The protagonist for our film was a male between the years of 18 and 22, dressed in a smart and casual style. As we wanted to keep things simple we decided stick with the dominant ideology by using a white male as seen in most mainstream films. We chose the dress style of casual to make it clear to the viewer that this was just the average male.
However, in a way we do challenge the representation of the male in our film. We do this by placing the male character in danger whereas usually in many mainstream films it would be the female character that would play the damsel in distress, however in our film it is the male.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout constructing both the opening credits product and the preliminary project I believe I have both developed and learnt a lot of skills about technologies through this process, most specifically through the filming and post production processes. Although, I did do media at school I focused more on the pre-production side so this allowed me to learn more.
The first main piece of technology I learned about was the generic filming equipment (camera, tripod) and used them in both an indoor and outdoor environment. I also learned about several different terminologies to do with camera shots (over the shoulder (OTS), tracking, panning, long shot, close up, low angle and high angle).
I believe I learned a lot more in the preliminary task as I was the only person in the group who was not in front of the camera so I was given the position of director, so I learned a lot about positioning the actors and how a certain shot should look which definitely would help for any future filming projects. However, I did find it much easier and more interesting behind the camera than in front of it which I was in the opening scene.
However, I felt I learnt a lot more about the post-production technologies especially with the editing system. It was also very interesting to see how it all comes together through cutting, adding sound, adding special effects and making sound bridges.
The first main piece of technology I learned about was the generic filming equipment (camera, tripod) and used them in both an indoor and outdoor environment. I also learned about several different terminologies to do with camera shots (over the shoulder (OTS), tracking, panning, long shot, close up, low angle and high angle).
I believe I learned a lot more in the preliminary task as I was the only person in the group who was not in front of the camera so I was given the position of director, so I learned a lot about positioning the actors and how a certain shot should look which definitely would help for any future filming projects. However, I did find it much easier and more interesting behind the camera than in front of it which I was in the opening scene.
However, I felt I learnt a lot more about the post-production technologies especially with the editing system. It was also very interesting to see how it all comes together through cutting, adding sound, adding special effects and making sound bridges.
Who would be the audience of our film?
When discussing our film it immediately became apparent that we would try to make a film that would be appropriate to all ages so we wanted to make a film that would target an entire family. To do this instead of researching a film I decided to research the BBC TV show “Doctor Who” as it is one of the BBC’s most popular TV shows and is a hit among all ages. Looking at the show it uses a fantasy and fairytale type adventure theme to keep children “wowed”, it uses detailed and slightly complicated story arcs to keep the interest for adults and also has scary aliens and dark tones to scare both the children and adults to keep all ages thrilled.
“Doctor Who” roughly 6 million viewers an episode making it one of the most popular shows on television so it became apparent to me we would have to use similar techniques in order target the same type of audience. We then decided to make a light horror fantasy that would include mystery elements and action sequences much like “Doctor Who” which already targets a certain audience which is also the one we were aiming for.
I also looked at “Pirates of the Caribbean” again as it also extremely successful being one of 7 films to gain a billion dollars the same with “The Dark Knight”. In fact looking more in to this we discovered that 6 of the 7 highest grossing films of all time that gained more than a billion dollars worldwide were all fantasy films, making it clear that our film would be likely to be very successful.
“Doctor Who” roughly 6 million viewers an episode making it one of the most popular shows on television so it became apparent to me we would have to use similar techniques in order target the same type of audience. We then decided to make a light horror fantasy that would include mystery elements and action sequences much like “Doctor Who” which already targets a certain audience which is also the one we were aiming for.
