn, paper tickets all evoking the feeling of traditional cinema going rather than modern multiplex.

Filming ‘Daisy Chain’

In the half term break Rosy and I filmed our shots for out film opening Daisy Chain. Using my sister Grace as Daisy our main character, my garden as our location we set to work filming the shots on our storyboard. We came across several problems when filming here are the obstacles we overcame:

1. The camera ran out of charge after an hour of filming, stupidly I should have checked before we even started filming but it didn’t cross my mind unfortunately. But we simply charged the battery whist having lunch.

2. We needed a rather large audience for one of our shots, and we simply didn’t have that many people to hand. We still decided to film the shot just without the audience as we thought we might be able to edit them in.

3. Another problem was our location, our original plan was to use my garden for the outside filming, and the school for the stage filming. However, we came across a rather clever idea, in my house we have a little puppet stage, therefore we filmed this puppet stage close up, and then Grace’s face and if we edit it well we can make it look like she is in the stage.

Things that went right were:

1. The makeup and costume of our main character.

2. The weather for the outdoor location in the garden.

3. We managed to get all the filming done in one day.

4. We got all the shots we needed and extras, also filming each shot three times.

Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino 2012)

On Friday evening I sat and watched yet another incredible Quentin Tarantino movie. He never fails to impress and even though its quite a long film, at no point did I loose interest!

I noticed that Quentin Tarantino likes to use the same actors in his films, like christoph waltz who is Hanz in Inglorious Basterds. Samuel L Jackson who is also in Pulp Fiction. Leonardo DiCaprio also stars in this movie, ensuring it includes only the best actors.

The film Django is set in Texas in the year 1858 and follows a slave named Django who is set free by an English-speaking, German bounty hunter posing as a traveling dentist (Christoph Waltz), named Dr. Schultz. Dr. Schultz buys Django and promises him a life of freedom if he helps him find and kill three outlaws (hiding in the south, working in the slave trade). Schultz has never seen them therefore he doesn’t know what they look like, however Django has, as he has been subjected to trafficking and the outlaws have been involved in it. Dr schultz also teaches Django bounty hunting and promises to split the bounties with him if he continues to help him through the winter. Django makes one condition and it is that Schultz helps him find his long lost wife who is under cruel custody of Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Schultz agrees.  The film follows their travels and plans to find the outlaws and kill them, then track down Djangos wife and save her from her cruel owner.

The way Tarantino has filmed this is exceptional, he uses his usual technique of using closeups on certain objects in the room, for example when Schultz and Django are in the bar and Schultz is pouring himself a drink the camera goes in close on the beer pouring from the tap into the beer mug, then foam on the top is wisked away with the wisker. The effect of this is excellent, making it that little bit more real, the use of the camera is supposed to mirror the human eye, and these shots of the things around the characters and the things they are doing capture the scene like you are there yourself. The sound of the running beer, and the tap of the wisker on the side of the glass after its taken the foam off the top, these little details play a big part in making the scene that much more enjoyable to watch.

The gore and blood, which always is included in a Tarantino film, is to an extreme especially in the scene where Django is shooting all of Candies henchmen in Candieland. Again, it wouldn’t be a Tarantino film if it didn’t include blood.

Overall I would like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this film and it kept me on the edge of my seat and completely absorbed into the world of the film. I had never watched any Tarantino films until this year and I must say, I have been missing out, he is a terrific Director and I think anyone who is making films can learn alot from him as his films only seem to be getting better and better!

Practice Make up on our actor

My sister Grace is going to play Daisy in our film opening. I decided that I would do some practice makeup on her, but I wanted to keep it subtle because the character is shy so her makeup should be natural looking. Here is a photograph of her:

As you can see I have put her in minimalist clothes. She is wearing a grey skirt and top, a cardigan, black socks and green shoes. I think this looks good for a shy character as the patent colours keep the look subtle.

I have also used a shot from our storyboard and taken a photo of it in real person just to see if it was achievable, here it is:

 

I also experimented with making tears and I just used water and dripped it onto my sisters eye corner, here are some photographs of the effect:

 

I also experimented with shots from the storyboard taking stills of what it might look like, here are a couple of the face which we were planning on doing:

 

Character profiles

Daisy: 

Daisy is a quiet and subdued person and she is incredibly shy. That is why this show where she is singing, is such a big deal.

She is quite girly, wearing a skirt and cardigan however she is is not in with all the mega popular, girly girls. She keeps herself to herself and doesn’t even try talking to the popular girls or even try talking to boys. She hates the limelight, but she was forced into doing this talent competition by her mum who is concerned about her daughter. Daisy has a stutter condition but when she hears music or listens to it she can talk fluently as her mind is at ease from the sound of the music she loves. This is why, when she plugs her earphones into her head she becomes calmer and not so upset from her stage freight.

Nasty girls:

There girls wear lots of makeup and snigger at anyone who they believe is underneath them. They are freaks of fashion and thick. The laugh at others misfortunes to try and feel better about themselves.

Kick Ass (2010 directed by Matthew Vaughn)

Kick Ass is an American action superhero movie set in  New York, it was released on the 25th  March 2010 in the United Kingdom and on 16th April 2010 in the United States.

The film is about an ordinary teenager called Dave Lizewski who decides to become a superhero for the city, calling himself Kick Ass. He meets serious superheros Big Daddy and Hit Girl and finds himself involved in a much bigger fight to bring down the drug lord Frank D’Amico.

The whole film is like a comic, with comic strip transitions of shots etc and storyboard like animations displaying the past where Big Daddy explains why Mindy (Hit Girl) has no mother and how he was put in prison.

Here is the trailer for the Movie:

The thing I love about this film is how many twists it involves in it. So much happens along with the main story about Dave becoming Kick Ass. There is also lots of humour included which makes up for the gore. It is quite violent and the film was critiqued for  having generated some controversy for its profanity and violence performed by a child, however received lots of good comments aswell as it is definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Animation of our Story board

Today I animated our storyboard using the programme Final Cut pro. To do the animation I simply scanned the two sheets of storyboard and used the scale button to zoom to each shot so that it’s one shot in each frame at a time. I put them in order so that the storyboard was like a comic strip almost. I then used key framing to pan out and use movement in the shot to convey our camera movements.

I manages to get the hang of being able to make the image move, I was showed how to use key frames and this meant that I could move the shot around to mirror the camera angles that we wanted to use.

The animation was uploaded to Vimeo and this is the link to watch it:

We also used Final cut to produce another version of our story board which doesn’t include movement within the shot, but is displayed in a different way to the first one. We also put music over it and used a cork board background animation connecting the shots. Here is the animation:

Prop List for our film “Daisy Chain”

For our Film opening we are going to need:

• a Microphone 
• Headphones/earphones 
• Water (for sweat) 

 

 

 

 

What we need for filming:

• a camera
• a tripod

Interms of actors we need:

• an audience
• the nasty jealous girls
• our main character Daisy

The clothing of our main character Daisy:

• Skirt
• Cardigan
• Black socks
• Green shoes
• Daisys hair: up in a bun, not much makeup

The clothing of the nasty girls in the audience:

• Heavy makeup
• Drawn on eyebrows
• Blusher, lipstick
• Pink clothes

Inglourious Basterds- OH MY GOD!

