Monday, May 2, 2011

Evaluation.

For this assignment I have been asked, in a group to prepare and present a proposal for a marketing campaign for a new film.

Both my poster & other professional posters include a picture, the title of the film & the actors who were in the film. The trailer we have created includes a green band rating card which is also on some professional film trailers this tells you that the following trailer will be suitable for all audiences. Although we have not used the same text, it gives the same message as a real trailer would give. Most trailers include some music in the background, ours has 2 different songs in it to make it more appealing & to try & give an idea of the storyline. Trailers tell the story of a movie in a highly condensed fashion that must have maximum appeal.

The genre of our film is urbanised thriller based on young teenagers. It is very similar to other films like Kidulthood, Adulthood & This is England. If our film did go into production it would most likely be on the exact same path as Kidulthood as it is for the same target audience. Our film being distributed by the UK Film Council would be the ideal because they worked with the same genre of films & were very successfully with them. They’d be most likely to accept our film as it is similar to films they have distributed before.
As the film trailer is based on an urbanised thriller, the main thing to look out for would be dark settings and crowds of people. The film poster we created has the main character on the front looking away from the camera against a brick wall. The actual film trailer looks a bit like a documentary as the lighting looks quite desaturated which gives a feel of unease & makes you wonder what the film has to offer. The intended audience will be ages 18-29, I used IDMB to research age’s groups that voted for the films we have based our final product on, mainly males are interested in the genre we have selected to make & they will be attracted to the poster & the trailer because most men think that violence and crime are part of everyday life. They like watching action & our trailer includes some.
 To research for pre-production, I used computers at college & got my information from the internet. To film the trailer we used a Samsung mini DV camera, we didn’t borrow one from college as we filmed in our own time. To create the film poster we used Photoshop & to edit the whole trailer we used Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is quite an easy program to use if the things you want to do are quite simple. Adding difficult effects can sometimes be challenging but after being helped it was easy to carry on editing successfully.
Within the group, I researched existing posters & trailers for ideas towards my groups, I also researched target audiences & figures to see what age group would be suitable for our trailer. After planning the trailer I did a risk assessment & took location shots. I also wrote the script created a shooting schedule & started an individual production log which I edited each week. My partner & I both filmed & edited the trailer together.
We shot our trailer outside of college with friends, we used a Samsung mini DV to record & edited using final cut pro. The camera we used wasn’t as good as the ones provided by college because they weren’t HD but they gave a documentary feel to the shots which makes it look quite good & more like our specified genre. We didn’t edit the shots on final cut pro much, just cut them down & changed the colours on a couple of shots. We also freeze framed some of them so people can get a good view of important parts of the trailer. I learnt that changing the colour of some shots can look really effective if you get them looking the same, they make the trailer a little different to others.

For pre-production, within the group & individually I have had to prepare a production log, proposal & presentation. The proposal had to consider legal and ethical issues such as BBFC guidelines, copyright & clearance forms. The presentation had to include a treatment, audience research budgets, schedules & risk assessments. These documents are important because they give an indication as to what you are trying to create for your final product.
 I enjoyed this assignment, it was something different that I’d never done before & gave me an idea as to what being in the media industry would be like. Although some of the filming may not be brilliant I believe that the final product was good & I’m proud of what the group has produced. If I carry on studying media next year this assignment will have helped a lot. This is because I have learnt how to successfully edit, write scripts in the correct format & film considering the rule of thirds.
The final product that has been made is different to what has been written on the script, this was due to deadlines & now having enough cast members & they had things to do in their own time. If all the scenes that were in the story board & script were used in the trailer, I think it would of been too long so I think cutting it down has been an improvement.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Shooting Schedule.

Date & Time:
Where:
Job:
Who did the job:
13th March - 17.00
Outside co-op.
Film a gang of people loitering outside.
Emm.
21st March- 18.00
Under a bridge.
Filming a gang of people loitering under a bridge.
Emm.
13th March- 17.15
Park.
Filming a gang & a girl running over to tell them some news.
Vicky.
13th March- 16.50
Bedroom.
Filming a lad getting something out of his bedroom.
Emm.
21st March- 17.50
Street.
Filming a fight.
Emm.
13th March - 17.25
Outside  (jail cell)
Outside  (jail cell)
 
Vicky.
 
 21st March- 18.05
Outside.
 
Filming a gang of people meeting up.
 
Vicky.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Individual Production Log.

15th September 2010 - launched the project.
22nd September 2010- reviewed sections of different films.
29th September 2010- created a blog.
6th October 2010- analysed 3 film trailers (Kidulthood, Adulthood, This is England).
13th October 2010- analysed 3 movie posters for the above films.
20th October 2010- researched the target audiences for the 3 movie trailers.
27th October 2010- wrote a treatment.
3rd November 2010-  created a hypothetical production budget.
10th November 2010- created a title page & did location shots.
17th November 2010- created a risk assessment table.
24th November 2010- did the legal & ethical work & ratings.
1st December 2010- created a questionnaire for primary research.
15th December 2010- (trip)
5th January 2011- made a presentation about job rolls & things which are in the proposal.
19th January 2011- carried on with presentation & finished it. Started writing the script.
26th January 2011- carried on with script writing.
16th February 2011- created gannt chart.
9th March 2011-story boards.
13th March 2011-started filming the trailer.
15th March 2011- transferred shots onto macs.
21st March 2011- shot more scenes & took location shots.
23rd March 2011- Started editing & researched gang statistics in the UK.
30th March 2011- Researched more gang statistics & edited the trailer by adding music & changing the colours of the clips.
3rd May 2011- make sure all work is up to date, put it into word documents & print ready to hand in.
4th May 2011- Finish project.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Questionnaire - Primary research.

Please state your gender.
Female          Male

Please state your age.
Age: 15-20    21-30   31-40    41-50    51 and over

What genre of film are you most interested in ?
………………………………………..

Would you:
Go to the cinema when the film is released
Download from Itunes
Wait for a DVD release
Download Illegaly

List your top 5 films in the specific genre you favoured
1……………………………………..
2……………………………………..
3……………………………………..
4……………………………………..
5……………………………………..

Do you watch social realist films (e.g Kidulthood & This is England )
(as these are the specific films we are focusing on.)

What trailers have caught your eye recently?
State the title and genre……………………………………………….

Do you a favourite film trailer ?
………………………………………………………………………………..

How long would you expect a film trailer to last ?
………………………………………………………………………………..

Would you want to watch a film trailer called ‘Hackney Carnage’ ?
………………………………………………………………………………..

Would you want to watch a film trailer with a rating of fifteen?
………………………………………………………………………………..

Do you think the title ‘Hackney Carnage’ is a good title for a social realist film?
………………………………………………………………………………….

Ratings.

This is a legal and ethical issues post. We don't want our trailer to be an 18 because we won't make as much profit because the audiences are less as they get older. This trailer could not be shown in a PG film because it is not a PG rated trailer and the audience in the cinema could be too young to watch it.
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Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely  to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

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The above information was taken from the BBFC website:
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/download/guidelines/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202009.pdf

Our film trailer:
We think our film trailer should be a 15 because it contains mild violence and  could contain some sexual references. Although there will be no graphical images it will still represent violence and possibly murder. There may be some swearing but not enough to push it into the 18 category.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Location Shots.




This is the Stratford upon Avon train station. We decided this is a possible place to film because it gives a sense of the city. Which will be important as the film is based in London.



Bancroft is another possible location to film. This is an area which could help in places. Some shaded shaded areas are enclosed which could help with the intense parts of the trailer.