Research:Costumes - Guards

For these the guards we thought that wearing suits would be suitable as we do not want to make the guards seem over the top with full body armour, but be portrayed as private executive guards. In all traditional action films, all pricate guards wear suits, this makes them looks intelligent, smart, and good looking, even though they are protecting another actor.

Research:Costumes - James Baker

The type of costume we choose for a character is very important because it can help the audience to get to know the character, for example their class, where they live, age or even gender. The choice of costume we have picked I think represents our character and the conventions that go with him.

For Baker's costume we thought simply that as he is attending college, it would be smart-casual dress code, which is very easy to do, considering we come to college every day!

Research:Costumes - Ross Grove

We decided that Grove should wear a thick jacket - a body warmer. This helps to identify him as we thought about putting him in a suit but this may have caused confusion between him and the guards. Also, we didn't think a suit would be suitable for this character as we don't know what he has been doing before he came to the school.

Research:Props

Guns – Grove and the guards will be using weapons such as a pistol to brawl, and will be used for the shooting of Baker. This would create tension and action for the audience as guns are dangerous. The guards would probably be using more advanced weapons such as assualt rifles.

 Phone - Grove will be using this after he has killed Baker, ringing his associate, letting him know that it is over, this is so that his associate knows that Grove is coming out and needs to be picked up.

Research:Location Map

It was important that we produced a map, for use by our cast and crew, in order to give us a sense of area and distance between each of our filming locations. We used Google Maps to produce the below image: 

Research:Location Scouting

Location 1: Ashtead

This is a picture of the type of location to be used in our film. We've been to this location many times and felt that they are the right fit for our film; we visited it at the appropriate times in the evening as it would give the right atmosphere into what the film could potentially have. The locations at night would grip the audience with fear and give them a sense of anticipation.

Location 2: North Leatherhead

Despite my associate and me feeling location 1 would be the best location; we still feel that this location is good suited and effective for our opening two minutes. We just feel that this location has useful elements that are most and more suited to our film genre and guidance of plot.

The graffiti, council flats, urban look environment and good lighting help enforce the genre clichés and but would not help get the best out of our planned film which is why this location is considered the worst within our opinion.

Location 3: Therfield School (Most likely/Favourite)

We chosen this location as one of the locations because we believe we can make a good chase scene in this location as its big. Our idea on making an action thriller involves the main character going back to college, so using this location would be most convenient. We would need to film in this location when its empty and quiet to make more suspense and tension.

Planning:Script

 Swan Song

[Grove entering the school, he has help waiting outside, they are speaking through an earpiece]

[As Grove tries to walk past innocently, hoping they won’t know what he’s doing, one of the guards spots his gun]

[Grove runs into some guards]

GUARD 1

STOP!

[Grove takes out the guard, but back up arrives and he has to fight them off]

[When the guards are dead, he is frantically trying to find Baker]

[He eventually finds him, and Baker has no idea what’s going on]

GROVE

[Grove takes out another guard, whilst Baker is in class, he throws the guard into the class and Baker runs away]

BAKER

Oh shit!

[Grove goes to shoot Baker. But he has already started running, after running round half of the school, Grove starts to give up, as he walks away, Baker has luck as Grove is caught up by fellow students]

BAKER

[Grove sees his Baker and as Grove shoots, Baker manages to duck and only get hit on the leg. He can't manage getting away now, he leans on the wall]

GROVE

Its over. [Shoots Baker]

[Grove adjusts his jacket and walks away, looking satisfied with his actions]

Planning:Shot List

As a director, it is my responsibility to translate the written words of a script or outline into the compelling visual images that effectively tell my story. I can do this by focusing my audience's attention on the part of a scene that is most important at every moment.
I Have started by creating a shot lists to help me look back at when I am creating the storyboard.

Organizing my project before I shoot would save me time during the edit stage.

Pan: Fixed camera position, horizontal movement.

Tilt: Fixed camera position, vertical movement.

Tracking shot: Camera moves with action in any direction.

Crane shot: Camera rises or descends.

Zoom: Fixed camera, optical motion toward or away from subject.