Last night I decided that I would watch the famous Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. I have to say I was taken away by the amount of gore and bloody action and even covered my own eyes at times when it was extremely graphic. I didn’t realise it was an 18 until I started watching it, and by then I was already intrigued.

I wanted to see this movie for a while because in class when doing research on film openings, Sir showed us the opening of Inglorious Bastards, I was hooked! I’m not usually a fan of gore films, as that is how I would describe this one. However, I have to say I really enjoyed it, Quentin Tarantino is an excellent director and his technique of filming shots was so slick and fresh!

The plot of the film is about a Jew, Shosanna who, in 1941, witnesses the murder of her own family by ‘Jew hunter’  SD standartenfuhrer Hans Landa and his men, and narrowly escapes her death. She escapes and flees to Paris where she takes a new identity as a cinema owner and her friend who is black helps her in this business. He is the only other person on the planet she trusts.

The Basterds are a group of Jews who hunt the Nazis and kill them as they have incredible hatred for Hitler and his Nazis. In the Bastards, there is the leader  Aldo Raine who recruits  eight Jewish-American soldiers for a mission behind enemy lines, telling them they each owe him 100 Nazi scalps and will take no prisoners. For the Nazis he frees and doesn’t kill, if they have told him the Nazis plans, Aldo carves a Swastika into the forehead of the men, displaying how if they have worn the uniform, they will always be a Nazi as its imprinted on their skin.

In 1944, Shosanna adopts her new identity as  “Emmanuelle Mimieux” and runs her cinema with Marcel, her lover and friend who is black. She meets Fredrick Zoller, a German sniper whose exploits are to be celebrated in a Nazi propaganda film in which he stars. She hates him, however it is clear that he sees her as a possible lover and keeps trying to see her and visit her. He has no idea she is actually a Jew and she has to act completely calm at all times even though her hatred for him and anger towards the Nazis grows. Attracted to Shosanna, Zoller convinces Joseph Goebbels to hold the premiere at her cinema. Shosanna seizes the opportunity, as her and Marcel devise a plot to burn down her cinema and kill the top Nazi leaders at the premiere. 

During the screening, Zoller slips away to the projection room to see Shosanna, who rejects his advances and he becomes angry and seems to take a violent approach but then has Zoller lock the door which he does instantly as he thinks hes going to get some. He closes the door with his back turned, and she fatally shoots him, however he is not dead and he manages to turn and fatally shoot her as well. They both lie motionless on the projection room floor. Meanwhile, Ulmer and Donowitz, Aldo’s Basterds, manage to kill the soldiers guarding Hitler, as they are at the premier to try and end the war aswell, and kill the top leaders of the Nazis.

A clip of Shosanna’s cackling in the cinema film informs the audience that they are about to be killed by a Jew. She and Marcel decided that they would do this to manipulate the Nazis and inform them of their defeat by a Jew. Marcel, having locked the cinema with the audience inside, ignites a pile of extremely flammable nitrate film behind the screen of the cinema, which quickly sets fire to the screen leaving the audience in a screaming mess. Ulmer and Donowitz (two of the Basterds) burst into the screening as it burns and machine gun Hitler, Goebbels, and the trapped crowd, until the bombs go off and destroy the cinema killing every person in it.

Aldo and his recruit Utivich were not in the cinema when it was burned down as Hans had kidnapped them to make a deal, yet they take advantage of this and kill Hans’ radio operator and has Utivich collect his scalp. Hans is left angry and vulnerable, Aldo is  unable to accept the notion that Hans might go unpunished for his career as a Nazi officer, so he carves a swastika into Hans’ forehead as a permanent reminder of his crimes against the Jews. Proudly inspecting his handiwork, he smiles and says to Utivich that “this just might be my masterpiece”.

The camera work in this film is terrific, using panning, zooming, close ups and symbolism in filming to display character emotion.

Here is the trailer for anyone who is interested in  German-American black comedy war films. Do take in that is is an 18, so it is not for the faint hearted and is quite distressing to watch at times.

Shot List

Rosy and I have devised a shot list so that we know how to film each shot of our short film opening. This will benefit us when filming making us totally ready and instructing us how to capture each shot.

Shot list

Film I-dent

• Establishing shot of stage
• Establishing shot of stage and girl walks into the shot
• Close up shot of girls feet, camera pans upwards and around her to reach the back of her head. You don’t see her face.
• Close up of the side of girls face
• Extra close up of the girls forehead- drop of sweat runs
• Reaction shot of the three bitchy girls
• Extra closeup of the girls mouth then camera pans out.
• Establishing shot of microphone dropping to the floor in slow-motion
• Close up of girls feet next to microphone
• Establishing shot of stage with the back of the audiences head in sight, the girl is in panic and rushes out of shot
• Wide shot of girls back as she is outside. the camera pans up from her back to the back of her head as she lifts the headphones to her ears.
• Wide shot of tree as she walks into the shot
• Establishing shot of girl sitting at the foot of the tree
• Close up of girls face as a tear runs down her cheek

Storyboards!!!

Rosy and  I have been working on our storyboards for our film, adding colour to them and deciding on the shots we are going to use!

Here are the story boards in their simplest of forms, we might make them into an animation so that its simple to see what each shot will be like.

Looking at Film Idents at the beginning of the Film

Rosy and I have started making our idents for our films and we have been experimenting on the programme and came up with 3 good film idents, however we were told the problem with them was that they didn’t need the sound on them, so I have decided to research idents with the sound on.

Watching this video it is clear that sounds plays a dramatic part in the idents, therefore I think mine and Rosy’s ident creations are not too shabby. Of course there is some room for improvement, however for a first try and getting to grips with the programme I feel we did a good job and worked well to achieve 3 standard idents. I think we should possibly tone down the sound on ours because it seems slightly more full on than the famous ones like Universal and Pixar for example.

More Script Editing

Today, I decided to put our script on a script software which would give us the best way to write it in proper script format.

Here it is on the programme:

Before I had done this I had just written it up on a word document which I set out in script format as I had looked up how to make it like a screen written script.

Here it is on a word document:

 

We have also come up with the name for our film which we have decided to be “Daisy Chain”

Editing the Script

We have amended our scipt even more and changed it because we realized we didn’t need the 2 rappers at the beginning. This is a good idea because it means we can focus more on the main character, also its not too complicated and we can show more skill in the camera work and editing that we produce in the end.

Here is the edited script:

Script Writing

Rosy and I sat down and decided to begin writing our script after we’d finished discussing what we were going to include in the two minutes of film opening. Here is what we agreed on including:

• The film opens with 2 rappers dressed all gangster and trying to be really ‘sickk’ at rapping and performing.
• They finish and theres one clap from a member of the audience and a microphone squeal as the slump off stage making rock signs with their hands and saying ‘brap brap brap!’
• Next on the satge is the girl who is the main character, she walks slowly and is very shy and nervous. A drop of sweat falls from the side of her face.
• She starts to sing but cracks under the pressure and had a breakdown.
• There are some nasty girls in the audience who sniger and wisper spiteful comments.
• It all becomes too much for the girl and she flees off stage, dropping the microphone and running to the door to get out as fast as possible.
• She runs outside and yanks out her head phones and slowly lifts them to her ears letting the audience hear her track she listening to. This song will be soft and calming.
• She finds a tree and curls up underneath it, listening to the sweet sound of the music taking her somewhere away from the embarrassment.
• A single tear runs down her face as she closes her eyes.

