INCEPTION

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/12/15/inception-poster.jpg

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2010/apr/12/inception-christopher-nolan-film-trailer

http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/

Evaluation - Q1 - DVD Commentary - Ben Rogers and Luke Thompson

Commentary

Evaluation - Q2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups our media product represents are; single parents – There are some divorce letters on the side table, at the beginning of the film, (these would have been explained later in the film) and a great sense that she is alone. The middle class – The house or flat is very modern and big, there are some antiques, paintings, a good stereo system etc. A businesswomen – she is wearing smart clothes and her desk is very organised with books a printer and computer etc. Family’s – there are pictures of her and her family all over the house, some on a table, more on the fridge, the place is tidy but slightly cluttered with usual family household objects. She also represents an outsider, coming from a foreign country to England and not feeling entirely at home all the time, this also makes her more vulnerable. We also used the stereotype of the single woman – isolated and in danger, typical in horror/thrillers.

Evaluation - Q3

What kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?

Working Title.

We chose Working Title because the Company specialize in similar films to ours: A British film, financed by an Anglo-American company. Working Title has, in the past, made films that are transatlantic with British-American crew and casts, much like our film. Working Title also tend to provide money for more independent and low-budget features, again similar to the conceptual style that we are going for. A Working Title feature often also portrays the ideas of British culture to American viewers and our film is shot in London, the capital of England, with an American actress. We intend to make a thriller that has something that reflects Britain.

Evaluation - Q4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

One of the reasons that we think the movie we have created is an appealing choice is the fact it is accessible to a wide audience. The horror market has become one of the most successful and it is a genre that many of the greatest film-makers of all-time have tapped into; Hitchcock, Kubrick, Spielberg and Coppola, and many other great film-makers have used techniques from horror to make their films great. The horror film allows the film-maker to appeal to a main audience of 'thrill-seeking' under 30s and at the same time, show their talents for directing, the horror film is a film that allows the writer and director to truly be creative. I think as well as the younger audience who come to be scared, older audiences will come for the intriguing plot and what we hope to be an interesting film, as well as this, we intend to appeal to other audiences by having an emotionally complex '3-dimensional' heroine. Pre-release, we showed the opening scene to several people in order to determine whether our target audience would be enthralled by the film, and the audience really enjoyed it.

Evaluation - Q5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Because of the use of an American actress, we’re hoping it will attract an American audience. This fits in with the traditional tarns-Atlantic audience of Working Title films. The actress is around late 20’s and she will appeal to people of a similar age. Because of the location and film, a large number of British people will be attracted to the film. So we aim to attract quite a large multicultural audience irrespective of gender or age within the boundaries of the film’s classification. The other characters will be of similar age, perhaps even older. This could also attract an older generation, interested in conflicts between people of their age.

Why an 18 certificate?

We decided for the film to be an 18 certificate because we think it will be too scary and gory for anyone under this age. If it is an 18 certificate than it is also more likely to attract our preferred audience, those who love being scared and are horror-film-goers. Since the film is slightly appealing to a younger market, (a market just discovering horror) for instance, under 18’s, this certificate will help increase DVD sales because they will be aloud, with parental consent, to finally see it.

Evaluation Q6

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

I had used final cut before, so I had some idea of the things you can do, and the technology, but I had never used it to make something that was final and finished, so it was interesting polishing it to make it as good as my technical abilities could let me. I learnt to be selective with filters and effects in mind of how the film should look. We learnt how to use the camera effectively in getting the right result on the audience, for example, to scare them; we would use a tracking shot and slowly ease in towards the actress, from behind, as if someone was creeping up on her. We also learnt how to build up sound effectively in order to create tension and suspense.