Dissolve: Transition with one shot fading out as another simultaneously fades in. While this is not actually performed during the shoot, it needs to be planned for in the edit.

Rack Focus: Shifting the focus from something in the foreground to something in the background, or vise versa.

XCU: Extreme close up. For people, maybe just the eyes.

CU: Close up, the subject fills the frame. Emphasizes detail. For people, this is a usually a head shot, with perhaps only the tops of the shoulders visible.

MS: Medium Shot, the subject seen from the chest up.

FS: Full Shot, the subject seen from head to toe.

WS: Wide Shot, the subject seen within the larger environment.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot):The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

(OSS)Over-the-Shoulder Shot:Looking from behind a person at the subject. Used to show two people speaking to eachother.

Point-of-View Shot (POV):Shows a view from the subject's perspective, to make the audience feel as if its them.

Weather Shot:The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Noddy Shot:Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

Two-Shot:A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

Planning:Own Film Treatment - 'Swan Song'

 

Directed by Daniel Malamud and Richard Young

Starring

Daniel Malamud - Ross Grove

Richard Young - Voice of the Narrator, Guard 2

Zubin Parekh - Guard 3
Aran Alisiroglu - James Baker
Muhammed Rahman - Guard 1

Synopsis

Ex-Prison Warden Ross Grove is on the loose and dangerous. Armed with knife and gun, he heads to the local school to seek vengeance. James Baker, innocently studying in his Geography lesson is about get a small surprise. He has trouble getting to Baker, having to fight through numbers of undercover guards. Was this set up? By who? By the time he gets there, he is battered and bruised, but able to put up a fight while Baker is desperately looking for options. Time is running out and he runs. The chase is on. They are hastily navigating the school when Grove gives up. As he walks away, Baker grabs one of the fallen guards guns and attempts to take Grove out but he sees it coming dodges it and ends Baker. As Grove lies there, beaten and out of breath, he wonders, was it really worth it?

Codes and Conventions
The codes and conventions of our film are similar to that of an action film, being fast-paced with fights and shoot-outs. Our film opening also has a chase scene. These are all typical, expected conventions in an action film. Another convention of action films is that there is always a motive; this is similar to Swan Song as Dan (Grove) has a motive to kill Aran as is shown by the flashbacks while he is walking into the school. Lastly, one of the most common conventions of an action film that we have included in ours is death.

 

Planning: Moodboard - Swan Song

This mood board should help us to come up with ideas for our action film and get the creative ideas running.

Action:

Research:Our own Film Institution - 'Paradox Entertainment'

Paradox Entertainment was founded in November 2013 by myself, Daniel Malamud, and my associate Richard Young. It is currently comprised of two sub divisions - Paradox studios and Para Cinema.

Paradox Cinema is a production company that specialises in virtually no-budget 
blockbuster epics. Our upcoming project is the feature-length motion picture 'Swan Song'(Release Date 2014 TBA), which aims to revolutionise cinema. An exclusive prologue will be released early 2015 to generate interest and hype. 

Here are some practice titles I have created for the opening scene:

Research:Other Film Institutions

Here are a few of the smaller institutions who are independent:
DreamWorks:

DreamWorks tend to make films aimed at a younger audience. DreamWorks films include: Shrek and Madagascar.

 

 

 

Lionsgate Entertainment:

In recent years Lionsgate have started to have to join together with bigger companies in order to get the money needed to make films, but they are still making, high grossing films. Famous for Hunger Games and Saw.

 

 

 

 

Relativity Media: 

Relativity media at the moment is very low-key, seeming as it was only founded in 2004, and is still growing. Their films include The Social Network and Bridesmaids.

 

 

The Weinstein Company: 

Formed in 2005 by the Weinstein Brothers. The Weinstein Company seems  to be aiming to do well in the film industry. They made The King's Speech.

 

Revolver entertainment:

Revolver entertainment is a film institute that’s originated in the UK. They distribute mainly British films consisting of some variety of film genres. A reasonable percentage of these films that they've distributed are urban/action films including Kidulthood, Anuvahood.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

MGM has been having financial problems, so haven't really been releasing anything,  They tend to make a wide range of films. MGM films include: the James Bond Franchise.

