Thursday, 14 March 2013

Plan for Tuesday

  • Media 5 and 6 and afterschool (if neccessary)
  • Camera
  • Costumes
  • Location: (1) Dance studio (2) classroom
  • Sort out lighting
  • Camera test
  • Consult script and timeline
  • Shoot fight scene

Costumes




 
Here are the first ideas for our costumes

Photos from our opening scene






















Here are some of the photos we took to use in our opening scene, these are all the photos that we're thinking about using, since they are all in focus and look professional.

Production companies



Target Audience

Our genre of film appeals to mostly 15-35 year old males. It appeals to this audience because this category of people would rather watch a comic book based film than, for example, a rom com. More men than women also watch these types of films in the cinema and buy them on DVD. Men liking this genre of film also fulfils the stereotype that men like watching films with action and explosions in them.

Timeline for our opening scene

  1. First logo (3 seconds)
  2. Second logo (3 secondes)
  3. From black screen to mid-shot of James crashing into wall (6 Secs)
  4. 2-close up shot of Ryan grabbing James and throwing him (2 Secs)
  5. Deep shot showing Ryan from behind throwing James towards the camera (2 Secs max)
  6. High angle shot- James hits the floor (1 Second)
  7. Low angle shot from James' Point of view- looking up at Ryan walking towards him (5 seconds)
  8. Mid-closeup of James getting up ready to attack (3 secs)
  9. Wide shot of James running (1 Second)
  10. Close up of James shoulder tackling Ryan (2 secs)
  11. Mid-2-shot of both characters crashing to the floor (1 Second)
  12. Over-the-shoulder shot of James grabbing and punching Ryan (3 Secs)
  13. Mid shot of James getting up and looking groggy (2 seconds)
  14. Close up of Ryan getting up and going to punch James in the back of the leg (6-7 Secs)
  15. James hops round in a wide shot (2 secs)
  16. Mid shot of James looking suprised (1 Sec)
  17. Tracking close-up shot of James' fist going to punch Ryan and Ryan's hand catching James' (3 secs)
  18. Mid-close up of Ryan going to punch James (1 sec)
  19. Big close up of James' face being hit by Ryan's fist (1 second)
  20. High angle shot of James Falling to the floor (1 sec)
  21. Low angle shot going into close up of Ryan walking in and speaking (7 secs)
  22. High angle shot of James' face (1 sec)
  23. Low angle shot starting at regular speed and then going into slow motion of Ryan going into punch James. Just as he gets there the shot freezes and the clip goes into voice over (15 secs)
24-39- Photo's and opening titles (All photo's/tiltles on for 3 seconds)
40: Final photo dissolves into live action of James walking in and Ryan looking sinister in the background (5 secs)

Script

First shot of a wall. Super J crashes into the wall. Victor appears and pins Super J against the wall and then throws him to the ground. As Vicor approches, Super J takles him to the floor and then punches him. As Super J is recovering, Victor disorientates him with a shot to the back of the leg. Super J tries to attack but Vicor blocks his attack and punches him to the floor.Victor: I have longed for this moment. And now, my friend, the time has come.
Victor goes to punch Super J and finish him off when the picture freezes and a Voice over comes in.
Super J (in Voice Over): Well... I never thought it would come to this. I always thought that the hero was unable to be defeated. The all powerful force to protect the world. I used to be normal. Just like You.
(Photos amd opening titles)
Final photo dissolves into live action image. Super J (now James) walks along a corridor and we see Victor in the background staring at him.

