Saturday, 25 September 2010
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Teaser Trailer Notes
6 months before film is due to release. Very short – 30 to 90 seconds. Main trailers and theatrical trailers. They aim to reveal the name of the film, the release date and the actors or genre. Showcase best bits.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Starts with a close up. Less famous you are the more graphics you need. Titles which give you genre and narrative. Teaser faster paced, no sound bites. Scenic character then crime. Graphics very simple but effective. Action, punch moving car, location. Shots that appeared to link all showing the same thing, some sort of crime. Final shot focuses on a girl with a cross over of three other clips. The date is mentioned twice.
The Girl Who Played With Fire
Titles are Rippling, drifting. 2 different sizes, 2 diff colours. Asymmetrical. Fire over-laying, and going behind to suggest they’re 3d. Ash. Using specific clips to refer to the titles.
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest
A short frame of reference to give the feel of the film, in between other titles. Music particularly powerful. Weighting of the frame.
It is very short, 36 seconds. They’re selling the actors names, big, white on black. You start with an atmospheric sound and then the beat begins to pick up, which is synchronized to the woman’s walking. It focuses on the main woman a lot because she is the main aspect of the film. The music is very dramatic. There’s an unrelated shot, with all the others relating to the main scene of her walking.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Trailer notes
Sleepy Hollow
The trailer starts with the sound bridge of a wolf howling in the distace, then opens with an establishing shot of an old manor house, with a scarcrow and a spindley tree in the foreground. Right from the very start, the trailer is already representing the horror theme with these two elements. There are thuds and uneasy strings in the background. The colours are adark blue greys with a lot of black. We then see torches being either put or blown out in the darkness, which Builds suspense. We then witness the dramatic scene of a man running in the dark misty woods, a cut to the headless horseman and then the dicapitation og the running man. The studio icons are revealed with a flash of lightening and thunder. The introduction of the star, Johnny Depp, and development of the basic story line is the next stage. The music builds up progressivly. Here we also see Christina Ricci. The trailer uses lightening as a transition to different scenes. The first title is the directors name, Tim Burtion. The words of the title are revealed by a light shining from behind, this creates a silhouette in the darkness. There is also a mist floating in the air which is eluminated by the light. The star titles come next, and the music enhances their appearence. The trailer builds to a climax with shorter and shorter clips, untill the last clips shows an exploading windmill. The main title shown. It is a reverse of the others in order to stand out more, white on black. The white light shines through the cut out letters in the black background. The music here is just a loud groaning. The final draw to a close is of the horseman slicing his sword and Johnny Depp's character waking up to find he has just had a bad dream.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
The trailer starts with an American voiceover. It mentions that the film is from one of the most celebrated film makers of our time in order to generate an audience. There's then a mention of the most unforgettable love story of all time. It doesn’t slowly build up at the beginning but throws you straight into the dramatic clips from the start. You identify the plot right from the start with the mention of ‘Dracula.’ This is to generate excitement. The stars are next to be named and then finally the main title, which is as though its written in blood. There is no development in the trailer or possible climax; this is probably because it is an old trailer, which were generally more basic. Although the music does build to a climax and then end with long dramatic strings. The final shot is quite dramatic, of a woman jumping out of a window. She is silhouetted for dramatic effect. The trailer ends with the caption ‘love never dies.’ This caption is mysterious and provocative.
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
The trailer starts with the dramatic sound bite ‘no-one need ever die.’ The titles are super-imposed onto dark rolling storm clouds. After a few clips of the monster’s creation a title reads ‘Be Warned.’ This warning excites horror lovers because it suggests that the film could be very frightening. It could also mean other things like ‘be warned, this film is very good.’ The music is full of impact throughout; it is made up of choric singers. There are many clips that show people screaming or crying in distress to emphasize the calamity of this film. The lightening, with flashes throughout the trailer relates to the main story, but is also a common feature in gothic horrors. The stars names are uncovered at the end, again on a storm cloud. There is a last sound bite, ‘Can you ever consider the consequences of your actions.’ This makes us reconsider the first soundbite, and makes the viewers begin to unfold elements of the story. The final title flashes all over the screen until it settles in the centre. It too is white on black. Finally some purple rolling clouds wrap up the trailer.