Evaluation - Q7

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

I have learnt many new skills and techniques since doing the preliminary task. I learnt how to use lighting more effectively, for example different colours and playing with shadows/silhouettes. For example, in the first shot, we positioned the light outside the house, so we could get some nice shadows on the wall. My preliminary task was very dark, so you couldn’t see much, so I tried to retain a sense of the same level of darkness, but to also allow the viewer to see precisely what we needed them to. Contrasting to the preliminary tasks which were rushed and not considered fully, we tried to focus on making this film quite serious and real, rather than comedic. We thought about the script for a long time, editing and polishing it, until we were completely happy. As apposed to our preliminary tasks, we also tried to focus on every tiny detail; the actress’s costume was that of a stylish businesswoman’s, as well as remaining reserved – because of her being a mother. Props, there were pictures surrounding the house, of her, her husband, children. Dialogue, we tried to make it as real as possible and took inspiration from our own homes. These were all considered in order to get the right Mise en scene. We asked the actress to bring in photos of her, which would suit her role in the film. Because we couldn’t find the dolly, we had to create our own using a skateboard and two planks of wood, so we have learnt how to replicate certain equipment in order to get the right effect. I have also learnt how to use music and sound effects more effectively, concentrating on the build up of sound to create tension and melodic music to accompany the action on screen. I made some sound effects by slowing down various violin sounds to 10% of their original speed. I also did this with various horns and pipes. I also decided to reverse the dramatic Beethoven music, because it sounded more sinister and disconcerting and wasn’t as obvious or overly dramatic as the original, in the end however, we didn’t use it, and instead used a fuzzy noise that sounded like the end of a tape of film, to go with the main title.

Editing the piece was probably the lengthiest part of the project. This is because I found it difficult to fit the film into two minutes. It was most difficult with the end, and after many different drafts we decided that the end didn’t work, (originally screams from the actress than a shot of the door closing.) It seemed too melodramatic and possibly almost comedic, and we didn’t want that at all. So instead we cut for the title as soon as the actress turns the light on. This left the audience on a cliff-hanger and it was very eerie with distant screams from the actress in the background, we tried to leave the audience wanting to know what would happen next.

Final Cut - Deadfall - Luke Thompson and Ben Rogers

Research and Planning - Props – Divorce papers

Research and Planning - Location

The setting will be in an apartment with warm tones, this apartment is big enough for two children and a mother. There will have to be a desk and a separate room opposite the desk, for the body to be discovered, as well as a kitchen for the kettle.

Research and Planning - Characters

The main character is a mature woman, in her very early forties. She will have brown/mousy blonde hair and big brown eyes. She should be quite independent looking to begin with, and like a stylish businesswoman but also having aspects of a mother of two. She should look like she has had a hard days work but content to be at home. She should also be angry about her divorce but not letting it upset her.

Actors who inspired this role include:

Sandra Bullock

- Her mature and independent look is very good for this character.

Julia Roberts

- Her appealing look is good to make audience easily engage with her.

Jodie Foster

- Her slightly troubled but happy and confident look is a good representation of my character. She appeared in a film called Flight Plan, which is similar to my film in that her character gets framed and only she knows and tries to reveal the truth, but no one will believe her.

Research and Planning - Possible Film Producers

Working Title - Working Title is a possibility because they are a British Company that is very involved in the production of international, particularly British-American movies (which is good because we are using an American actress in our starring role), though many of their British movies are comedies, they also have produced several American thrillers, such as State of Play, United 93 and the upcoming Green Zone. They are one of the best producers of internationally popular British films.

Pathé - Pathé is a large producer of films, based in France it produces lots of British films, particularly of young and alternative directors, with the American Blair Witch Project, the British, Adulthood and Slumdog Millionaire. As well as this, they produce really successful mainstream thrillers, like Memento, Apocalypse Now. They are also currently producing a British film called Centurion, with a nearly entirely British cast Dominic West, Noel Clarke and Riz Ahmed. They are quite a major producer of British films.

Research and Planning - Target Audience

The main audience is roughly between 15 and 35. The niche audience will be people older than those ages who are interested in horror. The certificate for the film will be ‘15’ because of the violent content and fear, but younger audiences will also be interested to watch the film when it comes out on DVD, with parental consent.

I believe that this is aimed at a conventional thriller or horror audience, so the main audience will consist of young people going to the cinema/DVD shop to watch a film that will provide them with thrilling plot and scary scenes, thus we need to provide them these thrills. On the other hand, there is a niche audience of perhaps more ‘middle-aged’ people, as a whole there are a wide variation of people who go to watch a thriller, we intend to attract a larger audience by providing an intelligent, deep plot. This will appeal to a widest range of audience.

