Saturday 29 January 2011
Friday 28 January 2011
First stage of audience research
I went out at lunch time around the school, interviewing thirty individuals. ( 5 adults, 7 sixth form students and 18 main school children). I asked each of them the following questions;
Who do you normally go the cinema with?
How often do you go to the cinema?
What is your favourite genre?
What was the last film you saw?
What do your parents do for a living/ what is your job?
From this the key points i found were....
* 80% of Main school children tend to go to the cinema with their parents , where as 99% of sixth form students go with their friends and boy/girl friends
* 75% of girls said that they like to watch romantic and comedy films but the boys said they liked comedy and action. 0% of boys said they like romantic films, although i did not follow my question up and ask if they would watch them. Although 30% of boys said they go to the cinema with girls or their girlfriends, meaning it's highly likely they would go and watch a romantic film with them.
* 50% of people said that the last film they saw was Harry Potter, this is a adventure, fantasy, romantic film. The other 45% said they watched 'Meet the Fockers'.
* 85% of people go the cinema once a month, 13% going more often.
Who do you normally go the cinema with?
How often do you go to the cinema?
What is your favourite genre?
What was the last film you saw?
What do your parents do for a living/ what is your job?
From this the key points i found were....
* 80% of Main school children tend to go to the cinema with their parents , where as 99% of sixth form students go with their friends and boy/girl friends
* 75% of girls said that they like to watch romantic and comedy films but the boys said they liked comedy and action. 0% of boys said they like romantic films, although i did not follow my question up and ask if they would watch them. Although 30% of boys said they go to the cinema with girls or their girlfriends, meaning it's highly likely they would go and watch a romantic film with them.
* 50% of people said that the last film they saw was Harry Potter, this is a adventure, fantasy, romantic film. The other 45% said they watched 'Meet the Fockers'.
* 85% of people go the cinema once a month, 13% going more often.
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Initial ideas
This is a picture of my spider diagram. This was the first plan i made to think and compare my ideas, to select the best .
Thursday 20 January 2011
My initial thought and ideas
Inspirational films
One of my all time favourite films and one of the most iconic openings ever made is love actually, therefore i want my opening to be loosely based around that and also my idea has been inspired by the film My sisters keeper.
Target audience
I have thought about the rest of my film, so i have an idea about what the rest of my film will hold and where it is going; although i will not be filming it.
Rest of my film
One of my all time favourite films and one of the most iconic openings ever made is love actually, therefore i want my opening to be loosely based around that and also my idea has been inspired by the film My sisters keeper. Target audience
My target audience are 14-24 year old, as from my research i have found this to the biggest cinema audience and this age group are the most likely to watch my film. Also as the genre of my film is a romantic comedy, from my research i found women watch these type of films more.
Brief synopsis of my idea
I am going to begin my film at the end, with a man (aged mid 20's) sitting on a swing in a park. I will focus on him for a couple of seconds, before he begins to talk/reminisce. (He will be the voice over for the rest of my film). It will then move to a group of children playing happily at a park,smiley but focusing on one little boy (the man). Throughout this the voice over will still be talking about how when he was little nobody treated him any different, just like he normal and introducing his illness (Leukemia) and talking about how he has got to this point ext...
I have thought about the rest of my film, so i have an idea about what the rest of my film will hold and where it is going; although i will not be filming it.
Rest of my film
The man has been treated badly all of his life, e.g not getting jobs, girls or friends. Then he meets a girl, who understands him and they fall in love. They are together for a year before the man gets incredibly ill and needs bone marrow, which later the women will give him to save his life.
The actors
I will be using a group of young children, approximately aged between 4 and 10. I will also need a mid 20 year old man, if possible good looking, so my 'film' would appeal to my target audience.
Where and When?
