1) Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your programme?
Our main protagonist 'Amelia' will appear on our front cover.
2) What image or images do you need for the contents page?
We would like the front covers of each production on our contents page. However, if our contents page becomes over-crowded we may just have to pick the best ones.
3) What image or images will you use for the double-page spread?
Amelia at the graveyard
Amelia and Mr. Reynolds at the office
Mental Hospital
The drug
4) Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.
Long shot of Amelia in white gown holding cup with the drug inside it fizzing
Close-up of the drug
Wide shot of the hospital
Over-the-shoulder shot of Amelia at the office with Mr.Reynolds
5) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?
White gown
Make-up for Amelia to make her look ill
White contacts
Drug (fizzing paracetamol)
Lab coat
Glasses
6) How will you make sure you have everything prepared for the photoshoot on Wednesday 20 January?
To make sure we are prepared for the photo shoot on Wednesday, we will have to speak to our actors to ensure they are free for the shoot. We also need to buy all the props that are needed for the shoot.
The focus group involved each group
discussing what their ideas were such as what their plot was, the genre of
their film, locations, the target audience and characters etc. Each group
then received feedback from everyone else in the room to see what
they could do to improve their media production.
Feedback
Good story line.
Consider getting a lot of actors for the church scene.
Consider accessing locations (permission) such as church, mental
hospital.
Seems like a classic horror film - "positive way".
"Try and have an original twist to your film".
Be careful when filming outdoor scenes - wind noises.
Make sure everyone is wearing similar costumes.
Use of drug possessing character - positive influence in reality as
it may prevent people from actually doing drugs.
From this focus group we have learnt that we need
to consider quite a lot for our film. Mainly having a good story line to
captivate your audience and keep the intrigued at all times. Furthermore, as
our film goes under the genre of horror, from the feedback we got back, we
should consider having a twist in the film in order to make it stand out and
for it not to be like any normal horror film. One other main thing we learnt
from this focus group is being able to get access to public places such as the
church and the hospital.
Target Audience
The target audience for our film would mainly
appeal to the ages around 15-25, we think it would appeal mainly to the younger
generation as they would be more intrigued. Whereas the older generation wouldn’t
be as impressed by it or wouldn’t enjoy it as much, considering it involves
drugs. However, it may appeal to some of the older generation as they might
want to prevent their children from taking drugs etc. Our film sends an important message
to our audience about taking drugs and the consequences of taking them in which
may prevent the younger generation in taking them. Furthermore, I think our film would mainly appeal to girls as the main protagonist
is female, also, as there is a rape scene, girls would emotionally engage with
the film. The film also sends a message/warning for girls, to not run off with
strangers and shows the implications/consequences if you do. However, it would
also appeal to boys as well, as we have the horror theme to the film which boys
would enjoy. In our film, there is no specific ethnicity our film would be
targeted at as there isn’t a specific ethnicity in our film. Our film would
also appeal to working class families as the film conveys the life and
struggles of a working class family and how the main protagonist only lives
with her dad. In addition, it would appeal to ‘resigned’ as one of the characteristics of a resigned person is
being strict and in our film the dad is portrayed as quite strict as he slaps
his daughter for coming home late. In addition, the Psychographic
group of ‘Strugglers’ would also fit into our film, as strugglers are
consumers of drugs and alcohol, and our protagonist drinks at the party and
mistakenly takes the drug. The group of ‘reformers’
would not fit into our film, as the girl at the end hasn’t been reformed in any
way, as she is still possessed. In my opinion, I think ‘explorers’ would
fit into our film. I think it would fit in as even though the girl being
possessed isn’t a good thing, she’s experiencing something new and different,
which is what explorers do. However, the group of ‘Succeeders’ would not appeal to our film, as nothing has been accomplished
in the end and our main protagonist is still possessed.
What is BBFC? The BBFC (The British Board of Film Classification) is an independent non-governmental organisation which classifies cinema films. It's responsible forthe national classification and censorship of films. How are films rated? Examiners normally view the film submissions by themselves, however, if the film is foreign a translator would be needed. The examiners make notes about what the film contains, e.g, sexual content, violence, bad language. Furthermore, distributors can make a request about the age rate of the film which would be taken into consideration by the examiners.
