As our film is aimed at people who are interested in superheroes, I think they would be interested in reading Comic books such as Marvel Comic Books. This is because Marvel have a range of superficial superheroes in their range of comic books and in our film we have 3 rural superheroes. Another hobby that I target audience may have is Exploring. If a person is into exploring nature and its qualities, then I'm sure if they were to watch our film they would be on the rural superheroes side as they care about nature as well.
I think the rating of our film we achieve in the UK will depend on how well we distribute. If we distribute it widely for example: through productions houses, art houses and film festivals, we would have an increased chance of receiving a high rating. If we were to distribute through those 3 methods, I think we would receive a rating of 3.5-4/5 due to the fact it is an independent film so it has a higher chance of not doing so well compared to mainstream films.
I think the other media works our target audience will regularly use will be TV magazines, magazines and websites. BY having access to all of these our target audience gets to collect things form the magazines, receive online offers through websites and have TV listings on when their superhero related programs are on.
films that are similar to ours, that I target audience would've seen would be Austin Powers, The Boat That Rocked and Submarine. These are all films that are related to the 1960's. As our hippie character is quite dominant in our film, we would associate hippie films to do with Rural Superheroes.
Our average audience member would probably shop for clothes online. If someone chooses to see only hybrid/sub genre films, they are more likely to wear alternative clothing. Alternative clothing is more common to be found online. Buying online means that they could search for any type of clothing and most likely get it.
We would advertise our film in cartoon magazines, comic book magazines and in newspaper agents.
I think if we were to show a trailer of a film somewhere, we would have to think strategically. We would have to bear in mind that we need to show it to a maximum amount of people as we possibly can. If I was to chose where the trailer would be shown, I would chose film festivals due to the high number of people attending them.
Monday 30 April 2012
Film Remake
For our preliminary task we had to recreate a film opening. As a group, we chose the shining to remake a film of as we thought we would be able to successfully complete it. We used only a camera and locations and props that were available to us.
Certification.
Certification in film is classifying films into different age categories depending on different factors that are classified for that certification.
Ali (2001)
15
The Nightmare Before Christmas
PG
Classification is about access to film is restricted due to the material on grounds of age and censorship is cutting preventing access due to the material.
Legal Obligations are put in place to prevent any material breaking the law. As film trailers are exposed to anyone nowadays through television, some people may need to be protected from seeing the film. These audiences may need protecting from items that may cause harm. For example, children should not be exposed to material related to violence, as this could affect their well-being. Film producers have to look at the wider perspective aswell. They have to think about the society when releasing films. They should consider the broader public opinion with regard to language as curse words should not be included in films that are aimed at children under 12.
The BBFC (British board of Film classification) certifies films since 1912. They classify all the films that are to be released in UK Cinemas/ picture houses. A new law came in 1984 that the BBFC certifies home videos. They also have to be aware of laws which protect children.
Examples of films and the reasons behind their certification.
Examples of films and the reasons behind their certification.
Ali (2001)
15
- scenes of violence; infliciting pain and injury
- Strong language
- Nudity
The Nightmare Before Christmas
PG
- Frightening sequences
- Mild sex references (kiss)
Sunday 29 April 2012
Saturday 28 April 2012
Generic Conventions
There are three types of conventions:
- Visual
- Audio
- Thematic
These allow audiences to interpret the film, so that is why they are so important. If it is a comedy film certificate PG and it had a bloody knife, the audience would be confused as it does not fit Comedy conventions.
Things that signify each genre:
Romance
Comedy
Horror
Friday 27 April 2012
Film Ideas.
From carrying out research throughout all films, we have decided to a Sub genre comedy film. our film will be, for certain a British Independent film due to not having a big Hollywood budget and our film won't be mainstream.For our film, we have already decided what the indentitities of our characters. They will consist of a Hippie, a farmer and a Nerd. These are very stereotypical terms but they fit in witht he narrative of our film.
When I got thinking ideas for the Hippie character, Austin powers came straight to my mind. This is because Austin Powers is set around the 1960's, which was the hippie decade. The use of costumes and props within Austin Powers would be of perfect use if we were to use similar things. In the following clip, you can see a variety of costumes that could potentially be a starting point for us when thinking of Mise in our film.
Following the 1960's inspired films, I also looked into The Boat That Rocked.
When I got thinking ideas for the Hippie character, Austin powers came straight to my mind. This is because Austin Powers is set around the 1960's, which was the hippie decade. The use of costumes and props within Austin Powers would be of perfect use if we were to use similar things. In the following clip, you can see a variety of costumes that could potentially be a starting point for us when thinking of Mise in our film.
Following the 1960's inspired films, I also looked into The Boat That Rocked.