We still need to come up with an idea for a name for our film, we have had lots of ideas but we havent settled on one yet because we want it to be clever and preferably a pun, to go with the chick flick comedy vibe.

 

Film Idents- research

For our task we must include our own ident, to think of a good one, its sensible we look at others that have been done and are famous and well known and look for the similarities in them.

Looking at the idents such as ’20th Century Fox’, ‘Walt Disney’, ‘Universal’, ‘Lionsgate’, ‘DreamWorks’, ‘Columbia’ and ‘Paramount’, you notice something in common with all of them. There is a sky setting or space background, usually resembling the colours of purples, black and blue. The settings are usually outside natural beauty places such as mountains or clouds from a sunset with hints of pink with the darker colours.

Here are the examples I just mentioned:

   

 

Next I decided to look at the motion on these idents, some of them have the letters fade in, some have the letters move around the central object like Universal and Paramount. Overall there is fairly little movement from the word, the main focus in the colours or the pictures which is the central object. Like Walt Disney has the castle which is really delicate and fairytale like.

Overall our ident should have some kind of back ground which includes and central object like a mountain or a moon etc like Paramount and DreamWorks.

Interesting Film Openings- Inspiration

I decided that I need to do a bit of research on Film Openings to inspire me with our project. I looked at several film openings, the first was Dinner For Schmucks:

What I love about this is how its so different. The whole idea of it is so clever because as the film begins you see the hands opening the case and all the little clothes inside when you ask the question ‘what are they for?’ ‘Where is this going?’. Also the amount of care shown that the person puts in when picking up clothes with his tweezers makes it so clear that this is a serious passion. Its almost mermerising to watch as the mice get dipped in paint and dressed up. The camera uses a fading technique making each shot fade to the next. This is very clever as it moulds the opening all together and links it. The music also emphasises happiness like the person creating all this puts all their effort into it and they clearly have a passion for making things like this.

Overall this quirky film opening is so brilliant in the way that it firstly looks like it has nothing to do with the plot of the whole film, this opening creates questioning in the audiences mind, making them want to watch it to see where this wierd and wonderful hobby is going.

The next film I decided to look at was Tropic Thunder

This has an interesting opening and begins with adverts and movie trailers with each actor/celebrity character that is going to be in Tropic Thunder. Watch this so you understand what I mean:

It then goes on from there and if you watch this film for the first time its quite confusing because you just think theyre adverts that are before the film but theyre not, they play a vital role in the film. The next scene opens with helicopters, guns and men that look to be in military uniform. Theres guns and eplosions so you automatically assume its a war scene, however this illusion is distroyed when at 5.53 one of the charcters turns his head and the camera shots the director and camera crew sitting staring at the two actors. The camera includes a slow motion part where one man is being shot and the bullets are rippeling his body so he moves side to side as he slowly falls to the floor. The whole idea of this film is that it looks at actors and directors and the relationships between them, and the hammed up filming which is put into the movies the diva, selfish directors are making.

The next film I looked at was Easy A

This film automatically sets the scene from the beginning. There are american flags, shoes hanging from a tree and you straight away notice its set in a school. There is a voice over throughout the film which is of the main character and tells you that she is the focus of the film. The camera uses zooms and dolly tracks to film the different groups of people in the school. Also the actors names are shown as 3D words sitting on the floor at different angles, perhaps emphasizing the laziness of teenagers and how their stuff is always lying around across the floor.

Planning and Plan of Action

Today in class we were discussing the do’s and don’ts that we should go by when making our film and they are fairly important and we must make sure we stick to them otherwise were going to encounter problems.

After deciding the plot of our film we need to think about a number of important things, theses include:

• Location- how many locations will we have and what will they be?
• Actors- we need to choose actors who will be reliable and not mess around. We also need people who will be available because if we dont have actors then we simply cannot film on that day, we cannot afford to waste time.
• We need the actors to learn their scripts off by heart, they must be ready to do it in front of the camera.
• We need to make a story board to display our shots and fames, this will be time consuming but very helpful when filming.
• We need to pick the costumes and makeup of our characters, this is very important as we have the ideas in our head of how we want our characters portrayed so we need to display it.

Our plan of action:

1. We need to decide exactly what we want this 2 minutes of filming to involve, Rosy and I will discuss the possibilities that we could include in this project, communitcation with my partner is the most important thing when working with someone else so we need to agree on a final decision of what to include.
2. From this we can then write our script.
3. We will then choose the locations that we intend to use, choose our actors and give the scripts to the actors to rehearse.
4. We have also decided to make character profiles of each person in this 2 minute clip. This will help with the undertanding of each persona and you can get the gist of what they are like and how they are as a person.
5. We will then make a shot list to decide the order of filming.
6. Finally we will film the whole thing.

 

Rosy and Jess’s Film Opening Project

Our Task: To create the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. We have to make up a fictional plot and firstly think of the whole film before we make the opening. The film must be interesting and we had to pick a genre so that we have some kind of theme to mold our ideas around.

We had to pick a partner to do this project with and me and Rosy decided to work together because we live fairly close and are both about the same grade students so we both want to achieve high in this project.

Our Film

Our film is going to be a chick flick and we have been inspired by films such as MeanGirls and PitchPerfect.

Our film opens with a Talent Contest set in a high school. As the film opens you see the first act, they are two rappers who are awful but class to watch and good entertainment. The next person inline is a Girl. She shakily gets on stage and begins to nervously sing her song choice.

She has major stage freight and cracks, she breaks down from the nerves and the faces of the popular manipulative girls in the crowd where they mock her and lagh so she flees off the stage. One particular lad in the crowd notices her. He is high up on the social ladder and all the popular girls adore him and are forever trying to snatch him up but they never succeed.
The girl runs away to the outdoors and sits up against a tree sobbing and curls up against it. She gets out her headphones and puts on some music. In this part we would make the music louder until it reaches her ears then it goes on full blast like the audience is hearing what she hearing. She relaxes and feels fine after this. The girl suffers from a stutter problem and it affects her confidence and her social life so she hasn’t ever spoken to any of the boys because she gave up to save herself from getting embarrassed.
The lad in the crowd decides to go after the girl and pushes past everyone in the crowd to get out and find her. He manages to find her near the tree and they get talking and discover they both share the interest of music. They spend more and more time together and it eventually leads to them getting together. This obviously leads to the popular girls getting jealous and they think of a cruel plan to split them up. He helps her overcome her stutter problem and become more confident.
The girl and lad decide to make music together and notice there’s an advertisement for a record company offering to copyright their music if they send it to them. They decide to do this however one of the jealous girls gets her hands on the disk and sabotages it by changing the music on it and getting a key and scratching the disc so it doesn’t work.
The couple obviously notice they haven’t had a reply from the record company and begin to argue blaming the other one for not getting the deal. It all gets too much and they split up.
Time passes and they both carry on living their own lives without each other but still are crazy about the other one. They both end up going to the same party but the girl seeing the boy with one of the jealous nasty girls and leaves when she sees them together and the jealous girl tries to kiss the boy. The girl leaves without a second glance and doesn’t see the boy turn away from the kiss because he still loves her.
The funny friend of the girl decides to cheer her up by taking her to a speed dating class, co-incidently the boys desperate lad mate decides to drag him along with him and they end up meeting there. The girl and boy get together again, and the funny friend and desperate lad also get together.
The camera them fades into the future from now showing the marriage of the boy and girl and the dream house they previously discussed.