What issues are there? When examiners are categorising a film they consider:
Conflict with the law
If it would cause any harm to the viewers
not suitable to appear to a wider audience
acceptably portraying a dominant issue
unsettling tone, which may be unsettling to it's audience
Other issue's that have to be taken into consideration are:
Violence
Sex
Sexual Violence
Drugs
Horror
Imitable Behaviour
Discrimination
Language
Controversial decisions - 'The Dark Knight'
There was a lot of media coverage over this film as it was rated a 12A. However, many people thought the amount of violence in this film was too strong for it to be under the rating of a 12A. Parents felt like the tone of the film unsuitable for their kids to watch as there were weapons such as knifes being used throughout the film.
15 Rated Films:
strong violence
frequent use of strong language
portrayals of sexual activity
verbal references to sex
sexual nudity
brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
discriminatory language or behaviour
drug taking
Adulthood - classification:
This film was rated a 15 as it contained very strong language, violence and sexual references. Due to this being contained in this film its age rating was a 15.
10 Steps of Film Distribution 1) Audiences can be inspired by films in many different ways, due to it being a real life story, a fantasy, a historical figure or even a moment in time. Films are a way for audiences to find a way of escaping reality through different genres. May it be through comedy, horror, sci-fi, thriller etc. Films have the power to influence/inspire to help people express what they want to say.
2) Films have the capacity of being able to enrich any aspect of our lives. They are able to influence the games we enjoy,the music we play, and they inspire the fashions and advertising images that are around us. Furthermore, films impact us both commercially and socially but only to the extent of connecting with the audiences. It is the task of distributors to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film. In addition, tailor-made, audience-focused distribution is, and will remain, vital to the prospects of individual films, and to the industry as a whole, whatever the medium or format in question. 3) The distributor’s challenge is to bring each one to market by:
identifying it's audience
considering why they’d go and see it
estimating the revenue potential across all the formats of its release
persuading exhibitors (cinema operators) to play the film
developing plans and partnerships to build awareness of and interest in the film
aiming to convert as much interest as possible into cinema visits
4) The UK has 6 major distributors and many independent distributors, who tend to make films outside the major studios.
5) Larger studios may often work with major producers, and get ‘first look’ deals on the films they want to produce, and particularly with big budget blockbusters, a studio will sell off the international rights to another major international distributor. Distributors normally look for distinguishable features in order for the film to sell and become a success. Sometimes, distributors tend to launch films at big events, such as international festivals where critics will discover them.
6) Distributors sign a formal contract with the producer, sales agent or studio, specifying the rights they hold in respect of the title. These normally include the right to release it in UK cinemas and promote it in all media before and during its release.
7) A distribution plan needs to be prepared.
8) Distributors have to make many important decisions during the process of releasing a film, for example when and how to release a film in order to optimise its chances. When distributors have estimated what a film may earn, they prepare a budget to release it. As with every business plan, the goal is to recoup the costs and turn a profit.
9) A distributors job is to create visibility and to raise enough awareness and interest in a film to persuade potential audiences to buy tickets to go and see it at the nearest cinema.The marketing plan – produced to complement the overall distribution plan – is designed to navigate a route to market that allows interest to peak as the film opens in cinemas.
10) The last step of film distribution is making sure everything is protected and licensed in prevention of anyone trying to make copies.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -
Distributor: Focus Features
Budget:$20 million
Box Office: $72.3 million
Donnie Darko-
Distributor: Pandora Cinema and Newmarket Films
Budget:$3.8 million
Box Office: $5 million
Boyhood-
Distributor: IFC Productions
Budget:$2.4 million
Box Office: $4 million
Curzon Artificial Eye- was founded in 1976 are the UK's leading independent film distributors. They specialise mainly in foreign and art house films. Since 2006 Curzon Artificial Eye have been a part of Curzon World. Kiss of the Spider Woman
This trailer is very film noir, the non-diegetic music is parallel to this. The low-key lighting stood out the most for me, and its's something that we could consider for our production.
Still Alice
This trailer has many different shots, it has long shots which we could definitely use in our production. This trailer has shown me that it's important to have a strong story line in order to captivate your audiences.
Electric Cinema - This cinema is based on Portobello Rd, London W11 2ED. This cinema is known for being an arthouse cinema. However, this cinema does show some mainstream films, for example this week they're showing; The Hunger Games MockingJay pt 2, Bridge of Spies and The Dressmaker. However, it also shows films that aren't on big cinema's like Vue.
I think this cinema targets elderly people aged 35+, the cinema is quite sophisticated and therefore would also appeal to middle-classed people who are more capable of affording to go out, to places like the Electric Cinema.