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Jelly babies task
For our task, we used jelly babies as a substitute for characters in the making of creating our storyboard. We created our storyboard using post it notes, jelly babies and paper. We were in a group of 4 in which the tasks of creating the storyboard with the Jelly babies was divided up equally. The purpose of using the jelly babies in the making of a storyboard was to get an idea where the characters were in the frame. We were given a list of different scenarios for a film opening that had different narratives. When creating our storyboard we had to bear in mind the framing and composition of each different scene. Using jelly babies when drawing a scene for our storyboard allowed us to think of the different camera angles and shots we would use in each scene. Our group chose to do the sci- fi scenario which we had to create think of the narrative of the whole film even though we were only creating the opening which would be 2 minutes long. We had to think about the different conventions
In the jelly baby task I learnt how to create storyboards bearing in mind where the characters are placed in the scene and it gave me insight into what would be put in each scene. I learned that you have to consider what type of shot you would want to use in a scene/clip depending on what impact you want to have on the audience. For example, if I was making a horror film, my aim would be to make the audience slightly scared/uncomfortable. I could create a scene where a over the shoulder shot could be used on a mysterious unknown character. This would mean the audience will feel uneasy as the shot of the character does not reveal his identity and most people fear the unknown. I learned how we should think about lighting whilst creating our storyboards as some parts of characters or props may need to be highlighted in different ways depending on the genre of the film. Using the jelly babies allowed us as a group to figure out how the characters will be shown using lighting to reflect their emotions and feelings.
During the jelly baby task, personally I found it hard to place the jelly babies for certain frames and shots. As the jelly babies we are the same size, we weren't able to show scenes that had close ups or extreme close ups. Instead, we wrote what type of shot/angle it was as it would not be clear in the actual picture on the storyboard. As a group we first of all did not get the reasoning behind doing the jelly babies task which lead us wasting time and made us rush when we finally got down to completing the task successfully.
As a group, we mainly discussed what the point of the task was how we were going to place the jelly babies sin which shots and how would we show the different shots through using the jelly babies. after we decided where to put the jelly babies in the frame and write down the key info (camera shot/angle used, how long the shot lasted) we had to think how we could have a smooth transition between each shot with the jelly babies. As, if we didn't understand the concepts of Continuity, our future filming would not be up to high standards.
The task has enabled me to gain knowledge of Continuity. I think, if I did not do the task, I wouldn't fully understand as I didn't carry out a practical activity which would've tested me on my knowledge. Continuity is very important to get right within a film as the audience of our opening will not understand the narrative correctly if it came down to poor editing for continuity or having no continuity at all.
The narrative within our story is about a person who is driving on a road at night and they see a bright light in front of the car, which they do not know the source of. Our storyboard goes through the different shots and angles used building up the cliffhanger at the end. It linked with conventions of horror due to the setting and location being at night. Also, having a mysterious happening that puzzles the main character.
In the jelly baby task I learnt how to create storyboards bearing in mind where the characters are placed in the scene and it gave me insight into what would be put in each scene. I learned that you have to consider what type of shot you would want to use in a scene/clip depending on what impact you want to have on the audience. For example, if I was making a horror film, my aim would be to make the audience slightly scared/uncomfortable. I could create a scene where a over the shoulder shot could be used on a mysterious unknown character. This would mean the audience will feel uneasy as the shot of the character does not reveal his identity and most people fear the unknown. I learned how we should think about lighting whilst creating our storyboards as some parts of characters or props may need to be highlighted in different ways depending on the genre of the film. Using the jelly babies allowed us as a group to figure out how the characters will be shown using lighting to reflect their emotions and feelings.
During the jelly baby task, personally I found it hard to place the jelly babies for certain frames and shots. As the jelly babies we are the same size, we weren't able to show scenes that had close ups or extreme close ups. Instead, we wrote what type of shot/angle it was as it would not be clear in the actual picture on the storyboard. As a group we first of all did not get the reasoning behind doing the jelly babies task which lead us wasting time and made us rush when we finally got down to completing the task successfully.
As a group, we mainly discussed what the point of the task was how we were going to place the jelly babies sin which shots and how would we show the different shots through using the jelly babies. after we decided where to put the jelly babies in the frame and write down the key info (camera shot/angle used, how long the shot lasted) we had to think how we could have a smooth transition between each shot with the jelly babies. As, if we didn't understand the concepts of Continuity, our future filming would not be up to high standards.
The task has enabled me to gain knowledge of Continuity. I think, if I did not do the task, I wouldn't fully understand as I didn't carry out a practical activity which would've tested me on my knowledge. Continuity is very important to get right within a film as the audience of our opening will not understand the narrative correctly if it came down to poor editing for continuity or having no continuity at all.