I also looked at “Pirates of the Caribbean” again as it also extremely successful being one of 7 films to gain a billion dollars the same with “The Dark Knight”. In fact looking more in to this we discovered that 6 of the 7 highest grossing films of all time that gained more than a billion dollars worldwide were all fantasy films, making it clear that our film would be likely to be very successful.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I feel that the two companies that would be likely to distribute our film would be either Warner Brothers or Disney Studios. This is mainly because after some research these two film studios are the two with the most history of the fantasy genre, Warner Brothers have had massive success with the Harry Potter franchise being the most successful franchise of all time taking in over $6.3 billion, they have also had success with Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise currently taking in over a Billion dollars across two films. Disney Studios have also had huge success with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Chronicles of Narnia“franchise by making them also 2 of the most successful franchises of all time.
I feel that our film would have a very simple marketing system of simply one official site and two trailer consisting of a teaser and theatrical trailer. A few clips would also be released via YouTube and the official site to gain more interest in the film. I think the film would also get an official Facebook page as well as that would definitely get more interest in the film due to the several million members.
However, seeing as our film is likely to have a very small budget it is incredibly likely we would have to co-produce it with another British company such as Film4, this has also been done with hit films “Shaun of the Dead” who co-produced with companies Universal and Film4 and “127 Hours“who worked with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Pathe to make their film.
I feel that our film would have a very simple marketing system of simply one official site and two trailer consisting of a teaser and theatrical trailer. A few clips would also be released via YouTube and the official site to gain more interest in the film. I think the film would also get an official Facebook page as well as that would definitely get more interest in the film due to the several million members.
However, seeing as our film is likely to have a very small budget it is incredibly likely we would have to co-produce it with another British company such as Film4, this has also been done with hit films “Shaun of the Dead” who co-produced with companies Universal and Film4 and “127 Hours“who worked with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Pathe to make their film.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our opening credits media product we decided to choose the genre of a light horror fantasy that was based in a realistic world. This was for several reasons but mainly because it meant we could keep things simple for example having the majority of the film in a normal world meant we didn’t have to worry about the design of a location as we could use normal rooms rather than have to dress up the rooms. We also just decided to tweak the ending to give it a fantasy type feel however due to some lost footage we couldn’t quite make the film to the standard we aimed for.
To help look capture a feel for this type of genre I looked at films such as “The Dark Knight” and “Stranger Than Fiction” which were both fantasies set in a realistic environment and I analysed there opening credits/scenes, this was very helpful in allowing me to see how they were filmed and the tone they had. It also helped me to see how a fantasy element was produced in a film based in a real world.
We decided early on that we wanted our film to be kept very simple to not create any problems later on; we also decided we should keep our locations to a minimum of 2. By keeping our film simple we decided to confirm the codes and conventions (“rules”) of the genre rather than decide to challenge them as we thought it would be very time consuming and complicated to think of ways to challenge the genre and its forms.
To help look capture a feel for this type of genre I looked at films such as “The Dark Knight” and “Stranger Than Fiction” which were both fantasies set in a realistic environment and I analysed there opening credits/scenes, this was very helpful in allowing me to see how they were filmed and the tone they had. It also helped me to see how a fantasy element was produced in a film based in a real world.
We decided early on that we wanted our film to be kept very simple to not create any problems later on; we also decided we should keep our locations to a minimum of 2. By keeping our film simple we decided to confirm the codes and conventions (“rules”) of the genre rather than decide to challenge them as we thought it would be very time consuming and complicated to think of ways to challenge the genre and its forms.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Todays Lesson 24th March 2011
Today Ben wasn't here however as our group is pretty far behind so me and Brendan will be out filming. We will be shooting in our location of the forest. Hopefully we will get a large amount done, upload it and continue Monday.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Art of the Title - Website
A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.
The website "Art of the Title" has been incredibly helpful during this project, the site has a wide selection of previous opening credits from actual films. The video above is directly from the site and features several parts of opening credits from throughout the years going from the golden age of cinema all the way to recent films such as "Zombieland!, "Juno" and "Scott Pilgrim vs the World". This site has been helpful as it allowed our group to understand how a title sequence should look and be put together, however some of the title sequences are not helpful due to them being computer-made whereas our film has to be filmed so it rules quite a lot out, however, films such as "Zombieland" are the films we can look as although it is not the type of film we are making it is filmed outdoors ausing cameras.