Sherlock Holmes
The trailer starts with the sound bridge of a dark droning noise. There is then an establishing shot followed by a sound bite. In response to this is the mention of 'Sherlock Holmes' and this sets off a series of flashing images, which are cut to the music. There are many transitions into different clips that use the fade through black. There are also many more sound bites. The music gradually builds but then draws to a close for the first revealing shot of Robert Downy Junior, smoking a pipe and saying something humorous. He then dives out the window and into the Thames, accompanied by increasingly suspenseful strings. The three studio icons then appear quickly, one after the other. This then sets off a series of short, dramatic clips and crashes form the music. The next few clips unveil exposition. The music slowly builds. This trailer uses a tom and jerry soundtrack (whereby every movement is matched by the music's rhythm pitch and meaning.) The music suddenly kicks in while the stars are exposed. This is a clip of the star with their name below in bold metallic letters. The next short phase is a series of clips whereby the diegetic sound effects created by the actors (for example someone thrown into a door or a gun shot) matches the music perfectly. This technique enhances both the music and the action and helps to build to yet another climax. Overall the trailer deals with many rises and falls and silences then eruptions of noise, and plays with different levles of pace until the title flies onto the screen in bold stone-like letters.
Interview with the Vampire
The trailer starts with the studio ident followed by a sound bridge and then a sound bite. Various clips follow this, with some vast spacey music. After this short introduction comes the voiceover. The voice reveals the name of the director and his most successful film to generate the audience of fans. The stars are shown but not mentioned as yet. As the voiceover comes to a shocking conclusion the music dramatically gets louder, fuller and more emotional. Thios change in music is accompanied by faster clips showing more shocking clips. There are flashes of people screaming for example. A less mysterious sound bite then occurs to give more narrative to the trailer. The trailer then builds up to include more of an exposition. After this climax comes to an end the stars are finally revealed with a shot showing their face and the mention of their names. The final title is large and red. It slowly enlarges. It is in caps lock with a small print subtitle at the bottom. It is centred within the frame and symmetrical.
From Hell
This trailer starts with the sound bride of Big Ben and then the establishing shot of 19th century
Barry Lyndon
I chose this film because i love the costumes and the lighting. It is also the right sort of period. The trailer starts with an establishing shot, shoiwing some marching soldiers. The music is of the period and startts right at the beginning of the trailer. A voiceover then announces the director, the stars and the awards won by the film. Next comes the rerviews, over long action shots. The trailer then shifts from being in the battle scenes, to a dinner party. The music changes, becoming more orchestural. And more reviews are read out. After lots of beautiful scenic shots and some clips of fighting, the title appears still on screen. It is very simple and has a pretty decoration around it, as well as a drawing of a gun. The background is brown.
The Wolfam
The trailer starts with the establishing shot of a dark moonlit forest. A man holding a lantern is killed. A soundbite then comes in, outlining the story, and history of the story. When the wolfman's hand comes into shot, the music makes you jump. There is then a shot of the person giving the voiceover. After some clips and a build up of music, the studio ident then comes in. It is specially themed to the movie. We then experience some exposition. The music is simple, just an oboe and some strings. When the wolfman leaps onto the main man the music picks up again and the fast action shots follow. These clips get faster and faster. The release date then flashes on screen. It is white on black with a white aura. The trailer comes to and end with a build up of dramatic music, important clips and the final wolfman howling. The main title is quite simple, just white on black, capitalised font, with a moon in place of the 'O.' The title glows slightly. The last shot is of a girl ruinning from the wolf in the woods. Finally we see the stars names appear on the black screen.
Monday, 6 September 2010
Friday, 25 June 2010
miss leg hw
Inception
1) What cinematic techniques are used to establish mood and tone?