Pitching our Film:

We stood infront of the class and portrayed our film ideas to the class, here is the video:

Initial thoughts about the opening of our film:

• We definately want to make it intraguing to the audience so we are going to make our characters likeable, for example our girl main character will be a different style to the nasty girl characters, those girls will all dress alike and copy eachother. The boy will be handsome and kind natured.
• We want to add humour to our opening so the first act f the talent competition will be two rappers who are gangster wannabe’s, they will be played by Rosy and I and we will make it entertaining to watch.
• We will have to make our own music for this project which I think will prove difficult but be fulfilling in our production as we will have done it ALL ourselves.
• We need to decide on actors that we think will fulfil the roles of the characters and portray their personalities how we imagined. We need people reliable to film during their own time on weekends out of school and people who will stick to the task and not mess around.

Attack the Block (Written and directed by Joe Cornish 2011)

This is a British monster movie, set in a council estate in South London on Bonfire Night The plot of the film centers a street gang of teenage lads who are partial to mugging randomers in the street and carry knives, regularly visit Ron for weed and carry fire works in their backpacks. The gang have to defend themselves from an alien invasion which chases them all around the block in order to catch them and eat them.

I watched this film a couple of nights ago and I have to say it has to be one of my all time favorites. I have watched it numerous times, all with different people, all of which get obsessed with the film after watching it, taking lines which the characters say and repeating them till they loose their novelty. From looking at the cover you think its just another alien invasion film, which quite frankly it is, however, the heroes are unexpected, and the set of the whole film is so different, so normal and I think that’s what makes it so entertaining, it takes the normal and turns it into the unexpected.

The plot:

The film begins on Bonfire Night and character Samantha is mugged by a small gang of boystrous youths. The main character of the gang, Moses, is the ring leader. The other members of the gang are Pest, Jerome, Dennis and Biggz.

The mugging is interrupted by a meteorite hitting the car that is parked next to Sam in the street where shes lying after being pushed to the floor by Moses. It smashes into the roof of the car spraying glass everywhere and the lads take cover whilst Sam sees her escape runs off as fast as she can. Moses, being the brave one goes to the car and takes a look inside, where an alien jumps out and attacks him, scratching his face, and runs out of the car into the park. The lads chase after it thinking its probably a dog or a monkey, and kill it with fireworks. From doing this they believe they will acquire fame and fortune as they discover the creature they just killed is not anything they have ever seen. They decide to take the dead alien to their acquaintance Ron (Nick Frost) who lives at the top of the block and grows and sells weed to get some advice at what they have found.

Moses asks Ron and local gangster Hi-Hatz if he can keep the alien in their Weed room as its the safest room in the block.

More objects begin to fall from the sky, and as the gang are eager to fight more creatures they arm themselves with base ball bats, knives and swords and rush to the nearest site where they saw one crash land. They soon discover these creatures are much bigger and gorilla like than the one they killed, with rows of glowing teeth and blacker than black spiky fur. The gang run away and become chased by them, whilst they are running, Moses gets arrested by the police as they were out looking for the gang who mugged Sam. Moses is put into the police van which Sam is also inside. The police men both get mauled outside the van by the aliens who are after Moses, then they attack the van knowing Moses is inside. Dennis bravely reaches the van and frees Moses and they decide to jack it and drive away in it still with Sam inside. Dennis takes the wheel and accidentally crashes the police van into Hi-Hatz’s car, Sam sees this as her chance to escape again and runs off, the rest of the gang catch up to the crashed police car where they all confront Hi-Hatz.

Raging about his crashed car Hi-Hatz threatens the lads with a gun whilst they tell him about the aliens which he refuses to believe until his henchman is attacked and killed by one right in front of his eyes, the lads escape at this moment only to be chased by more aliens. The decide to run to their block but Biggz gets forced to hide in a plastic skip/bin where he becomes certain that he wont survive as one alien waits outside. Pest gets his leg bitten and is dragged up the stairs of the block by his gang. They notice Sam lives in the same block as them and force their way into her flat where they think they will be safe for a moment. Sam refuses to believe their alien story but believes it after one alien smashes into the flat but is attacked my Moses with a samurai sword and killed. Sam decides to join the lads so as not to be left alone. The gang and Sam move upstairs to their neighbors flat who are a bunch of girls. They are again attacked by the aliens who get in through the window and decapitate Dennis. The girls, traumatized note that they aliens are clearly after Moses and flee the building. The gang carry on up the block only to be confronted by Hi-Hatz with some more henchmen who try to shoot Moses and his gang. An alien chases Hi-Hatz and his men into the lift where Hi-Hatz kills the alien but the henchmen are killed too, but he is still raging at Moses and continues his search to get him.

The group make their way upstairs and reach the top floor where they meet Ron’s weed customer Brewis who joins them. They set fireworks through the halls of the floor to kill any aliens that are there in waiting and walk through the smoke, Jerome becomes disorientated by the smoke and is killed by an alien. The group finally reach Rons flat at the end of the corridor and enter it only to find Hi-Hatz waiting for them. He threatens Moses with a gun until aliens crash through the window, killing Hi-Hatz whilst the gang retreat to Rons weed room where they are safe for the while.

Whilst in the weed room, Brewis discoveres a luminescent stain on Moses’s jacket which he theorizes is a feramone which the first alien they killed left on him, as it must have been a female and  it had left a mating scent on Moses that the larger male aliens have been tracking for the evening.  After discovering this they use the luminescent light on Sam to see if she carries the feramone, she is clear so they devise a plan to kill all the aliens when they are in one room together.

Sam escapes out of the flat and runs to Moses’s flat where she turns up all the gas and leaves the door on the latch then runs out of the block. Moses attatches the dead female alien onto his back after finding it in the weedroom where they had left it and runs out of the flat where all the male aliens chase him down to his flat.

 

He throws the female in the flat where all the males gather and ignites a firework which makes the flat explode whilst he jumps out of the window and hangs onto a flag hanging from it. The aliens are all killed and Moses is alive.

In all the aftermath, Moses, Pest, Ron and Brewis are arrested as they are considered responsible for all the chaos of the evening and the deaths of all the people around the area, but Samantha comes to their defence as they saved her. Moses and Pest are shoved into the police van whre they hear the crowd outside cheering for Moses, causing Moses to smile for the first time in the film.

 

Overall I believe this film is brillaint and brings excitement and laughter to your living room when you watch it. I would definately recomment it to anyone, its has no particular audience and is far from a nerdy alien film, its much better than that.

Reservoir Dogs- Evaluation

I have finally finished editing my video and its finished. I took me about three lessons but its done now.

Thing that I found difficult were putting the text on for the names of the actresses and writing Reservoir Dogs at the end and the credits, because I didn’t even know how to even do it. With the help of Rosy I was shown how to do it. Once I learned how to do it I saved a customized font which was similar to the original one in the film and it saved me time when doing all the rest of the text.

What went well?