There are more film institutions out there, but they are not accepted as big. The ones mentioned here are the 'official mini-majors', but there are a lot more.

Research:Film Institutions - Colombia pictures

Columbia pictures (Sony and Sony pictures)

Founded in 1918, brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924 and went public two years later. The name is derived from "Columbia", a national personification of the United States, which is used as the company's logo.

They are one of the highest grossing companies in the world. Just for the fact they are producing a lot of electronic products and making films.

Their films include James Bond and Spiderman.

 

Research:Film Institutions - Universal Pictures

Universal pictures (Comcast and NBC universal)

Founded in 1912, it is conglomerate to NBCUniversal (NBCU).

Through its Focus Features imprint, the company also produces lower-budget specialty films including Brokeback Mountain, Lost in Translation, and Milk.

Universal Pictures is part of Universal Studios, which also operates theme parks under the Universal banner through Universal Parks & Resorts.

 

Some of their films include Back to the future trilogy and Bourne Franchice.

Research:Film Institutions - 20th Century Fox

20th century fox (21st Century Fox and Fox Entertainment Group)

20th Century Fox was founded in 1935, It is owned by News Corporation, as they also own the Fox television channel, which gets them a lot of their money.

They make high budget films.

 

The Art Deco 20th Century Fox logo, designed by special effects matte painting artist Emil Kosa, Jr., originated as the 20th Century Pictures logo, with the name "Fox" substituted for "Pictures, Inc." in 1935.

Some of their films are Avatar and Star Wars.

Research:Film Institutions - Walt Disney

Disney (The Walt Disney Company and Disney Studios)

Founded in 1928 as Walt Disney Productions.
Disney traditionally specialises in family movies and animation. They also own a few other film institutions: Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Through these companies Disney manages to get a huge amount of money.

Some of their films include Toy Story and Up.

Research:Film Institutions - Paramount

Paramount Pictures (Viacom and Paramount Motion Pictures Group)

Paramount Studios was founded in 1916.  It is a division of the American media company 'Viacom'. They work well and often with Steven Spielberg, and this is a major reason for their success. They are consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing film studios in the world.

The distinctly pyramidal Paramount Mountain has been the company's logo since its inception and is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo. The logo appeared at the start of many cartoons.

Paramount Vantage is the sub-division of the studio that is responsible for more low-key affairs, such as indie drama and documentaries.

Some of their films include Transformers and Star Trek.

Research:Film Institutions - Warner Bros

Warner Bro. Pictures (Time Warner and Warner Bros. Entertainment)

One of the major film studios, Warner Bros studios were founded in 1903.
It was formed by the Warner brothers. They also famously started the original Looney Tunes, and many more cartoons.
Warner Bros have a very wide range of films. They tend to make high budget movies that get a lot of money. Their films appeal to a very wide range of audience. They also own New Line Cinema.

Some of their films include Harry Potter and The Dark Knight trilogy.

Research:Film Institutions - Introduction

In the following series of posts I will explain film institutions and examine their specialities in the film business.

Film institutions are very important as they provide the money for films to be made, and without them, no one would ever get enough money to make a decent budget film. These companies also own studios, which are useful as they are reusable and efficient, and are dedicated to filmmaking.

The major problem with film institutions funding a film is that they like to have complete control over the project, and this reduces the amount of creative input. They are all about making money, and this stops film advancing as an art form.

A production company essentially helps to create the film- its assists in the budgeting, scheduling, scripting, casting and more. The company usually looks over the film from when its just an idea to completion. They are responsible for finding a director and the majority of acting talent required. However they are also responsible if anything were to go wrong on the film, for example and actor being injured or property being damaged.

A distributor basically sends the film out into the world for the waiting audiences to watch. They decide where and when the film will show and they also promote the film. There are a number of steps that are followed in the process of distribution. Firstly they have to determine how many copies of the film to make. The film is then previewed to prospective buyers- e.g. cinema owners. The film is then sent to the cinemas shortly before it opens. The cinema then shows the movie and after people have seen it, it will get sent back to the distributors and payment is agreed. However in smaller budget films, more steps may be necessary.