The narrative within our story is about a person who is driving on a road at night and they see a bright light in front of the car, which they do not know the source of. Our storyboard goes through the different shots and angles used building up the cliffhanger at the end. It linked with conventions of horror due to the setting and location being at night. Also, having a mysterious happening that puzzles the main character.
We used various shot in our Jelly babies task. We used a close up - to show the radio playing an advert. The radio is a key aspect of the storyboard as it relates back to the title "Projection". This links in with our conventions of our opening as close ups allow you to see the key details of what is being focused on. if something is being focused on, then that must mean you need to pay attention to what is going to happen. We also used an over the shoulder shot to show the driver changing the radio station. This relates backs to convention of our opening as a over the shoulder shot allows the audience to get up close and personal with the character. It would make you feel sorry for the character as the audience may feel like they are betraying them for 'spying on them'.
Friday 20 April 2012
Student Films pt.2.
What works well in student films:
- Close up shots of special effect make-up.
- Props being closely related to conventions.
- Music to set the scene (eerie for horror films).
- Tripod use - very steady.
- Using a wide range of camera shots and angles.
What doesn't work well in films:
- Running with camera - moving handheld shot.
- Actors aren't well directed.
- No transtitions used - no continuity.
- Obeying the 180 degree rule.
Student films
When it comes to making my own film, I want it to learn from other student misatkes when it came to making their film. By analysing their films it will allow me to gain insight of what works in a student film and what doesn't.
In this student film I thought the use of non diegetic sound was very good as it fitted well with the genre being a horror/thriller. The use of the knife is a very good idea as it is a key signifier of death and violence. The use of hand held shots are also very effective as it gives off the idea that the is someone mysteriously walking around the house. Combining the hand held camera and eerie music, the atmosphere within the film is very tense and makes the audience intrigued into what happens next. In this student film a wide range of camera angles and shots were used in the opening. This means that the viewer wont get that bored watching it as it has variety.
The weaknesses of this student film is that it contains more features of a trailer instead of an opening. This is because the storyline is given almost straight away and in an opening of a film nothing really significant happens. The only thing that should happen in an opening is introducing the main characters and having opening credits. Even if this was intended to be an opening, no credits were show in the film. The only title that is show in this opening is the name of the film at the end of the opening. This is not a feature of an opening, it is a feature of a trailer.
In this student film I gather that someone is afraid of revealing themselves and the use of makeup used in the first character that was introduced firstly appears to be disfigured and shy. He is holding a photograph of a happy couple and sheds a tear when he looks at it, this could suggest that he is the man in the photograph, but due to his disfigurements he isn't with that girl anymore. As I get to know what the film is about, it means that the narrative is very easy to understand in the opening of the film. Hopefully, this is the same throughout the film. This will allow the audience to follow the narrative correctly. The use of mise in the beginning of the opening is very effective.
The negatives about this composition is that the transitions could be a bit smoother between scenes. especially when there is cross cutting happening, so two things are being shown alternately. If the transitions were improved, then the audience will feel more comfortable watching it as they wouldn't get confused. Also, the use of a handheld shot whilst running isn't effective. It makes the audience confused as they cannot clearly see where they are. I think it would only be effective if it was filmed in a Hollywood studio as they would have the budget to spend on special equipment to make certain things better.
I thought this student film was mostly positive, it was quite hard tor find negative points for it. I thought it was very effective with how the titles were faded in and out in time with the music. The music was suitable for its genre. They incorporated a lot of the generic conventions e.g screaming, low pitch music, sharp.edgy font. By incoporating all those conventions, their target audience will be able to identify that is a horror/psychological thriller. The audience will feel connected with he heavy breathing that is also playing in the background as it feels like the heavy breathing is coming from yourself.
The only negative I could find about this film was how they put the red tint over the footage. I think a bit of tint is effective when its done properly. Also, I would hope I could see the main characters face as I couldn't see her face in the opening.
In this student film I thought the use of non diegetic sound was very good as it fitted well with the genre being a horror/thriller. The use of the knife is a very good idea as it is a key signifier of death and violence. The use of hand held shots are also very effective as it gives off the idea that the is someone mysteriously walking around the house. Combining the hand held camera and eerie music, the atmosphere within the film is very tense and makes the audience intrigued into what happens next. In this student film a wide range of camera angles and shots were used in the opening. This means that the viewer wont get that bored watching it as it has variety.
The weaknesses of this student film is that it contains more features of a trailer instead of an opening. This is because the storyline is given almost straight away and in an opening of a film nothing really significant happens. The only thing that should happen in an opening is introducing the main characters and having opening credits. Even if this was intended to be an opening, no credits were show in the film. The only title that is show in this opening is the name of the film at the end of the opening. This is not a feature of an opening, it is a feature of a trailer.