Things that went well in our video was the walking past the wall part, where everyone’s in sunglasses and the music is playing. It really recreates the ‘cool’ scene like in the film, and our version is like the female version and still looks just as good. Once that scene got put in slow motion when I did my editing it made it so much more similar to the film.

Another thing that went okay was the voice over I did, it could have been improved if I’m honest but only because I hadn’t listened to the original voice over before I did it myself so it wasn’t as similar. I think I spoke a little too fast but I did put on the american accent and try to speak deeply.

I think most of our costumes looked like the characters we were supposed to be, if you watched it you would be able to tell who was playing who. We decided to pay lots of attention to detail with things like the props on the table in the canteen, including the old fashioned mobile phone which Kate brought it, Ketchup and fake monopoly money. This made out video more convincing because we tried hard to recreate the scene as best we could with the resources we had. We also drew the wrinkles and bags on our faces if our characters had them, my character for example had LOADS of bags and was an old man so Robyn did my makeup for me and did a good job of making me look tired and old.

What could have been improved?

Things that could have been improved was when we filmed the part where the characters are shown with their names in yellow font, we should have zoomed in more on the characters faces, this would have made it more like the film because in the film the characters head is at the very top of the shot and their neck is at the bottom and the top of their shoulders showing.

I could have also padded out my outfit more as my character Joe was fat, and I only stuffed the front of my top, therefore making me look pregnant instead of fat.  If we were to do it again I would pad out all my clothes to make me look more like my character Joe.

When editing the shots together I found it difficult to put text on the ending shot where the group of characters are walking down the street and the credits roll up the screen saying ‘Reservoir Dogs’. This text stops at the top of the page. I found it extremely difficult to do and didn’t grasp how to do it as Mr Grant was always busy with someone else so he never got round to showing me how to do it. I asked some of my peers but I still didn’t understand, this was a problem because it meant that my ‘Reservoir Dogs’ text just rolls off the top of the shot and doesn’t stop.

What I enjoyed from this task

From making this video I have thoroughly enjoyed dressing up and making ourselves into the characters we are supposed to portray. That  was probably my favorite part as it makes the video look so much more colourful and interesting if we are dressed as our characters instead of wearing uniform.

I also loved trying to make our version of the film as close to the original as possible. It needed alot of focus from all of us to get the attention to detail but overall I think we achieved a pretty good outcome.

Here is our finished video:

Reservoir Dogs- Editing

Once we had filmed our shots they got loaded onto the desktops and our next task was to edit them together using the real intro from the film as guidelines. We used the programme Final Cut to produce our edited film openings, most of us had used the programme before so it wasn’t too difficult to operate.

First I imported the video footage we made from the desktop onto Final Cut. I also imported the actual film clip onto Final Cut as well which I put under my clips as a guide to what goes where. I started by cutting my shots and putting them in the order of the film. Once I had all the videos in order on the timeline  I decided to add in the text, there’s a bit where the screen is black and there is yellow text which says ‘ A film by Quentin Tarantino’, for this I laid black as a back ground and wrote my own which said ‘A film by Jess Morris’.

There was also text of the actors name when the characters are filmed walking towards the camera. I made a yellow font which looked similar to the one used in the film and saved it so that it was the same font for every characters text. At the end of the clip the credits roll up the screen, for this I used a text template which moved up the screen and put in the writing I wanted.

After I had done all of the text I moved onto the sound. Mr Jackson made us record our voices saying the voice over part at the beginning of the film, we had to do this in an american accent and say it like the man in the film. We did this so that we could put it over the top of our edited shots and use our own voices as its more creative. Once we had done this it was put onto the computer and I imported it onto Final Cut. I then placed it on the timeline where I wanted it which was at the start in the canteen scene. After I’d put my sound on I took the sound from the film off, and imported the music for the rest of the sound in the film. This was difficult because I had to match the music to the music in the film exactly and it was either too forward or too backwards so i moved it as best i could to the spot where it starts.

I then decided to put an effect on the video which matched the film version, it makes the colours a little for brighter and defined, this looks particularly good on the characters who wore sunglasses and black suits, like Rosy, Jemma, Robyn and Jess, as the black sunglasses and suits stand out from the skin and shirt and make the shot more pleasing to the eye.

Before, without the effect:

After, with the effect, the colours are bolder:

Filming Reservoir Dogs- Our Version

On Wednesday the 4th of December we started filming our shots for the remake of the beginning of Reservoir Dogs. We had each been appointed the characters we were supposed to dress up as and paid particular attention to the details of what clothes they wore, their facial expressions and their overall physical appearance. As a group we were appointed roles for within the project, these were the director who was Jess Marshall, the costume decider which was Grace, the person who chose the settings which was Lauren, the story board makers which was mainly Rosy but I helped, the camera woman which was Lucy, and everyone else helped with deciding the props and organizing us as a team.

When filming we just had 1 hour, this seems reasonable for filming about 25 seconds of shots but it proved difficult as its not easy controlling a big group of girls. We started off filming in the canteen for the starting shot, for this we brought in plenty of props which recreated the scene magnificently as we needed to get it as similar to the film as possible. It took us about half an hour to film the canteen scene as it took us a while to get it right but we did manage it in time to get filming the next bit. We chose the wall outside where the buses go past to do the slow motion walking scene. We managed this rather quickly but the only down side was that we didn’t have a blue car in the back ground which is quite noticeable in the real film. We then filmed the characters walking where they are facing the camera, in the film its difficult to tell how they did this so we settled for the camera on the tripod and the characters walking towards the shot. When seeing the boys version they decided to go for a bobbing technique where they bobbed in front of the camera to imitate walking, I think this worked better as it looked more like the film. Our final piece of filming was all us as a group walking down the road. We got this in one shot as it was a fairly easy bit of filming.

The problems which we encountered  when we were filming were trying to get the exact correct position which looked like the film. In the canteen we found it difficult to get the right back ground and had several location changes in the room before we settled for the round table near the edge of the room. We seemed to spend more time discussing how we were going to do each shot, this was quite annoying as we had limited time and people were getting impatient and just wanted to get the shot done instead of spending ages getting it exactly the same as the film.

Another this we found difficult was getting the order of the characters walking past the wall right. We had to pay particular attention to who was who and where they were in the shot.

The most frustrating part of the whole task was that we only had 1 hour to film the shots in. However it was only about 25 seconds of filming so realistically we wouldn’t need long to film it. Yet saying this we did struggle for time by the end of the hour, which meant we rushed our last couple of shots. Though having a time limit does mean that we get down to work and do it, it is annoying because organizing about 9 girls to do exactly what you want them to is a difficult task. We did manage it though and our shots were pretty good.

The Hunger Games- Catching Fire

On Saturday night me and my mother went to the cinema to watch the latest Hunger Games film. I had seen the first one and thought it was outstanding, so I definitely had intentions of seeing the second one. There is a series of books for the Hunger games which are excellently written even though I haven’t read any of them I have been told that they are well written and adrenaline filled. This has made me decide that i am going to read them when I finally get the time as I do love a good book.

The Plot of Catching Fire

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have survived the 74th Hunger games and return home to District 12, their home town. From the first Hunger Games movie, Katniss and Peeta inspire the people in the Districts across the world as they threaten suicide with exploding berries which instantly kill you, they both shared some in their hands and counted so as to take them at the same time, so that the game ends with either both alive (if they get stopped) or both dead and there is no winner. In the end the games were stopped and both won. Their relationship is also a ‘show’ as they are in a whirlwind romance for the on screen entertainment for the people of the Capitol. This makes Katniss and Peeta memorable to the spectators.