Research and Planning - Style and Tone

The opening scene should start very unsuspecting; the mood should be very normal. This is to make the climax more surprising. To achieve this we will make the colours quite warm, make the scene homely, and wont add any scary music at the beginning. For the first shot, we want to zoom in on the woman while she is having the phone conversation, this will create tension. Camera shots will remain static or just a slow zoom to intensify the verisimilitude of the scene. When the lights come on in the bedroom, it might be effective to have the shadow of the body cast on to the wall behind the woman, and on her. This would emphasize a sense of mystery and want you to know what she is looking at. To achieve this without making it seem unrealistic the light behind the body would be a bedside lamp. The light in this room will also be quite blue/green to emphasize the change in mood.

The genre of our film is thriller/horror. There are quite graphic images and unexpected and perhaps shocking moments. No guns, or drugs like most thrillers entail. Perhaps the genre is slightly leaning to a psychological thriller also, for example, you do not know what is going on at times, and don’t know who is guilty or innocent.

The titles will be very simple, white on black. As a door opens, and the light enters the room, you realize that the black background was in fact the darkness of the room. The first shot will be a long one; it will start as a long-shot and pan round as the woman walks past. (The titles will continue to show at the bottom-right of the screen.) Then slowly ease in toward a mid-shot during the phone conversation. The easing in will also add a little tension to the scene. The very beginning will start in a quite regular way, it is meant to be like any other day, so no scary sound effects as of yet. As the opening progresses however, small incidents that aren’t every day, instead perhaps once in a while, start to happen to the protagonist, for example the phone cutting out. Very subtle eerie sound effects and also the increasing kettle can accompany these. The shots will also become more unconventional, close-ups on her lips, the clock, etc. The next shot will be in a dark room with a door open, showing the woman at her desk. Perhaps here to create suspense, the accompany of some ghostly droning music will be good, it should be very quiet though, almost subliminal. When the woman turns the light on and sees a dead body the music should have a great impact here and be frightening, showing her fear.

Research and Planning - Influences

Influences

The Shining – We want to achieve a similar style for the camera shots, for example long panning and tracking camera shots. We would like our actress to react in a similar way to the character ‘Wendy’ in the bathroom scene of this film. We think her fear and distress is very powerful. Kubrick plays with sound creatively and we want to try and adopting this technique for our opening, for example the sound of the clock ticking, and kettle. Kubrick gradually builds up tension very effectively in his films, and although he does it very slowly and over the course of the whole film, we will try and do the same in the two minutes.

Psycho – We were inspired by Hitchcock’s camera shots. His close-ups, and long shots, and his build up of cuts to develop tension. In Psycho, we like the thrilling quality of someone else being in the house/room. This film appeals to a mainstream audience, which is what we are also trying to achieve. The woman in our film is a similar age to the character in psycho who is murdered. She looks young, yet is a mother of two and is just reaching her 40’s. With this choice of age we are trying to appeal to young and older audience members.

Panic room – The idea of having a woman on her own with the responsibility of her child. The sense of paranoia is very effective in this film. We watched the film trailer to get ideas for building tension and for the story.

Flight Plan – The story is similar to that of ‘Flight Plan’ – a single mother whose child is kidnapped. This relates to part of our theme, ‘destruction of the family’ and to the woman being alone and vulnerable.

News – The case involving Tony Martin partly inspired the story. We were interested in the idea of how far one might go to protect their property and family in a burglary situation. Tony Martain was prosecuted for manslaughter after killing a sixteen-year-old boy because his home was being violently robbed. Our character wont reveal a gun, but we were interested in the frightening aspect that if someone is criminally trespassing in your home, you might not be able to defend yourself properly.

We were also inspired by North by Northwest, the way it didn’t seem like a thriller at first, until a sudden surprise. It showed the character’s normal life and displayed it naturalistically, this emphasized on the idea that it could happen to anyone.

The picture depicts a normal workday from North by Northwest.