Research:Opening Film title Research

Action - Dark Knight

The Dark Knight’s (an action movie) opening titles are very interesting and effective. The high use of graphical content gives the audience a sense of the film being a big blockbuster movie. With use of label/image rotations and the use of black background and blue of shiny blue for the titles is very good for because it implies that the film is going to sinister and have negative events that occur. I'd say the highlight of the intro titles is when the blue flames of explosion suddenly appear on the screen and the Famous Batman logo emerges closer to towards the screen as if it's coming towards the audience. The use of this is very effective in setting the genre and building tension because the use of explosive flames would suggest the film will have epic moments of explosions and tragedy, and because the Batman logo emerges suggests that Batman will come to be a saviour which in itself shows some insight into what the audience might expect in the film. With the blue flames coming at the end of the intro titles is also another use of usefulness as it helps to lead into the opening scene of the film. Along with all the graphical use used, the music (which leads into the opening scene as well) could be also considered as effective as all the other aspects of the intro titles because the music used sounds like a countdown/time limit. This helps to compliment the rest of the intro titles as it adds a great level of tension and engagement to draw from the audience which could be said is key for the opening of the Dark Knight. Also, because the opening scene of the film shows a group of thugs attempting to rob a bank amazingly links the intro titles with the opening scene itself as the countdown feel is in the characters current situation within the opening scene which helps to greaten the quality of the opening of the Dark Knight. The title into this film is definitely one of the best constructed and effect ever in film. The intro titles to this film I should look for guidance as my film as well is a similar genre and planned to be opening type of tension and feel to the my film so this could be useful.

Spiderman 2

The choice of soundtrack, in this opening titles sequence, is very different to that of The Dark Knight Rises'. A very different feeling lingers within it. Though it is quite upbeat  it feels lighter than Batman's. This could be because they are aiming it at a younger audience. If so, it works well in ensuring appropriateness. The font is consistent and capitalised. It is Mata-regular. This is a symbolic font for Spider-Man and is used throughout the sequels. This compels the audience to recognise it. Throughout the titles, a red colour scheme is used. This is also symbolic. Also, a comic book effect is used with carbonised characters. This is effective because the film came from a comic and this digs up the film's roots. Very effective technique and not used by other films. Anyone not familiar with the film can easily get an idea of what is expected. As the titles reach an end, the music gets increasingly emotional this is emotive for the audience and makes them feel what the director wants them to feel. It is effective in involving the audience emotionally. 

Horror - Scream 4

This table shows the 3 part of the opening of the film. Under the description of what happens, I included screeshots of the actual opening.

Research:Opening film title - Se7en

Opening credits are written information within a film which tells the audience who is starring in the film as well as the production roles such as director. The purpose of opening credits is to inform the audience; this helps the audience understand the film as well as outline important people within the film. Opening credits provide the audience with the information of the film such as actors who have played certain roles as well as who is in charge of different production roles such as director, editor etc.

Opening credits are essential in creating a reaction from the audience. For example in a thriller film the opening credits are confusing due to the video content where images don't make sense to the audience and don't relate to each other. Credits can also be enhanced due to the input of sound; for a thriller film sound can create tension and fear as well as build the suspense of the film.

In the opening credits of 'Se7en' some information is presented to the audience. The names of actors are shown in the opening credits in order of famous actors down to amateur actors. This helps the audience know who the characters are in the film as well as become familiar with the film before it starts. Keywords such as 'rape', 'transsexual' and 'God' are presented in the opening of the film. This information in the opening credits is used to confuse the audience as well as relate to the narrative of the film. it also makes the audience think about the links between the words and building suspense.

For the purpose of creating my own thriller film opening credits I looked at what order the information appeared in. The film production title first appeared in the opening credits to present to the audience who made the film. The name of the film and the famous actors who played within the film then appeared next. This allows the audience to know the name of the film they are watching as well as the people who are playing the important characters. The amateur actors names are then presented which are followed by job roles of the film such as casting director, music manager etc. The directors name then appears on the screen finally followed by the name of the film again. 