It will be set in a recreational park or playing field, preferably on a sunny, bright day and during the daytime.
writing a story from a sentence
In the lesson today we were given the opening sentence and had to think of a story out of this, i found this to be a use full exercise as it helped to think about our openings of films and how we can change them, to make them less predictable. Also to give us ideas for our own openings. This was my idea;
This scene will be silent, with no music; so it can focus on the women's heavy breathing, to increase the drama and suspense. The shots will also be fast pasted to emphasis the urgency.
A women is desperately dialling a number in a public phone box, she looks panicked as the call goes to voicemail... She quickly looks around, chucks the phone down and takes her heels off. She slowly walks out of the phone box and shouts help as loud as she can; but there is nobody there. She suddenly falls to the floor, still breathing heavily. Suddenly we hear her scream extremely loudly. The camera moves down and to reveal to the audience that the women is heavily pregnant and in the process of giving birth.
This scene will be silent, with no music; so it can focus on the women's heavy breathing, to increase the drama and suspense. The shots will also be fast pasted to emphasis the urgency.
A women is desperately dialling a number in a public phone box, she looks panicked as the call goes to voicemail... She quickly looks around, chucks the phone down and takes her heels off. She slowly walks out of the phone box and shouts help as loud as she can; but there is nobody there. She suddenly falls to the floor, still breathing heavily. Suddenly we hear her scream extremely loudly. The camera moves down and to reveal to the audience that the women is heavily pregnant and in the process of giving birth.
Thursday 13 January 2011
Research for opening two minutes of my film
After sitting and watching several openings of films from other films, it has given me a insight into want and dont want my opening to be like. The common themes that kept occuring were horror, gangs and abduction. Therefore i have decided that i want my openign to be more light hearted, happy and not of these genres. I have also learnt that the actors are important and need to be realistic and give a good and convincing performance. As i attend out of school drama classes locally, i will proberly use some actors from there or another option would be actors from drama in school. Also most of the opening i watched used sixth form students as all of the charcacters, which i found did not work, as they were playing successful adults with families but were actually aged 16, therefore i want to use appropriate and if possible varied age ranges. The location is also a key feature and has to be appropriate to what is happening e.g having a shooting outside your house , is not very effective and to look at what is happening in the background, e.g not having people in the background.
I also looked at well known films such as Ferris Buellers day off and Waynes world, to look at examples of breaking the fourth wall, Breaking the Fourth wall was also another technique used in films such as Wayne's world, where the actor talks down the camera to the audience. Although in some examples i watched it worked i feel it is a tricky technique that has to be used in the right way for it to be successful and work. In my film i dont believe it is appropriate and would not work.With this people can also easily get confused and not understand or it can totally not work and decredits the film.
I also looked at narration and thought it was an interesting and different way to open a film and can work very well as long as the voice is right. Such as Don Luffontene the voice over of many horror films. I really liked the use of narration and voice over and am very keen to use this in my opening as i feel it works well and gives a completly different feel to what you watch. Also i think that when narration is used the audience is drew in more to the film as they have to listen and follow what it happening to understand.
The credits were also another main point i picked up on, i think it is neccessary to have them at the beggining to make it look less like a trailor and more an opening, also not to use the same name, as it looks unproffessional and repetitive. This is the main point that occurred with my watching that most of them tended to be trailers than opening's, so i want to make sure this doesnt happen.
This picture is a good use of credits for the introduction of a film.
In conclusion i want my opening to be better than the ones i have watched today by improving the points i have mentioned. :)
After looking at several films of different genres and at other pupils works i have seen the genre's that occur often (as stated above) i want my film to be completly different and of a different genre so my idea is not 'typical' or expected. Therefore i have chosen to use a drana genre as it is completly different and an interesting genre with wide guidelines to fit this genre. Two drama films that i really liked and feel i could base my ideas around are Love actually and My Sisters Keeper. I Like the opening of Love actually as i feel is a really iconic opening that sticks in people's minds. I think it works as it pulls on the heart strings and sets you up with the basis of what the film is about to doesn't reveal too much to the audience. I think its very good at portraying the emotion and that is how i want my opening to be. Another film that has inspired me is my sisters keeper, i love the openign with the voice over talking, although it is from a different persons point of view and in mine i am using the man himself.