Research and Planning - Shot List

Research and Planning - Location shots

Research and Planning - Script

[FADE FROM BLACK OR CAMERA IN DARKNESS AND DOOR OPENS]

[CATHERINE ENTERS, SLAMMING DOOR BEHIND HER, CONTINUES TO TURN ON LIGHTS AND SHE GOES OVER TO THE KITCHEN TO TURN ON THE KETTLE AND WALKS OVER TO THE ANSWER MACHINE TO LISTEN TO HER MESSAGES]

ELECTRONIC VOICE: (SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF) YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE...

[SHE PRESSES THE BUTTON FOR THE FIRST MESSAGE]

BENJAMIN: Hi, Cath, um, it’s me, err well I’m coming over to discuss, well, t-that problem, I’ll be over in an hour... [ANSWER PHONE SAYS ‘MESSAGE LEFT AT 4:54 PM’]

[SURPRISED, CATHERINE LOOKS AT THE CLOCK, IT IS 7:54, SUSPICIOUS AT FIRST BUT THEN ROLLING HER EYES AT HIS LACK OF PUNCTUALITY, SHE IS DRAWN BACK TO THE NEXT PRIORITY ON HER LIST, RINGING HER MOTHER]

MOTHER: Hello? Hello?

CATHERINE: Hello

MOTHER: Oh [AS IF RELIEVED], hello darling

CATHERINE: How are they? Are they OK?

MOTHER: The kids are fine, they’re just getting ready for bed now

[CATHERINE SIGHS, RELIEVED, IT IS EVIDENT THAT SHE IS A PROTECTIVE MOTHER]

MOTHER: Why are you ringing on the house phone, you never---

CATHERINE: I lost my mobile, probably been stolen, I just left it on my desk and it was gone, I can’t think of anyone at work who would do that

MOTHER: [PATRONIZING] I always said that you needed to take better care of...

[THE PHONE APPEARS TO FLICKER OUT]

CATHERINE: [RATHER SCARED, THE PHONE RARELY JUST STOPS] Hello? HELLO?

[SHE FOLLOWS THE MODEM CORD, TO THE MODEM ITSELF. NOTHING SEEMS TO BE AMISS WITH THE MODEM, HOWEVER SHE PEERS IN TO THE FLOOR MIRROR, CONFUSED BY SOMETHING THAT THE AUDIENCE CANNOT YET SEE]

[AS THE CAMERA CUTS TO A SHOT OF HER, IN THE DARKNESS OF THE ROOM THAT SHE IS STARING AT, WE NOTICE THAT SHE SEES SOMETHING IS DEFINITELY WRONG, THE CAMERA FOLLOWS HER IN THE ROOM, SHE TURNS THE LIGHT ON AND SCREAMS AT WHATEVER IS ON THE BED, THE CAMERA ZOOMS IN UNTILL JUST ON HER EYES, SHE LOOKS TO HER RIGHT SLOWLY AND THE BEDROOM DOOR SLOWLY CLOSES]

Research and Planning - Plot Sequence

Camera is in darkness, you hear a key in the door and a woman walks in her home. The light from the hall outside spills into the darkness. She turns the lights on and puts her keys on top of some divorce papers lying on a table next to a picture of her and her children. She runs to the kitchen and puts the kettle on, the noise of the kettle is an increasing and foreboding noise, for example the squealing, and this increases tension. She goes over to the telephone that is on a desk, sits down and realizes that there is a message on the answering machine, she presses play and a male voice says, ‘Hi Anna, um, its me, err, I’m coming over to discuss the, um… problem. I’ll be over in about an hour.’ Then the answer machine recalls, ‘message left at 4:54 pm.’ At this point the kettle stops to mark the suspiciousness. A close-up shot of the clock shows 7:14 and you can hear the ticking above the ambient noise. The woman is slightly skeptical but then rolls her eyes, remembering his terrible punctuality. She then rings her mother.

Mother; ‘hello’

‘Hello’

‘Oh hello darling’

‘How are they?’

‘Oh the kids are fine, they’re just getting ready for bed.’

The woman sighs with a smile.

‘Why are you ringing on the house phone you never—‘

‘I know, I lost my mobile, well, it could have been stolen but I can’t think who at work would do such a thing.’