ArtHouse Crouch End- This cinema is based in Tottenham Ln, London, UK N8 9BT. This is also known for being an Arthouse Cinema, it shows films like, LadyIn The Van, Room and The Danish Girl. However, it also shows mainstream films such as, Joy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which are more well-known. This cinema also has a Kids Club where every Sunday Morning and throughout school holidays, ArtHouse hosts Kids’ Club. Each week a film is chosen where both adults and kids pay only £1.
I think this cinema would appeal to a wide range of people, as it shows films that aren't too well known as well as mainstream films, which may appeal to the older generation. Furthermore, it shows the mainstream films, which may appeal to the younger generation who keep up to date with the new movies that are out.
Film London is a film and media agency, it's purpose is to help develop London into a international film-making and film cultural Capital. All screenings in London include, television, film, commercials and upcoming new interactive media. Film London is a non-for-profit agency primarily supported by national and regional government. They also receive project grants from a number of other organisations.
The purpose of Microwave Film is to help develop projects that are shortlisted. It also helps these projects financially, the scheme's purpose is to challenge film-makers to shoot a full length film for up to £100,000 with cash and support.
The London Calling project delivers training and expert mentoring to help the completion of London's films. The highlights of the scheme include: 15 short films are awarded a maximum of £4, training and mentoring is provided to all film-making teams.
Ill Manors
Ill Manors fits an arthouse/independent film. It's set in London and seems like a low-budget film. Throughout the trailer, there aren't many scenes that would cost a lot to make and therefore fits an arthouse/independent film. Its a British crime drama, which would be targeted at young teens/adults aged 16-25.
Liting
This film fits the profile of an arthouse film, as it seems like a low-budget production. Also, the film contains some parts of foreign language, which fits the profile of an arthouse film. In my opinion, I think the target audience for this film would be 18-35. I think it would appeal to a younger generation as it involves homosexuality.
Freestyle
Freestyle fits into an arthouse genre as it's British, low-budget film. There aren't many stunts in this film either, which emphasises that this is a low-budget film. I think the target audience for this film would be targeted towards a younger generation, mainly aged between 16-20.
WWW: You pick out some good aspects from the production
and your assessment of the strengths and weaknesses is pretty honest and
accurate.
EBI: However, you haven’t completed the task – there are
only 400 words here and 500 was the absolute minimum. Written English is poor
in places – I don’t think you have proof-read this work and overall this lack
of attention to detail is extremely disappointing. In fact, I’m starting to
become quite worried you will underachieve in Media – this is way below what we
expect and your Film Language assessment was an E grade. A pattern is
developing that you need to actively address – if you want a good grade in
Media you need to change the way you work and do it quickly. For this
evaluation, you write a lot about the process but don’t analyse the production
as a media text. For the real evaluation in March you must consider the impact
on audience and deconstruct the aspects of film language in detail.
LR:
I will need to re-read over my work.
Make sure what I talk about is more detailed, e.g, the different aspects of film language.
I need to consider the impact of the audiences.
Instead of writing about the process, I need to analyse the production as a media text.
Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind - This film
was produced by 'Focus Features'.
It had a budget of $20 million andgrossed over $70 million worldwide. Donnie Darko - This was produced by 'Flower Films' it had a budget of $3.8 million and made $7.6
million.
Boyhood - The producer of this film
was 'IFC Productions'. The film's distributor, committed
to a film budget of US$200,000
per year, or $2.4 million over the 12-year shooting period.
Babadook - The production company of
this film was 'Causeway Films' and
it was distributed by 'Entertainment
One IFC Films Icon Productions'. The budget for this film was $2 million.
Oculus - The company that produced this film
was 'Blumhouse
Productions' and the budget
for this film was $5 million.
2.
Focus Features
– Fifty Shades Of Grey, Promised Land, Brokeback Mountain.
IFC Productions- My Big
Fat Greek Wedding, Land of
Plenty, The Other Woman.
Causeway Films – Babadook.
Blumhouse Productions –
Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious.
3.
Focus Features – Focus' most successful release in North America to date is Brokeback Mountain(2005), which earned $83,043,761 at the North Americanbox office. Focus' most successful international release is Burn After Reading (2008), which earned $161,128,228 in gross revenue.
IFC Productions - IFC have produced many successful movies. President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy.