I also looked at well known films such as Ferris Buellers day off and Waynes world, to look at examples of breaking the fourth wall, Breaking the Fourth wall was also another technique used in films such as Wayne's world, where the actor talks down the camera to the audience. Although in some examples i watched it worked i feel it is a tricky technique that has to be used in the right way for it to be successful and work. In my film i dont believe it is appropriate and would not work.With this people can also easily get confused and not understand or it can totally not work and decredits the film.
I also looked at narration and thought it was an interesting and different way to open a film and can work very well as long as the voice is right. Such as Don Luffontene the voice over of many horror films. I really liked the use of narration and voice over and am very keen to use this in my opening as i feel it works well and gives a completly different feel to what you watch. Also i think that when narration is used the audience is drew in more to the film as they have to listen and follow what it happening to understand.
The credits were also another main point i picked up on, i think it is neccessary to have them at the beggining to make it look less like a trailor and more an opening, also not to use the same name, as it looks unproffessional and repetitive. This is the main point that occurred with my watching that most of them tended to be trailers than opening's, so i want to make sure this doesnt happen.
This picture is a good use of credits for the introduction of a film. Narrative was also used in films such as the Hangover, where the film may begin at the ending or at the middle, this can work really well as it makes the audience ask questions and want to watch the rest of the film,although on the other hand it can confuse the audience and they maynot be able to follow the film, I like this technique as long as it is used correctly and made clear where it fits into the film. Flashbacks can also be used to change the narrative, this can also work well, in the same way, As i keeps the audience interested and keeps them taking notice of the film as to what is happening and what relevence it has to the film as a whole. Mean Girls is an example of using Flashbacks to her as a child living in africa.
Soundtracks and music can also be vital and 'make' a fil;m, such as music from films such as Jaws, A team or Fame, the soundtracks have become iconic and make people remember the film. This doesn't only work with film, television programmes such as x-factor or Eastenders can be recognised for there soundtracks / theme tunes. Therefore i music is a very effective and interesting thing to use. Although i cannot use this in my film as it will drown the narration out. 
In conclusion i want my opening to be better than the ones i have watched today by improving the points i have mentioned. :)
After looking at several films of different genres and at other pupils works i have seen the genre's that occur often (as stated above) i want my film to be completly different and of a different genre so my idea is not 'typical' or expected. Therefore i have chosen to use a drana genre as it is completly different and an interesting genre with wide guidelines to fit this genre. Two drama films that i really liked and feel i could base my ideas around are Love actually and My Sisters Keeper. I Like the opening of Love actually as i feel is a really iconic opening that sticks in people's minds. I think it works as it pulls on the heart strings and sets you up with the basis of what the film is about to doesn't reveal too much to the audience. I think its very good at portraying the emotion and that is how i want my opening to be. Another film that has inspired me is my sisters keeper, i love the openign with the voice over talking, although it is from a different persons point of view and in mine i am using the man himself.
Tuesday 11 January 2011
Time warner's takeover of IPC
Time Warner takeover of British publisher IPC media had given the N.M.E brand a new lease of life.. discuss...
Yes,Time Warner have given NME a new lease of life as they have bought and taken over IPC, although it has not just been a good thing for IPC, Time Warner and the readers also have advantages from this takeover. Time Warner are a large, well known brand that have been around for many years, constantly widening their ownership into brands and increasing their ownership on the world of media. Time Warner are also a huge brand in other countries but mainly in America and have been in partnership with other well known brands such as AOL. Time Warner's take over of IPC is no surprise as they have relevant and valuable synergies. Also it is easier for Time Warner to sell IPC magazines as they are an already established brand, rather than start a new one and be in direct competition with it; creating less choice and therefore a wider readership of IPC magazines. Also this helps them to monopoly the market, as they are the main owners, therefore meaning they can control the pricing and the global market.