Snow, the master of the whole Hunger Games is frustrated with Katniss as she inspired rebellion among the districts and he orders her to go to the Districts and convince the country that her and Peetas love is ‘real’.  Katniss and Peetas mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, tells Katniss and Peeta the “show” of their relationship must continue for the rest of their lives. Katniss suggests a public engagement between herself and Peeta, which is carried out and celebrated at Snow’s home in the Capitol. This pleases the Capitol as the tributes of the Hunger Games like the drama to watch of the relationships of the tributes as they are like animals in a cage.

Peacekeepers crack down in District 12 to maintain and order the rebellion and Katniss’s close friend Gale is publicaly whipped by an angry peacekeeper. Snow announces a special Hunger Games which is held every 25 years which involved previous victors, Katniss is picked again but she knows she will be enduring it again, and Peeta volunteers himself as he is in love with Katniss and wont let her go on her own, even though she doesn’t want him to as she wants him to be safe and live.

Katniss and Peeta have their pre games interview in the Capitol where Katniss wears her wedding dress which she would have work in her marriage to peeta if it wasn’t for this next hunger games. This created the best impression for her as the crowd love her. Her stylist Cinna creates the dress so that it turns into a deep blue dress with wings which resembles a mocking jay when she spins. He supports Katniss and assures her everything is going to be okay.  As a punishment for the scene it caused, Cinna is savagely beaten seconds before an onlooking Katniss enters the arena. Traumatizing Katniss and putting her is a state of shock and remorse just before she is about to be in the Hunger Games.

The games begin and Katniss straight away goes in search for Peeta and some kind of weapon which she can use to protect herself, her bow and arrow. She fore alliances with some other people from another District and they sacrafice each other to save each other. I don’t want to give the excitement away so I’ll leave the details of each attack to when you watch it for yourself.

In the end Katniss fires an arrow with a wire attatched to it connected to lighting, to the sky where there’s a force field and the Hunger Games gets a power failure and the arena is destroyed.

Katniss awakens in an aircraft where she finds Haymitch, Finnick and Plutarch Heavensbee, the head gamemaker, revealed to be a rebel against Snow. She is frantically asking where Peeta is as Haymitch promised he wouldn’t let him die, she lashes out at Haymitch and threatens him with a syringe. She then finds out that Johanna and Peeta were taken away by the Capitol and she’s in such a state that Plutarch sedates her and she wakes up days later with Gale next to her and he tells her their District 12 has been destroyed but her family is safe.

The Making of Our Version of Reservoir Dogs-Planning

Our task was to recreate the opening scene to the film Reservoir Dogs, we were put into 2 groups, one of just boys and one of us girls. Then between us we all made the decisions on what characters we were and how was were going to achieve this task.

Here is the clip from the film Reservoir Dogs which we were copying:

To achieve this piece of filming to a high standard we had to assign roles to each other in the group. There was a director which was Jess Marshall, Jemma was organizer and made sure that everyone had a role and we all knew what we were doing. Grace looked at the clothing and wrote down what each character from the scene wore so that we could copy it. Lucy was the cameraman and filmed the whole thing. Lauren looked at location and where we could film each scene where it would look closest to the film as possible. Me and Rosy did the story boards, most of which was Rosy’s handy work as she took the story boards home and worked on them. Robyn and Kate helped with costumes and props, as when we watched the clip we wrote down as many props as we could notice which we would include in our version.

We had 3 lessons to plan our filming, which meant we had to focus and keep motivated to the task. In each hour of lesson we talked about what we needed to do when filming, practiced our walks and watched the clip endlessly to get down every piece of detail we could. We examined the positions and order of the characters, their clothes, hair, wrinkles, what was on the table in the diner etc.

Each character in the film had a specific ‘look’, my character for example was Joe who is a big old guy, He wore a brown top and grey trousers and he had quite big bags under his eyes. From this we all decided as a group that we would go for pencil skirts instead of trousers because we are an all girl group so we thought we should enhance it. I borrowed Graces grey pencil skirt and my mums turtle neck brown top. For the wrinkles, Robyn used an eyebrow pencil and drew bags under my eyes, lines near my mouth and between my eyebrows and lines at the corners of my eyes. I also stuffed a couple of hoodies up my top as my character is fat.

We are marked on our skills on how close to the film we can get it so we need to pay particular attention to what each character does and how they do it. We wanted it to be obvious which characters we were.

Techtalk: Camera Movement

A crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane. The most obvious uses are to view and film the actors from above or to move up and away from them.

A Tracking shot is when the camera is mounted on a wheeled platform pushed on rails, it is also known as a dolly shot.

A Panning shot is a shot where the word panning refers to the rotation in a horizontal motion. Panning a camera is like the same motion to someone shaking their head from side to side.

The Tilt shot is similar to the pan shot, however it moves vertically instead of horizontally. This shot can be done either hand held or with a camera tripod.

A Camera Zoom is where the focal length of the lens is altered to be closer or further away. When this is used in film making it gives the illusion that the object is getting closer or going further away.

A Crash Zoom is an extremely fast zoom in, it is widely used in horror films as its good for editing shots to make them more dramatic and speeded. The Crash Zoom in this clip is at 2:00.

A Dutch Tilt is when the camera is tilted to one side when filming to create variation from filming horizontally or vertically. It is best used when filming drunk people or injured people. It makes the shot look more attractive and interesting to the human eye.

A Handheld shot is a technique where the camera is held in the camera mans hand instead of a tripod. The allow a greater freedom of motion whilst filming and more can be captured though the shot.

A Steadicam is a brand of camera which allows for a smooth shot and is used instead of a handheld camera or a dolly track, this is because it absorbs bumps or shakiness from the camera operator or the floor.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Edgar Wright)

I have made a review for this film on Prezi

http://prezi.com/feyuc8pvhunt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Textual Analysis- Doctor Who essay

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of gender using the following: camera shots/angles, movement and composition, editing, sound and mise en scene.

In this extract the Masters authority is shown at the start of the scene by the camera angles looking up at him. This displays his importance and how he is in charge throughout the scene. He also dominates the room and the camera as he gets lots of screen time and as he is in conversation with Martha there are lots of quick cuts editing the shot reverse shot through out their conversation. As the scene goes on you notice he starts off standing at the top of the stairs menacingly looking down on all hims hostages, but as the clip comes to a close he is at the bottom step, totally defeated by the doctor and Martha. This symbolizes how the authority changes from the Master, to Martha to the Doctor. This displays how he has been outwitted by a woman, as males are usually the dominant gender so Martha is a heroin. The camera captures the menacing looks of the master by using close up shots of his face and mid shots of him pacing the landing where the lady in the red dress is standing. The camera uses reaction shots of the master as Martha walks in of him displaying a very intimidating cruel face. He is sneery towards Martha as she is under his power. This also leads on to how he treats the place like he owns it as he struts and wanders the landing with a booming voice and total control.