At the very beginning of the trailer a voice over by leonardo dicaprio tells us what the film concerns. The music throughout the trailer is very predominant. It is very dramatic, and grabs your attention right from the beginning with a loud droning. This enhances the dramatic tone of the film. The shots are also cut so that they are in time with the music, this can make the music have more of an impact at certain times. As the trailer progresses, the music gets faster and the amount of instruments used increases, this in time with the increasingly shorter cuts helps to build the trailer to a climax, which is the title. This cinematic technique makes the trailer very powerful and memorable.
The mood or genre of the film is psychological thriller/horror, and the film is very darkly lit, adding to the mystery and fear factor. Almost straight from the beginning we are shown unforgettable shots of impossible looking things. What looks like a large mirror is towering over the sky and this is used to show that the film is more fictional rather than realist, it also provides a memorable image that looks impossibly complex to conceive. Proven by Avatar, there is reason to believe that a film that baffles the film industry with innovative technology is likely to succeed.
The titles are silver on black, this focuses our attention on them and makes them stand out. The tag-line of the film is accompanied by a subtle animated city scape, which the camera swoops through diagonally. This addition of computer animation adds diversity to the trailer making it more interesting.
The sound bites towards the end of the trailer are of the characters screaming, this with the increasing music unsettles the viewer.
2)How does the trailer establish the themes and narrative?
The trailer uses a voice over at the beginning of the main actor, explaining what his purpose is in the film. There are also inserts of speech and sound bites that give the viewer clues as to what the film concerns. Inserts of titles that reveal the tag line of the film are also used.
2) How does the trailer establish genre?
The trailer establishes genre
4) Who is the target audience and how is this audience targeted in this trailer?
The target audience is 15 to 25 years old, but this could even go up to 30 years of age due to the complexity of Chris Nolan's films. His are more unconventional than most hollywood blockbusters, and give the audience the chance to unpick the mystery themselves rather than it being blatantly obvious. 15 to 25 is the average target audience for most Hollywood films. This is a younge audience, so the filmmakers try to appeal to them by having a fast trailer with gripping music, and an interesting animated title sequence.
5) What is the reason/ effect for using the director's name and previous work?
The dark night, the directors previous film, was very successful, so using the name will create a larger audience. The director will also gain interest for his previous successful films like momento.
Salt
1) How does this trailer promote and focus on the big star? (look at camera work, editing, sound...etc..)
Most of the scenes in the trailer, bar two include Angelina Jolie. Also, most of the sound bites are of her and there are less of the other characters. Her name is the only one to be shown as a credit.
2) Action films are thought to appeal to a predominately male audience. How does this trailer target both a female and male audience separately?
The film does appeal to men in the sense that they can go and watch an attractive woman, playing the dominant role of a hero. However, it could possibly appeal more to women. This is because women would
3) How does this trailer use editing to create atmosphere?
Heartbreaker
The trailer created for the UK is very cleverly devised in order to appeal to a wider UK audience. Although the film is in fact French, there is no French in the trailer; instead the editors have specifically chosen clips with English dialogue. The soundtrack is also an American song from the film Dirty Dancing. While the song is heard, the trailer also shows a clip of the iconic dirty dancing lift, this intertextuality is used to possibly appeal to the huge amount of dirty dancing fans. Although the trailer is aimed at a UK audience, the voice-over is clearly American; this could be to give the film a higher status, making it seem as though it were a Hollywood film.
The three trailers come across as three very different films. The UK trailer depicts the film as a cheap and cheesy romantic comedy with no real originality, this differs greatly from the other two, which are actually funny, they seem more ironic and less in your face. For example, the first trailer portrays the main man as a sexy womanizer, the others force us to laugh at his slightly ridiculous attempts to seduce his women.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
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/
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Evaluation - Q2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
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?
Evaluation - Q5
How did you attract/address your audience?
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?
Monday, 26 April 2010
Friday, 23 April 2010
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 - 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.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
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.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
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
Distributors
- Pathé (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
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)
**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.
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