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Feedback on our opening idea

Positives:
  • Unique
  • Good storyline
  • Fits with genre
  • Good music
  • Went straight into the action
  • Interesting
  • Powerful
  • Already set out
Negatives:
  • Overstretched ourselves
  • No budget
  • Need to think about the plot a bit more
  • Making it look good
  • Making it look like opening credits

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Video planning

Cast: James as superhero, Ryan as villain, Beth as friend (in photos)
Location: Theatre (if we can book it)
Costumes: Beth- normal clothes, James- classic superhero costume, Ryan- Dark clothes, mask/balaclava
Makeup: Ryan- Dark eye makeup, James- Face makeup
Script:
Lighting: Dark and moody
Camera and editing: Beth
Directing and producing: All of us
Mise en scene and props:
Video diaries of planning and location shots: Beth- theatre scenes, Ryan- photo scenes, James- final scene
Evidence of everything you do whilst shooting etc: Video diares, photographic evidence (before and after makeup)

Sound design

Classification categories

The age classification categories are as follows (according to the BBFC):
U - Suitable for all
PG - Parental guidance
12A - Cinema release suitable for ages 12 and over
12 - Video release suitable for ages 12 and over
15 - Suitable only for 15 years and over
18 - Suitable only for 18 years and over

Here are some comic book films and their BBFC ratings:
Superman Returns: 12
Batman Begins: 12
Hulk: 12
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: 12
The Avengers: 12A
Catwoman: 12
Wonder Woman: PG

The most popular comic book films were all rated 12, according to the BBFC, this is the description of the rating 12:

The BBFC's Guidelines state that there may be strong language (eg 'f***') at 12 or 12A, but it must be infrequent. The context of the strong language is important. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category.
There may be moderate language (eg uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A).
Any discriminatory language will not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language (for example homophobic or racist terms) is unlikely to be passed at 12 or 12A unless it is clearly condemned.

From this, we can conclude that most comic book films may have some strong language, so they are not suitable for young children, however, the language won't be frequent and therefore can be viewed by people 12 years and up.

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Websites of upcoming films and how they attract their audience

Here are the websites for some comic book films coming out in 2013:

Iron Man 3:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/
http://marvel.com/ironman3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_3

All of these websites attract their audience because they all describe the plot of the film in great detail, this will attract the audience because they will be able to see what the film is about and whether the plot sounds as good as the other films. They also all give a cast list, this way the audience can see who will be starring in it from the old films and what new actors will be in it, this could attract the audience because if they see that an actor they like is playing a role in the film, they'll be more likely to watch it.

Thor: The Dark World:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981115/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor:_The_Dark_World
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/730006/2013-movie-preview-thor-the-dark-world/

Again, all of these websites give a detailed explanation of the plot of the film, list the characters and they also show some photos of the making of the film, this will attract the audience because they will feel like they're viewing exclusive content, and if they like the look of the film they will be more likely to watch it.





Typical soundtracks/music for your genre

In comic book films, the music throughout the films vary a lot. There is always a lot of tense music during action and fight scenes, slow music during the romantic scenes, and sometimes depressing music  during the sad scenes.

Here are some examples of the music used in different films:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ac4xamCIgY (Spiderman theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1rBZIzr49k (Wonder Woman theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOlJtLNgMZY (The Avengers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9XcvVoScH0 (This is the music used in the introduction of Cat Woman)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Jb9eJ6tts (Batman (The Dark Night Rises) theme)

All of this music is very similar, as it starts off quite calmly and slowly gets more intense. This is to introduce the film slowly and then make it seem more interesting and exciting.

Costumes


   

 






The costumes of Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Superman are all made up of mainly blue and red, whereas the costumes of Catwoman and Batman are all black. Another detail in these costumes are that Spiderman and Wonder Woman show their faces, but Spiderman, Catwoman and Batman all use some sort of mask to hide their identity. Even though all of these characters are good, their costumes are very contrasted in both design and colours.
 
Most stereotypical superhero costumes have a lot of the same features, such as:
  • Some sort of mask
  • A cape
  • Gloves
  • Boots
  • A symbol or logo
  • A belt
Not all of these costumes above have all of these features, but we can still tell that are still in superhero costumes, because, for example, Catwoman and Batman both cover their faces, but they are still heros, and Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Batman don't have any sort of logo on their costume, but again they are still heros and not villains. Even though not all of these costumes are the same, we still know that they're superheros.
 