Generic conventions of a thriller film are also presented to the audience in the opening credits. There is a constant use of close ups throughout the opening credits which allows to see detail such as keywords (as above) as well as emphasising horrific elements which relate to the narrative. From the close ups used the audience can see the characters dirty finger nails; this disgusts the audience and already creates resentment towards the character. Photographs are used in the opening which makes the audience think about the theme of obsession or stalking which relates to a conventional thriller film. Medical equipment such as a needle and tweezers are used which the audience could infer as being weapons or tools to torture a victim who is conventional to a thriller film because the audience expect to see this.

The lighting and colour throughout the opening credits is dark. The low key lighting makes the opening appear mysterious and compliments with the images shown throughout the credits. The colour red is used frequently throughout the credits when some shots are changed to have a red tint as well as splatters of red that fall into a page. These elements within the credits are conventional to a thriller film because the lighting and colour create responses of suspense and making them uneasy before the starting of the film.

Finally the slow gothic/metal soundtrack added to the opening credits makes it effective when connecting to the audience. The slow soundtrack creates suspense within the audience and makes them feel uneasy when they hear scratches of some metal or radio turning. This is conventional to thriller opening credits because this builds the audience up to the rest of the film.

I think that the opening credits from 'Se7en' create impact on the audience because the opening credits are used to confuse the audience. However they contain essential clues to the films narrative which catch the audience’s attention and provoke the audience to work the clues out. 'Se7en' is a good example on creating an impact on the audience because it also makes the audience focus on the film by leaving them to guess the narrative. This opening credit scene has influenced me with my own thriller film as I have ideas on what elements to use to slightly confuse the audience.  

Planning:Target Audience Research - Questionnaire(Results)

Gender

I asked this question to see the range in gender between males and females when the subject is on the basis of film, and the feedback on this question raised suggestions on the gender audience. It mainly shows that the male audience is most probable and more common on film interests. This tells me I should try to include more male appealing elements in my film.

Age

The age categories of people who filled out the questionnaire suggested that the majority were young people, mainly teenagers between the ages of 13-18 as they both made up around 67% of the total.

How often do you watch films in the cinema?

I asked this question in order to see how interested people are in newly coming out films. In my finding the majority never go to the cinema, which gives me the impression my opening two minutes have to stand out to attract the audience  attention.

What is your favourite film genre?

I asked this in order to find out what is the most popular genre people are interested in, which was action, with third of the votes.

What is your favourite type of an action sequence?

I asked this question to see what people expected from my film genre. Most people enjoy chases in action films, making it a popular choice of almost half the votes. This implies that I should look into including a high use of these in my opening two minutes of the film.

What is the most important element of an action film?

This question was to see what the audience thinks the most important element of an action film is, almost half of the votes were said 'action sequences' so I would need to include that in my opening two minutes of the film.

What trait do you value the most in an action film protagonist?

I asked this to find out what type of protagonist to use, the most popular answer was technique and slyness/cleverness. So my protagonist in the opening two minutes shouldn't just go killing everyone, but should do it in a smart entertaining way.

Would you sacrifice realism for spectacle?

This question was used for me to know whether people will enjoy it being more imaginative than realistic, telling me people are willing to sacrifice realism for entertainment/show as 93% of votes show.

What do you expect from action films?

This question was asked for me to know why an individual wants to watch an action film, mostly(two thirds) answered that it was for an enjoyable show, so people wanting some entertainment. Something I will have to provide in my opening two minutes.

Conclusion

From these, I have made the decision that I will age rate my film a 15. This way, I can allow a large variety of audience to watch it, but also, I can have a little freedom in making it; I won't have to censor or tone down the clip too much in order to make it suitable to minors. Also, seeing as though this genre of film appeal to more the male market, I will have to find a way to attend to their needs more, but also listen to what the minority are looking for in such a film. I am happy with the research I have done on audience profiling, because it has allowed me to get an insight into what my target audience looks and therefore, I will be able to more effectively meet the requirements for this genre of film.

Things I will do to appeal

To appeal to this potential audience, I will use a lot of fast-paced action and fight scenes. Violence and swearing will be included to make the film parallel with real-life situations. I think using this variety of methods will act in appealing to my chosen target audience and make the film more of a success, because I am giving them things they anticipate and things that will excite and entice them.