Causeway Films - Causeway's most successful film was the psychological thriller 'The Babadook'
Blumhouse Productions– Blumhouse Productions have many successful low budget films, the main ones include Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious and many more horror films.
This scene is quite unusual, as we think the man is actually talking to someone, but at the end it's revealed that nobody is actually there. He may of lost the woman in some sort of way and is missing her, and therefore is hallucinating to think that she is actually there. Even though, he's engaged/soon to be married, he still seems to want her. She seems a bit mysterious as she says,'too many guys think I'm a concept or I complete them or I'm going to make them alive'. Which may suggest she's been in a lot relationships. Furthermore, he must really like her because he said "I thought you were gonna save my life". The camera work in this scene is unusual, as it's handheld throughout the whole scene. This would intrigue the audience more, as they would feel more intrigued/more involved with what's happening. The scene starts off with a close-up and then slowly goes into a medium shot. The director may of done this to show the intimacy of both characters and then as they start talking it fades out into long shots. However, there are still some close-ups throughout the scene. For example, when she's touching his shoulders and the camera goes behind the bookshelf. It helps convey the intimacy of them. The editing of this scene is quite straightforward and I think the director did this to help us keep up with what's actually happening between both characters and not to be distracted with the editing. Furthermore, the actor isn't dressed very well, he looks quite scruffy, which may suggest he is going through a rough time without her. The actress seems quite distracted with the work she's doing and she's constantly walking around. However, the actor seems to always have his eyes on her and follows her to wherever she's going. In addition, there's no non-diegetic music in the background and this helps create a more serious atmosphere to the scene. Finally, I think the target audience for this film would be a 15, because it seems quite intimate and there was some swearing in it.
Donnie Darko
In this scene I can tell the male actor is at some sort of therapy session. The jump-cut to the flashback in the beginning may suggest that he at therapy because of the girl he was on the trampoline with. Other than the one jump-cut, there is only straight cuts from the boy to the therapist. The pace of the cuts is neither fast or slow, and this helps the audience keep up with whatever the boy and the therapist are discussing. Also, the fact that it isn't very fast paced emphasises the emotions of the boy.There is also juxtaposition due to the continuous use of the eye-line match of both characters looking at each other. The lighting in this scene is very dim, and this helps create a sombre/depressing theme. Furthermore, the male actors body language and facial expressions help show the audience that he may be depressed, as he isn't sat up right or smiling. In addition, as both characters are talking, the camera slowly zooms in and goes into a close-up.I think the director may of done this because as the camera zooms in, the conversation also gets deeper. Right at the beginning, there is a birds-eye-view shot of the boy and girl on the trampoline, and there is non-diegetic music being played. This carries on as they are initially talking in the beginning, but as the conversation deepens and becomes more serious, it fades out and then there is no more music. I think this film would be targeted for a teenage audience and for people who enjoy psychologically based films.
Boyhood
This clip starts off with an establishing shot and then the camera movement is panning down to a birds-eye-view shot of the car. There is then a tracking shot of the car which then goes into a medium shot of the guy in the car. To start of this scene there is non-diegetic music. As he's in the car there's POV shot of him looking out into the road. There are also a couple of straight cuts from a shot of him in the car, to a shot of the car driving, which may of been taken using a crane. The pace of the cuts aren't very quick, which sets a slow pace for the rest of the scene, Also, the non-diegetic music is quite slow and peaceful. Furthermore, as he's driving there's a crane following the car and there's continuous long shots of the car. There is then a long shot of the actor filling up his car which cuts into into a medium shot. In addition, there is another POV shot as he takes pictures. Also, as he's taking the picture there's a couple of medium shots of him. There's another establishing shot as he arrives at the school which turns into panning shot as he pulls up. The male actor looks quite scruffy due to what he's wearing and his hair looks quite messy too, which may suggest he's been on the road for quite sometime. I think this film would be targeted at teenagers, mainly 15 and above.
Babadook
This scene starts off with along shotof the actress walking into the
room, it then goes gradually goes into amedium
shot as she slowly walks down the steps with the camera following her.