Although on the other hand there are advantages for IPC in selling to Timewarner for example, they have financial security by being owned by a well known, experienced company and their status and global success with by boosted by being in conjunction with Time Warner, as it was as NME for example, was introduced in America. NME is just one brand of IPC and since Timewarner have taken over has expanded into America, it created its own app to keep up technological advances, it opened clubs in England and America and also recently NME radio was broad casted, on the Internet where it can be globally accessed. Although this is just one product , showing a massive lease of life for IPC. NME was given a new editor krissi Murison, who introduced American artists, added in other genre's not just rock and gave the magazine a new look, which widened its audience and was aimed at a widen range of musical tastes, once again giving it a new lease of life. As IPC is now owned by Time Warner, it has given Time Warner a larger annual income resulting them in having more money for research and therefore keeping up with technological advantages and convergence between Time Warner owned brands, for example AOL and the Internet and the Internet being accessible onto phones. Then apps for the phone, which time Warner have made for IPC magazines such as NME.
Yes,Time Warner have given NME a new lease of life as they have bought and taken over IPC, although it has not just been a good thing for IPC, Time Warner and the readers also have advantages from this takeover. Time Warner are a large, well known brand that have been around for many years, constantly widening their ownership into brands and increasing their ownership on the world of media. Time Warner are also a huge brand in other countries but mainly in America and have been in partnership with other well known brands such as AOL. Time Warner's take over of IPC is no surprise as they have relevant and valuable synergies. Also it is easier for Time Warner to sell IPC magazines as they are an already established brand, rather than start a new one and be in direct competition with it; creating less choice and therefore a wider readership of IPC magazines. Also this helps them to monopoly the market, as they are the main owners, therefore meaning they can control the pricing and the global market.
Although on the other hand there are advantages for IPC in selling to Timewarner for example, they have financial security by being owned by a well known, experienced company and their status and global success with by boosted by being in conjunction with Time Warner, as it was as NME for example, was introduced in America. NME is just one brand of IPC and since Timewarner have taken over has expanded into America, it created its own app to keep up technological advances, it opened clubs in England and America and also recently NME radio was broad casted, on the Internet where it can be globally accessed. Although this is just one product , showing a massive lease of life for IPC. NME was given a new editor krissi Murison, who introduced American artists, added in other genre's not just rock and gave the magazine a new look, which widened its audience and was aimed at a widen range of musical tastes, once again giving it a new lease of life. As IPC is now owned by Time Warner, it has given Time Warner a larger annual income resulting them in having more money for research and therefore keeping up with technological advantages and convergence between Time Warner owned brands, for example AOL and the Internet and the Internet being accessible onto phones. Then apps for the phone, which time Warner have made for IPC magazines such as NME.
Monday 10 January 2011
Preliminary task
Comedy Thriller
Dialogue:
L- so..
J- so..
(pause)
L-where is it?
(pause)
L-Do you really want to do this... i know you have it!
(pause)
J-i really don't know what your talking about
(pause)
L-i know you have it
( J eats the rolo)
Location- middle block corridor
Roles- Lauren and Jasmine acting
Jamie and Nikki on the camera
Dialogue:
L- so..
J- so..
(pause)
L-where is it?
(pause)
L-Do you really want to do this... i know you have it!
(pause)
J-i really don't know what your talking about
(pause)
L-i know you have it
( J eats the rolo)
Location- middle block corridor
Roles- Lauren and Jasmine acting
Jamie and Nikki on the camera
Initial ideas
I have decided that for my opening two minutes of a film, i will be working on my own as i can use my own ideas and be more independent. I have had a few ideas but i have not yet decided on one and am still thinking. I want it to be a contempary piece set in this era, i also want to try and include as many different ages as i can, so it is a realistic and more interesting opening. . I have watched some opening of films for insperation such as, wicker man, seven, the hangover and stand by me. From this is have decided that i want to begin in the action, maybe from later on in the film as i dont want it to be a typical stereotypical student film and i also liked the use of narrater to set the scene and characters. As yet i do not have any preference of whether i want or dont want speech.
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