He is in his element and this is shown by his shirt untucked and collar undone, he seems relaxed and his mind is only on killing Martha and destroying the world. As the Master starts controlling the technology and pressing buttons the shots become faster paced to represent the danger and adrenaline of the moment. There is also non digetic music constantly playing in the background which seems to turn uneasy when he speaks to suggest danger and that he is going to do something bad. As Martha laughs at the master the music gets slightly higher to suggest that the mood is going to lift and Martha is has a plan, giving the audience hope. At one point Martha throws the Master something and he has to bend down to catch it as he is at the top of the stairs. This shows he has to make the effort to catch it, suggesting that his authority is going to be challenged. It could also be a symbol for whats to come as you see the Master is going to get outwitted by Martha and the Doctor.

Martha plays an important role within the clip as she is the Doctors messenger, like Jesus’ disciples. She is central in the first shot as she is between two security men with guns making her look even more vulnerable as she walks in the room with them pacing behind her. She darts her eyes around to show how she’s aware of her surroundings. The camera looks down on her whilst she’s in conversation with the Master to symbolise how she’s under his power at that moment in time. You can tell Martha is the focus as she is in a lot of the shots. The camera also uses lots of reaction shots of her when she’s in conversation with the Master to capture her feeling of being under his power. She is made to kneel down for the Master as this is where you as an audience think she is weak as she obeys him. Martha is wearing masculine clothes which are functional for her duty. This displays her determination to what the Doctor told her to do and how she has stuck to her instructions. She seems a prisoner, yet she doesn’t seem scared of upset. She is calm and confident and displays this by going along with the Masters orders but when she starts talking she has already devised a plan and has faith that she and the Doctor will get out of this situation. She displays bravery as she speaks to the Master and also shows hints of dominance as she always has something to say back at him. This suggests that the power is shifting from the Master to Martha as she is challenging his authority. She is a loyal character and has faith in the Doctor. As she tells the stories of how she got her message to all four corners of the earth the camera moves in on her to focus all the audiences attention on listening to what she has to stay. As she tells her story there is diegetic sound of her breathing through the cold, this emphasized sound strengthens the fact that she went against the odds to do what the Doctor had told her to. The camera cuts from scene to scene when showing Martha’s flashbacks which signpost past events.  Shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule is used when Martha and the Master are talking. As she is in conversation with the Master the camera cuts to different hostages in the room, presumably on Martha’s side as though they are all in a trance watching how she handles the situation and challenges the Master.

The Doctor is first portrayed in this scene as a weakling with his head hung low. He is trapped in a bird cage in the form of a wrinkled, frail creature. This symbolizes his weakness and helplessness. As you watch the clip for the first time you have no idea that the creature in the cage is the Doctor as its such a contrast to the end where he is rising up in a blue light, just like the resurrection of Jesus. This contrast symbolizes the importance of the Doctor and how powerful he actually is.  The lights also signifies the power he has and how he has been reborn and is not in full authority over the Master. The camera angles on the Doctor seem to look up at him when hes being resurrected, suggesting his power, this is when the camera angles start to look down on the Master, signifying how the power has shifted. The Doctors voice projects at the end of the clip as he is rising upwards with the light around him, symbolizing his holiness, and how he is a leader.

There is a lady who stands out when the camera is on the balcony scene at the start of the clip. This woman is dressed in a tight red dress, all the other people on the balcony are wearing white therefore the audiences attention is automatically drawn to her. She plays no speaking or important role within the clip but poses as a piece of arm candy for the Master, as the red dress is suggestive and displays seduction. She is represented as an object, but you can tell she doesn’t care for the Master because when he is being over powered by the Doctor she plays no part in trying to save him. She is also blonde, and being stereotypical this could suggest she is quite thick therefore she doesn’t object to being treated like a trophy. She takes center screen in the wide shots of the balcony at the start, again suggesting she is just there to make the Master look ‘desirable’ and make the room look ‘nice’ because there’s a pretty woman standing in it.

Tech-Talk: Camera work-Shots

Extreme Long shot- also known as an establishing shot and contains a large amount of landscape.

Long shot- contains landscape but gives the viewer a more specific idea of setting. A long shot may show the viewers the building where the action will take place.

Full shot- this contains a complete shot of the characters. From this shot, viewers can take in the costumes of characters and may also help to demonstrate the relationships between characters.

Mid shot- contains the characters from the waist up and you can see their interaction with other characters.

Close up- contains just one characters face and enables the audience to view the characters feelings and emotions to help them feel empathy.

Extreme Close up- contains one part of a character’s face or other object. This technique is quite common in horror films.

Wide shot- this shot shows the area and environment around the subject. This allows the audience to clearly see the subject and the immediate environment and area around them.

Over the Shoulder shot- a shot showing someone or something from over the shoulder of another person or thing.

Dumb and Dumber (written and directed by the Farrelly brothers, 1994)

This American Comedy follows the story of Lloyd Christmas and harry Dunne and their road trip to returning a brief case to its rightful owner who is stunningly attractive.

They are two good natured, innocent but unintelligent friends from Province Rhode Island, and Lloyd is tired of being a no body, he wants to follow the woman who he gave a lift to the airport to return her briefcase, so that he can have somebody, and be ‘plugged into the social pipeline’. Harry and Lloyd go to Aspen, Colorado in which they try to find the woman who Lloyd drove to the airport (Mary Swansen). They manage to get halfway there in their van and then Lloyd drives the worng way and goes a sixth of the way across the country in the wrong direction. Harry is determined to return home after being angry at Lloyd and starts walking back, Lloyd however is set on finding Mary and getting to Aspen so he trades the van for a moped to do the other half of the journey. Harry joins him after changing his state of mind and they complete their trek to Aspen. Once there they realise they have no idea where Mary lives, Harry is again angry and the pair result in a fight where the briefcase gets flung open and thousands of dollars are flung everywhere. They quickly decide to get themselves somewhere to stay as they are totally broke. They invest in a luxury hotel usually reserved for royalty, and get a Lamborghini and new clothes.

They write everything that the buy down and replace them with IOU’s. They notice Mary is having a gala and prepare to attend, getting primped and ready.

After the gala Harry realises he likes Mary too and their friendship goes through a rocky patch. They soon find out Mary has a husband who has been kidnapped and that was what the brief case of money was for as a ransom to get him back.

I love this film because if the actors. Jim Carey is an all time legend and absolutely hilarious. I love the way he portrays Lloyd and in so totally amusing. It doesn’t take much to make me laugh and I would say my humour is fairly childish therefore this film is just brilliant for me. Also Harry, played by Jeff Daniels conveys his character perfectly, just making a spectacle of himself and entertaining his audience.

This film is perfect for cheering you up and is extremely hilarious. It has great actors which manipulate the audience into believing the dumbness of the characters. Its brilliant and I would totally reccommend it

This is England ’86 (Shane Meadows) Analysing the Montage

We have been watching This is England 86 for the past couple of lessons and we have been given a clip from the last episode of the first series to look at in detail and analyse. We had to look at camera work, editing, mise en scene and sound design. This particular clip from the programme is effective because it takes each story that’s going on at that second with different characters and puts it together to help emphasize the contrast of their emotions to have a saddening effect on the audience. The whole point of the montage is so display the bitter sweet lives of these characters who have quite a deprived and aggressive up bringing, there’s is occasional dialogue to keep the story going as the montage takes place and sometimes diegetic sound penetrated from the world of the film like a dog barking. All of the characters are included in this sequence to show the group of friends and to display how when they go off to their own lives and homes it gets tough or they are faced with the painful truths of reality. When they are together everything seems good and at ease and its just about having a laugh. This group of friends all seem to have bad or tough lives and they have that in common, so at ties they can share moments with each other either in happiness or in Lol and Trevs case, sadness. Most of the characters have equal time in the montage but it is quite clear who the main focus is on. You can tell Lol and Shaun are the stories we are following and their lives and actions seem to take the spotlight. However no character is favored over another.