In this student film I gather that someone is afraid of revealing themselves and the use of makeup used in the first character that was introduced firstly appears to be disfigured and shy. He is holding a photograph of a happy couple and sheds a tear when he looks at it, this could suggest that he is the man in the photograph, but due to his disfigurements he isn't with that girl anymore. As I get to know what the film is about, it means that the narrative is very easy to understand in the opening of the film. Hopefully, this is the same throughout the film. This will allow the audience to follow the narrative correctly. The use of mise in the beginning of the opening is very effective.
The negatives about this composition is that the transitions could be a bit smoother between scenes. especially when there is cross cutting happening, so two things are being shown alternately. If the transitions were improved, then the audience will feel more comfortable watching it as they wouldn't get confused. Also, the use of a handheld shot whilst running isn't effective. It makes the audience confused as they cannot clearly see where they are. I think it would only be effective if it was filmed in a Hollywood studio as they would have the budget to spend on special equipment to make certain things better.
I thought this student film was mostly positive, it was quite hard tor find negative points for it. I thought it was very effective with how the titles were faded in and out in time with the music. The music was suitable for its genre. They incorporated a lot of the generic conventions e.g screaming, low pitch music, sharp.edgy font. By incoporating all those conventions, their target audience will be able to identify that is a horror/psychological thriller. The audience will feel connected with he heavy breathing that is also playing in the background as it feels like the heavy breathing is coming from yourself.
The only negative I could find about this film was how they put the red tint over the footage. I think a bit of tint is effective when its done properly. Also, I would hope I could see the main characters face as I couldn't see her face in the opening.
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Institutional logos.
Institutional logos are normally shown at the very start of the film. It is not know of for the institutional logo to be placed elsewhere in the film. Normally in a film opening, more than one logo is shown.
THE HISTORY OF THE LOGO
Back in the day, logos were very simple. They normally only consisted of simple text or a still image. As film studios grew, they developed new ways of improving their logos which caused a bit of competition between the institutions. One of the most famous logos in history is MGM's Leo the Lion. They introduced Leo the Lion in 1921 when Universal introduced a globe in their logo.
his an example of how competitive institutions when it came to out doing eachother with logos
20th Century Pictures merged with Fox in the 1930's, they ditched their tower logo and became 20th Century Fox Pictures.
This shows the progession with Columbia Pictures with their logo.
After completing our research into Institutional logos, we had to come up with ideas for institutional logos. After coming up with several ideas, each member of the group had to decide to draw one of our ideas.
THE HISTORY OF THE LOGO
Back in the day, logos were very simple. They normally only consisted of simple text or a still image. As film studios grew, they developed new ways of improving their logos which caused a bit of competition between the institutions. One of the most famous logos in history is MGM's Leo the Lion. They introduced Leo the Lion in 1921 when Universal introduced a globe in their logo.
his an example of how competitive institutions when it came to out doing eachother with logos
20th Century Pictures merged with Fox in the 1930's, they ditched their tower logo and became 20th Century Fox Pictures.
This shows the progession with Columbia Pictures with their logo.
After completing our research into Institutional logos, we had to come up with ideas for institutional logos. After coming up with several ideas, each member of the group had to decide to draw one of our ideas.
Thursday 5 April 2012
Differences between trailers and an opening.
Trailers and openings of a film are similar in a way that they introduce the film to an audience and allow them to gain some sort of knowledge in order to understand the film. However, an opening and a trailer are very different in other respects.
Trailers are a form of advertising that almost all films use this advertisement technique. It is a very effective way of advertising a new release as it gives the public/audience and idea of what the film is about. Trailers consists of different clips taken from the composed film. These different clips do not give too much away otherwise people will not go to the cinema and watch the actual film. Trailers are released firstly in cinemas before a film is about to start. When the release date becomes more closer, the trailers are released as television advertisements and released online. By being able to access the trailers online it allows people to spread the word of the film via social networking sites such as Facebook. In trailers, the title of the film is introduced at the end and has the most important credits after the title. It will also have the certification and release information of the film.
Film openings consist of introducing the main characters within the actual film. The protagonist is usually shown first and will have the most screen time. The opening will consist of the production companies title coming up first and normamly the title of the film is introduced thirdly. These are called the opening credits. The opening credits allow the audience to know who's in the film and who directed it. After the opening credits, the opening will introduce the main characters of the film.
In conclusion, the main difference between trailers and film openings is that the credits of an opening are shown at the beginning and most importantly the film name is shown with them. On the other, credits are shown at the end in a trailer. Another key difference between the two are that a trailer is a form of advertisemnet and a opening is the introducing part in the actual film.
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