Todays lesson 22nd March 2011
Today I will be booking a camera for Thursday's lesson, our group can not film today due to Ben not being here, no matter what we will now have to film on Thursday as if we don't we will be very far behind all the other groups. Because of this drawback today will be another day of blogging.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Drawbacks for our Opening Credits
For our group the Opening Credits project has been a lot harder than the preliminary project our group have suffered a lot of issues when it has come to filming. These problems have included not booking the equipment, not being fully prepared, one of our group not being in, bad weather conditions or just running out of time. Several times we have had to postpone filming due to one of these problems causing our group to fall behind of the others. However, a good thing about these drawbacks is that we are now fully prepared so when we do finally go out filming we will no exactly what to shoot so hopefully we will get it done very quickly. Also, these faults will help if we are to work together next year as we will be more prepared for each project as we will we be used to the equipment.
Todays Lesson 21st March 2011
For today's lesson we will continue blogging to allow us to catch up with other groups and to be at the level we should be at, at the end of the lesson I will go and book some filming equipment for the following 2 lessons after this we can film allowing us to use the 3 lessons next we to edit and complete our film.
Zombieland Opening Credits
Ahead to our filming I decided to look at the opening credits to "Zombieland". Although, the film is a different genre (horror comedy) to what we are doing (fantasy) the film has been incredibly helpful as it gives us an idea on how to shoot outside, something our group has not done yet. The entire opening of "Zombieland" uses slow motion whilst credits slowly break away from the screen. Something which our group can possibly think about doing.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Change in Acting
Again due to time constrictions we now no longer have time to find a suitable actor for our film, plus some of the people we wanted to get had some things they had to do with there group. As a result I have been selected to be in the film as the protaganist. This should help with planning and be easier for as I have been involved in the planning process.
Changes to the Film
Due to time constrictions and the absense of a member of our group me and Brendan have decided to change some of the filming locations, any interior scenes will now be cut to cut out any time that may be used to finding a location. Our film will now begin in a car park or possibly the entrance to a shop but will then cut to the location to where we took photos of.
Our Film Script
Below is our script, it is however an extremely rough outline and just the generic idea of what we will be doing. The fact that we have no dialogue however, is an intentional decision by Me, Ben and Brendan, we done this everything we film can be visual and spelled out by the character through dialogue. Also, our film seems to be extremely short through the size of our script, which it is however, through more disussion and the eventual input of credits the film should be significantly increased in time.
Film Script - Rough outline
Film Script
MAN begins walking on his way to work. He is roughly 18 and is wearing smart casual clothes.
On his way he comes across a diversion on his path causing him to divert to a different route. On his way he encounters a forest to which he enters.
As he is walking down a path he suddenly drops. The MAN then suddenly awakes in to a visibly different location to which he is completely isolated and stunned.
Todays Lesson 15th March 2011
Today we were set to be filming for both todays lesson and at some point tomorrow due to having Thursday off, however, Ben is not here today so filming has had to yet again be postponed to a later date. We however, can not organise this date as he is not here so filming can not begin till at least next Mondays lesson. Today me and Ben will be blogging whilst I will be beginning to work on the script that Brendan failed to complete yesterday.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Another change in filming.
We had planned to film on Thursday however, due to it being a progress review day we have had to change our schedule yet again to filming possibly tomorrow and Wednesday.
Costume Design for our Fantasy
Our protaganist in our fantasy film is an office worker so he will be dressed in office buisness clothes, possibly a suit.
Todays Lesson 14th March 2011
For today's lesson I will continue to blog after falling behind in my group, we have been discussing new ideas for our film after deciding that we will be cutting the first couple of minutes of our film that were going to be set in a house. This is because it will be irrelevant to the rest of our film plus as our group is falling behind there are tim constrictions. Me and Ben will be blogging whilst Brendan will be writing a script for our film.
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