Editing

The montage includes alot of cross cutting where videos are cut all together of everything happening at the same time. This makes the montage interesting as one character is filmed with their life then it quickly cuts to another character, either with a life contrast so they might be on a high with their life whereas the last character might have been really upset. This change in mood keeps the audience on their toes and is ensures the programme is entertaining so that you don’t loose interest.

There is a part where the dad and Kelly are filmed in wide shot in kellys bed room, then it switches to Trev being an emotional wreck, it cuts like this to remind us of what the dad is capable of doing and to remind us of what he has done. There is also a bruise on Trevs neck, emphasizing how dangerous he is and how hurt physically and emotionally she is.

Sound Design

The montage includes music over the top which plays for certain characters on screen, unless there is speech in which is either stops or just plays quieter. This music manipulates the audience to feel the same sadness as the character they are watching as it goes slower and deeper when sad, or higher to represent hope for that character. An example of this is when you can see Trev telling Lol she was raped, the music plays over it and you see Trev mouth the word ‘rape’. The music is very slow and saddening as you see a reaction close up shot of Lol and her putting her head down in dismay. We don’t need dialogue in this particular scene because we as the audience know what Trev has to say. Then the next scene is Combo in Shauns bathroom, the music gets higher to display hope for him as he doesn’t seem the dangerous skin head we saw in the film. He seems vulnerable and almost lost as he washes the blood off his face. These close up shots of his eyes screwing up as the water pours over him emphasize how he is no longer a threat, and he has been hurt emotionally and physically and just needs some care and support from someone.

There is a sound bridge where the montage goes from Lol and Trev to woody and and Milky on their motorbikes. The roaring of the engine starts when Lol and Trev are still being shown, this links the shots together so that its a smooth switch to the next characters.

When Combo is in the bath Shaun comes in with some fresh clothes and gives them to him, they exchange speech and this displays how Shaun is there for Combo and their relationship hasn’t disappeared from This is England the film.

Camera Work

When Trev is telling Lol she was raped the camera uses the 180 degree rule as the two girls are sat side by side and not facing each other. The camera makes sure to stay on one side of the conversation which helps it look more believable. The director uses close ups of Lol to define how her reaction is most important, and to display how intimate and fragile the situation is. The close up shots capture the true feeling of what Trev is going through and Lols comforting support for her because she knows what shes going though as they have both become victims of Lols dad.

The next shot is a wide shot of Milky and Woody as they go off separate directions on their mopeds after exchanging some dialogue, the shot reminds us as the audience how deprived the estate they live in is, showing the rusty garage and council houses behind. There’s then a mid shot of Woody and Milky speaking in which the music fades out and they exchange dialogue, this keeps the story going throughout the montage.

There is a part where Woody is filmed motoring past on his scooter. The camera follows him and moves with him to ensure his every move is followed by the audiences eyes.

The camera switches from Woody to Lol and Trev, this emphasizes the contrast in emotion of the two scenes and two totally different moods come from either one. This contrast keeps the audience locked on the screen as the switching emotion is mesmerizing.

There is a Mid shot of the dad in Kellys room talking to her whilst she is fast asleep, the music in the back ground goes deeper to display the danger of the situation because we know what the man is capable of. This shot establishes Kelly as a teenager as she has posters up on the walls and not matching bedding, this suggests her inner child and she is still a kid at heart. The situation she is in puts her at a very vulnerable position but she is fast asleep and doesn’t even know whats going on.

Milky goes to the house of the lady who can do marriage ceremonies and asks her to do one for woody as he decides he wants to try and win back Lol. Milky is filmed looking down at him and the camera moves with him on the scooter, this emphasizes how he plays an important role in Lol and Woodys relationship and without him there would be no wedding.

As the camera goes bac to filming Lol and Trev, the main focus is on Lol because Trevs face goes into the shadow and Lols reaction is closely filmed. She is deeply saddened by Trevs news and you can tell shes plotting some kind of revenge for the man who ruined her and her friends lives.

The camera goes onto Shaun, displaying him in his dark room suggesting how hes feeling slightly lonely and isolated as smell isn’t there with him at that precise moment. He is also filmed three quarters of the way across the screen so he isn’t directly in the center, this is more pleasing to the human eye and also displays the empty space around him emphasizing his loneliness.

There is a wide shot of Woody and Milky on their scooters together motoring along the road toward the camera. In this sequence they high five whilst moving and laugh, this action emphasizes their solid friendship and how they are there for each other, they are all geared up for the wedding and Woody is ready for another try at his relationship with Lol. The tragic thing about this shot though is that we as an audience know that the wedding isn’t going to happen as Lol is wrapped up in the situation with her dad so the emotions on screen contrast as those two lives go from shot to shot.

In one of the last shots Shaun is in the car with Smell and Combo. The overall focus is on Shaun as the camera pans on him for longer and goes from different angles so you can see his point of view looking at Smell and see where Combo is in the car. Combo is in the back seat, this could display how he is still quite fragile and not the person he used to be. He is not in control and his vulnerability and sadness is emphasized. Also his tattoos on his face no longer look sinister, they have gone fuzzy and have lost their dangerous effect, however they do display his past as they show how edgy he used to be. The camera also uses close up shots of his face, yet shadows play about on him so you cannot see him as clearly, this emphasizes how he is still quite mysterious, but he is no longer any threat, and maybe lost inside himself.

Mise en Scene

The scooters that Woody and Milky have define the gang culture of deprived Britain at that time and display their self identity. They also help put the programme into context because they are a typical gang equipment.

When Combo is shown in the montage he looks vulnerable. Hes grubby and has blood on his head, he looks rough and hungover, however he looks no threat to anyone anymore. His hair has also grown which could emphasize how he is no longer a dangerous skin head and he has grown out of his old disturbing ways.

Shaun has a part in the montage which shows him sat in his room looking down and upset as he is thinking about Combo and trying to work out why hes come back. His room has peeling paint and is fairly dark and unwelcoming, this displays again the poverty and puts the programme into context. Shaun is filmed smelling a shirt which is presumably his dads, this shows he treasures his dad and everything he owned has been preserved and kept safe. Shaun gives Combo the shirt to wear and this could symbolize how much Combo means to Shaun, and how he is doing what he can to care for Combo and help him erase his past and move forward.

When Woody decides he is going to get married to Lol again he rushes to the lads to tell them. they are all sleeping on the sofa half naked looking crumpled and hungover. This shows how close they are as to wake them up Woody slaps them.

When Lol and Trev are in shot together their relationship is displayed as they both share a sadness. They grow closeness and this is displayed by Trev in Lols arms lying on her. It also shows how Lol is the dominant female and she is going to do something about it, whereas  Trev seems fragile and desperate to keep it secret.