Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Media Institutions Research - Production & Distribution

In class we have been looking Into the media institutions of making a film.


The producer/production company is where the film get their funding and spending, their ideas for the script and the treatment and the organisation of the cast, crew and location.


Another institution would be the distribution. This is where they decide where and when to release to the cinema and DVD. The marketing of the film (publicity, promotion; trailer, poster, tv) and delivery to the cinema (the transportation to the cinema locations)


There are two types of studios
•Major Studio
•Independant


The Major Studio will have the money, resources, equipment to produce & distribute both roles.
They can reach audiences on a global scale. They also produce hollywood film or work with independent companies in Britain.


Independent studios have a small scale lower budget films. They rely on funding from major companies to release films.


British Film Funding have "equity investors" they give money in return for profit on completion.
They share the profit with the distributors. They also are helped by broadcasters such as Sky and the BBC.


We also looked at Age Restricting. With the bbfc (British Board of Film Classification) they decide the classification of each film shown in the UK (I.e what age you must be to see it)
They decide through a board of members who listen to the publics opinion on content.
They consider:
•discrimination
•drug use
•horror
•imitable behaviour
•language
•nudity
•sex
•themes
•violence


The more explicit, the higher the rating. An 18 allows the above and considers the adult viewing the film has the right to decide what they watch (within reason of the law.)


U= Universal
PG= Parental Guidence (may upset children under the age of 8 years old)
12= 12+
12A= under the age of 12 with an adult
15= 15+
18= 18+
R18= specially licensed cinemas & sex shops.




After much debate between our group and many contemplation's over what our production company to be called we came up with "A Non-Liner" because we had based our film with having a non-liner narrative. While editing, we noticed that the heels I was wearing while portraying Scarlett were broken, causing me to walk lobsided. Therefore the production company "A Broken Heel" was born! 


Major Studio

Independent Studio




We came to the conclusion that we want to produce our film using an independent studio, this would produce a lower budget film and then rely on funding from a major company rather than a major studio as major studios have money, resources, equipment to produce & distribute both roles.

We'd rather produce our film this way rather than doing it with no money (i.e publishing it on YouTube) because we felt we could make a better film this way. We also thought this way would be wiser than publishing our film to purchase by download (i.e iTunes) as from our audience research most people venture to the cinema.





-p







Mood Board

In class Hollie, Ellen, Lauren and I created a Mood Board to help us understand the genre we have chosen to film.
We added elements of props, costume, hair & make-up, locations and snips from other films that would help us stick to conventions. We also added quotes, and words to outline our key conventions we are aiming to stick to.


So here is a picture of our masterpiece :D

-p

Titles and Opening Sequence

In media we have been looking at titles and opening sequences to films. We outlined the purposes:
•tells us who made the film
•tells us who is in the film
•establishes the genre
•shows us the production company
•get the audience attention
•shows an understanding to the narrative
•meets the character
•understanding of the location & setting


The titles are shown in a specific order in the opening sequence.
•the producer - they have the overall responsibility
•Highest billing - (director/ hollywood star)
•Director
•title - of the film
•Actor
•Cast members
•Cast
•Crew (editor sound etc)
•Final name - Director


There are different variations depending on the conventions, some choose to intersperse titles with the action i.e. the film.


We then did a case study on the opening sequence to Casino Royale and took notes.
•we can see that this film is set in a casino by the playing cards and the gambling in the opening sequence
•violence is involved in the opening sequence portraying violence throughout the film
•use of weapons
•good vs bad
•spy
•James Bond - 007
•Lengthly film
•high expectation
•iconography - guns, smart suits, fighting and death
•playing cards - weapons & bullets
•song climax with the line "you know my name" this is when Daniel Craig emerges to reveal his face.


In conclusion the opening sequence can help the audience establish the plot, know the character and the plot, understand the genre, and to place the setting :)




Clip of Casino Royal Opening Sequence




-p

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

Conventions of a Crime Film

In our lessons we've been looking at different styles of crime films and we made notes on
•Props
•Sound
•Camera & Lighting
•Location
•Representation of Social Groups
•Narrative.


We then looked at the styles:
•Film Noir
•American Gangster
•British Gangster
•Spy
•Comedy
•Action


Then we made a list of the common features of Crime Films.
-police -criminal -violence -weapons - chase -crime i.e murder -social groups -male protagonist -voice over -mysterious -non-linear narrative -costume long jackets, suits -corruption
-cigarettes -dramatic lighting -briefcase


Hollie, Lauren, Ellen and I then decided on a style we would like to film, and we decided on a kind of a detective theme as Lauren has just finished watching the Sherlock series on the BBC. We haven't properly decided on the style but we will use the conventions listed in our film.


Here are some pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about. 




Film Noir                           British Gangster
      


American Gangster                       Film Noir                         Spy
           


Action





-p

Monday, 16 January 2012

Prelim



Filming and editing the prelim task was so much fun, and was a great introduction to filming!
There was four in our group (Hollie, Lauren, Ellen, and Myself) and to begin our Task we drew a storyboard

[and nope, we are not experts at drawing, and no we did not hire a 5year old to draw for us]

To shoot our primarily task we needed to stick to a few rules, these were:


"filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule."




Our final product wasn't that bad, considering we are not award winning editors. We used different shot techniques such as birds-eye-view and over the shoulder shot. We also found a great location to film in, which helped alot!


However this was our first time filming, so fair warning when you get to see this, it's not Spielberg material, but this did help us know how we can improve and make the next task even better!


So here are our useful tips to future filming!


1. Film everything more than once.
2. Film from different angles.
3. Rehearse the film before filming.
4. And finally, film the entire sketch from start to finish with no pauses.


When we begin filming for our next task we will take these tips into consideration, and we will also improve by adding more cut-ins and cut-aways.


No matter how much the film sucked, we had so much fun with filming and editing!


Here are some pictures from the Prelim Task, and the finished product! :)


- p



 




Thursday, 12 January 2012

Intro/Welcome Blog

Hello, this is my media blog.


Here will be where I blog my progress from my research and  my planning.
You will be able to read the construction of my main task right through to the evaluation of my final product.
I will be supporting my evidence (aka this blog) with the use of images, audio, video and links to online resources.


So I hope you enjoy reading my blog :)

-p