‘I always say you need to look after your—‘

The phone cuts out, the woman is confused and says ‘hello?’ She follows the cord and looks at the modem. It seems fine. There is a floor mirror, next to the modem, she looks at it and suddenly turns around. The audience, at this point, doesn’t know what provoked her to react in this way, but they also don’t need to. Perhaps she did not leave the house in the way it is now. The shot that the camera cuts to as she whips her head around, is in a dark room with the door open; you can see the woman at her desk through the doorframe. She looks over and squints to see what is lurking in the darkness. She walks over skeptically, and slowly. She turns the light on, (with the switch inside the room.) Suddenly she screams so terrified and covers her mouth with her hand. She presses her back against the wall and stares with big eyes, while almost hyperventilating. The shadow of a lumpy and distorted shape is cast onto the wall and consequently her. The camera tracks towards her as she screams, getting closer and closer to a close-up, she doesn’t look away from the body. When her face takes up the whole screen and the camera stops she has a slight inkling and slowly looks in fear to her left. Blackout. Main tile.

Alternate ending: Perhaps she looks slowly to her right and then a shot from outside of the room shows the door slowly closing, with the camera tracking backwards at a similar rate to the door.

Across the rest of the film, our heroine escapes from her home. She then makes any effort to protect her kids from the murderer. She is also wrongly being trialed for the suspected murder of her husband and despite the fact that she has no experience, is going to have to take the law into her own hands to catch the murderer and reveal him as evidence to the police.

Research and Planning - General Outline

The genre is ‘thriller’ - an exciting plot, typically involving crime or espionage. Thrillers usually have sub-plots and a complex story line. Our thriller is partially about mixing the aspects of the genre of horror and film noir/neo-noir with the ideas of a mystery and psychological thriller, we intend to put a lot of emphasis on the fear/emotion of the main character through using visual style and a rather intriguing plot, we intend to make the film curve away from ‘gung-ho’ violent thrillers and make it more about entrapment and the feeling of being truly scared.

Research and Planning - Storyboard

Part 7 - Exhibition

Q1. For me, i like it when a cinema has a seating area, possibly with food, like Clapham Picture House, it is very cosy and quite homely. But i don't really mind about appearance, i will go to the worst cinemas as long as the viewing quality is good.

Q2. 3D and digital projection facilities will make exhibitors lives much easier. They wont have to load the film into the projector, and change the film when it runs out. 3D already generates a lot more money for exhibitors than a normal film. Perhaps digital projection facilities will generate more interest in HD quality screenings.

Q3. Multiplexes have allowed exhibitors to show a range of films, with different start times, and allowed customer choice to be central to the visit of a multiplex. Exhibitors can now make more money from the growing audience.

Q4. I look for nice seating, a cosy environment, good quality screening with big screens, good food, not too expensive. A large amount of choice for which film i want to see.

Q5. British films will probably try and hire well known actors so that they can have personal appearances from the cast, when the film is being exhibited.

Q6. In the future the role of the exhibitor could loose power, since digital projection facilities are arising, It would be much more cost efficient for distributors and producers to showcase their films in their own company's cinemas. Soon these three professions could merge into one.

Q7. I think independent cinemas will have to be very cunning in order to survive in the future. Some have already started building restaurants, bars and cafes attached to the cinema, and others could soon have to join them. They will have to have more events and special occasions in order to retain their audience.

Part 6 - Distribution

Q1. I think one of the reasons for so many people seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2, was because of the success of the first film. It was critically acclaimed and made 654,264,015 dollars world wide. This, combined with good marketing and the fact that the second film was a good film, probably contributed to its success.

Q2. UIP are garunteed to be successful because they have huge hollywood companies backing them. They have done successful films like Kick Ass, Iron Man, Watchmen. They have offices in 34 countries, so it would seem appropriate to go to them to distribute your film.

Q3. I think it should be up to the parents if they want to allow their child to see a film or not. But i also think there should be a minimum age rate attached to the '12A' standard. For example if we choose 7 as the minimum age, this would mean anyone over the age of 12 could see the film, five age groups under 12 would be able to see the film as long as they were accompanied by an adult, and anyone under seven would not be allowed to see the film. I have chosen these ages because i think, with the fact that younger kids are more mature by the minute, that children above seven, will be able to tolerate this level of violence and gore. Below seven, i think it could be very frightening.