As she gets closer to the male, she gets closer to the camera, and this turns
into aclose-upof her. There is then anothermedium shot of both
characters hugging. Furthermore, as soon as the male character says"You just need to bring me
the boy" the actress instantly retreats away from him and the
camera slowly follows her. Also, as soon as this happens thelightingautomatically fades and cuts into amedium shotof the male actor and she runs
into the darkness, there isn't a lot oflightingthroughout the rest of this scene
and I think the director may of done this as it helps create a more sinister
atmosphere. Throughout the scene there are mostly juststraight-cuts, which aren't too
fast or too slow, which keeps us intrigued as we don't know whats going to
happen next due to theuneven
paceof the cuts. The
beginning of this scene starts off quite slow, however, once she realises that
the male actor has been possessed by the demon, the pace begins to pick up and
get more sinister. There is bothnon-diegeticanddiegetic
musicin this scene. There is
an example ofnon-diegeticmusic when the actress is crawling
along the floor and we can hear drums in the background, the director may of
done this to create suspense. In contrast, we can also heardiegeticsounds in this scene. An example
of this is when she runs up from the basement and the lights begin to flicker
and burst. We can also hear the sinister buzzing when the demon is near.
Furthermore, there is atracking
shot when the actress is on the floor crawling and this is taken in amedium shot. There is then aclose-upof the actress right at the end,
which then turns into anextreme
close-upof her eye. There is
then asound bridge when
there's a woman screaming the next shot is of the TV.
I think
this film would betargetedat teenagers, 15 and above.
Oculus
This scene starts off with
amedium close-up of
the male actor, with adiegeticalarm going off in the background.
However, as this alarm starts to fade out there is along shotof him sitting on the floor. The
next scene is of the girl, and this also starts off with amedium shot.Throughout this scene, there are
multiplelong shotsandmedium shots. Furthermore, when
the young girl see's her mum through the mirror, there isnon-diegeticmusic being played and this
carries on until the male actor presses the button to release the weapon,
and the music cuts off instantly. A low sombre piece ofnon-diegeticmusic starts up again once he
realises what he has done. There is then aPOV
shot as he looks into the mirror and see's the girl dying. In this
moment there is aclose-up of
both characters, and I think the director may of done this in this specific
moment as it captures the audience more as we see more emotion from both
characters. In addition, during this scene, there are multiplejump cutsto flashbacks of both characters
when they were younger. This is continuous throughout the whole scene.
There is then anextreme
close-up of the guy once the girl dies, and in this moment there is
bothdiegetic and non-diegeticmusic being played, thediegeticsound being the police sirens, we
know this sound isdiegeticas we can see the flashing lights
from the police car. Right until the end, there are flashbacks to when both
characters were kids and along with this there isnon-diegeticmusic being played, the music
chosen throughout this scene isparallelto this scene as it's quite sombre
and sinister. I think this film would betargetedat an teenage audience as it
doesn't really seem suitable for young kids, as there's some gory parts, and I
don't think an older audience would really enjoy a horror film like this. Also,
in terms of a gender based audience, I think it would be balanced.
Our preliminary exercise went well, as it fit all the requirements of the brief. It included dialogue, match on action shots and POV shots. The script was included and very easy to follow. We also did an over the shoulder shot, however, it wasn't shot very well as there was a lot of dead space. The narrative was very easy to follow and understand. Also, the editing of the shots were all edited well together. We used different angles and shots which made the scene look more appealing and a bit more professional. The dialogue itself was very easy to hear,however, it wasn't very professional and it could've been a bit more detailed to make the scene seem more natural and flow better. The music chosen was parallel to the scene which also helped created drama and tension. The choice of music made the scene seem a bit more comical and not so serious. The use of the music in the beginning made the scene flow more, whereas if there was no music, it would look a bit weird.
Nonetheless, there were some mistakes in our preliminary exercise. For example, as me and Aliza were talking there was a slight humming noise which was quite off putting. Some of the cuts looked odd and it didn't flow as well, some of the shots and dialogue could've been longer. Also, as mentioned before, the over the shoulder shot didn't really work either. Due to these mistakes, we would have to do more planning and try a few more shots as this exercise wasn't planned very well. Also, the dialogue wasn't detailed as well and therefore, didn't look professional/natural.
Furthermore, as Aliza left the room to end the scene there was no music in the background and which looked a bit odd, as there was music in the beginning and to finish it off, there wasn't. Through the character of Aliza and the dialogue we can tell she's quite 'bitchy' and confident, as she sits up confidentially and is seen as intimidating. In contrast to the way I'm sitting, huddled up and not so confident. The acting could've been better to make the production seem more natural and professional. Overall, we managed to meet the majority of the requirements, even though there were some mistakes. There were some good shots, the dialogue was clear and easy to listen to and the narrative was simple and easy to follow.