An example of a 12A film i saw was I Am Legend, probably made 12A because of the lead actor Will Smith, and his appeal to younger audiences. I was 14 when this film came out and saw it in the cinema, two years older than the certified age. I was honestly very scared during the whole film, the level of suspense was intense. Being the one who is usually never scared by horror movies, i couldn't imagine young children being aloud to see it.

Q4. I think Cloverfield was such a successful movie purely because of its marketing campaign. The first teaser trailer, which i saw, shown before the film Transformers, created a spark of mystery and speculation about the film. Also, JJ Abrams created a small universe by making websites of corporations, drinks manufactures, all giving clues to the story and making the film seem more real and in depth. People could explore these sites and almost try and solve the mystery, it was very interactive in this way. All these factors contribute to the ticet sales, because people want to know the answers.

Q5. In someways i do think the audience of tomorrow is online. These days, people want accessibility, ease and simplicity. A good example is the growth of conversion, allowing multiple technologies to be used from one device. People now want to do things with as little effort as possible, and manufacturers are letting them. Usually when i want to watch a film in the comfort of my own room, and can't be bothered to go and buy the dvd, i will go onto one of the many websites that allows access to watch endless amounts of films in full. Soon distribution companies will learn that if you cant beat online video streaming, you'll have to join it. And so a new market of online screening could fabricate sooner or later.

On the other hand i, like most people, enjoy taking part in old traditions, and going to the movies is a very old tradition, one i have grown up with as well as many other people. No one can argue how good cinema is as an experience, the surround sound, huge screen, dark room, the smell of popcorn. Although people like the idea of things getting easier, they are still more or less scared of change, and if cinema was eradicated in the future, i'd have to do something about it.

Part 5 - Production

Q1. Choose an actress from the list above. What would they bring to a role in a film?

Angelina Jolie is a very big hollywood star. She is also very famous and in the public eye. This means she would bring a large audience to a film. She has won an oscar for her latest role in 'Changeling' and has 23 other awards. People want to see good actors. She is usually cast for roles where she plays the 'hot sexy' female leading role, but after changeling, showed audiences and filmmakers that she could do more in-depth and serious roles.

Q2. Think about the films you have scene recently at the cinema. Which were recommended by word of mouth? Why did you go and see other films?

Word of mouth - Alice in wonderland

other films - Shutter island, because of the director, actor

Q3.

The Blair Witch Project

Budget - $60,000

Box office - $248,639,099

Paranormal Activity

Budget - $15,000

Box office - $192,880,138

Avatar

Budget -

unknown

Box office -

$2,700,039,628

Avatar made the biggest profit.

Q4.

Heartless -

The Scouting Book for Boys -

Production Companies

• Celador Films

Distributors

• Pathé (2009) (UK) (theatrical)

Produced by

Christian Colson....producerAndrea Cornwell....co-producerIvana Mackinnon....producerDiarmuid McKeown....associate producerPaul Smith....executive producer

Harry Brown -

• Marv Films (as Marv Partners) (presents)
• UK Film Council (presents)
• HanWay Films (in association with)
• Prescience Film Fund (as Prescience) (in association with)
• Framestore (as Framestore Features) (in association with)

Produced by
Reno Antoniades	....	executive producer
Keith Bell	....	producer
Paul Brett	....	executive producer
Matthew Brown	....	producer
Tim Haslam	....	executive producer
David Higginson	....	line producer
Christos Michaels	....	executive producer
Steve Norris	....	executive producer
Tim Smith	....	executive producer
Kris Thykier	....	producer
Matthew Vaughn	....	producer

**I dont know the answer to the second part of this question**

Q5. Popular film soundtracks: lord of the rings, harry potter, spiderman, because they are by well known composers and are memorable and epic.

Q6.In order to survive in the cut-throat world of film production, Lionsgate have bought out useful companies and teamed up with various leading film companies. Buying and converging with companies gave Lionsgate valuable assets. It was now a reliable source of revenue against which production or distribution finance could be gained. Lionsgate now has the power to give stability to the operations of the major Hollywood studios.