Catwoman and Batman both wear all black, this is because they go around mainly at night and it makes it easier for them to not be spotted, and since neither can fly, they need to be more disguised when they are roaming around the city.
 
Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Superman all wear red, blue and white. Since they are all American, it makes their costumes seem very patriotic and as if they're representing America and proud of their country.
     
 
 
 


Posters and how they attract their target audience



The poster for 'Superman Returns' is quite simple but still says a lot. The clenched fist that Superman is holding shows that he is powerful and ready for whatever he has to face. The background shows that danger could be coming, as it looks like the waves are coming towards the city, this could suggest that Superman will have to save the city in some way. The colours are mainly blue, red and gold/yellow, the yellow and red colours are the colour of the Superman logo, so we immediately know what the film is, even if the title wasn't on the poster, we'd still know the film just by looking at the logo and the colours of the logo. The font of the title is very plain, it is all in capital letters and in bold, this shows that the film is serious, if the font were more 'curly' and fancy, it wouldn't make it seem like such a serious film, as the font would give it more of a childish/comical effect.



The poster for 'Batman Begins' is quite different to the poster for 'Superman Returns' this poster looks a lot more dark and dull. Batman is stood in front of the Sun, which could suggest that he has a dark side to him, since he is stopping the light from shining through.  The font on this poster is the same as the font on the Superman Returns poster, it is very bold and simple, this is so it doesn't draw attention away from the poster itself. The names of the actors are at the top of the poster, but the font isn't too big, this is because if the text took up a lot of room on the poster, it would draw the audiences attention away from the poster and what it is advertising. 


 













Opening Titles Idea



The opening titles starts off with a fight between the superhero and the villain, in which there are lots of quick, short cuts and a mixture of close up and mid shots. In the background there will be some epic, intense music to reflect the situation. After about 15 seconds of fighting, the superhero falls to the floor and is almost defeated, the villain goes in for one more attack, this part is a low angle shot looking up at the villain, we will use slow motion in this part to build up suspense, just before the superhero is about to get hit, the scene freezes and it goes into voiceover from the superhero. In the voiceover, he will say something along the lines of ‘I wasn’t always like this, I used to be a normal person... just like you.’ We then go into a series of snapshot photos that are in black and white to show the audience how he used to live, over the top will appear the credits, which will be in bright colours to contrast the black and white pictures. The music overlapping this part will be quite dull to reflect the life the superhero used to have when he was normal, yet the photos will show that he was very lonely and give a depressing effect to this part.

Real audience tastes and trends – use social media to get feedback on likes/dislikes


I asked 4 people on Facebook the following questions:

What is your favourite comic book film?
Who is your favourite superhero?
What is your favourite power that a superhero has?
What would you name a supervillian if you had to create one?
List 3 characteristics that you'd like a superhero to have?
 

Here were their answers:

What is your favourite comic book film? 300
Who is your favourite superhero? Iron Man
What is your favourite power that a superhero has? Being rich
What would you name a supervillian if you had to create one? Doctor Richterr
List 3 characteristics that you'd like a superhero to have? Telekinisis, lots of money and good eyebrows


What is your favourite comic book film? Batman
Who is your favourite superhero? Superman
What is your favourite power that a superhero has? Time control
What would you name a supervillian if you had to create one? Doctor Hellbent
List 3 characteristics that you'd like a superhero to have? Kindess, a good body and good sense of humour


What is your favourite comic book film? The Avengers
Who is your favourite superhero? Thor
What is your favourite power that a superhero has? Control of elements
What would you name a supervillian if you had to create one? Mistress Obsidian
List 3 characteristics that you'd like a superhero to have? Honour, selflessness and uniqueness

What is your favourite comic book film? The Avengers
Who is your favourite superhero? Thor
What is your favourite power that a superhero has? Flying
What would you name a supervillian if you had to create one? Lucifer
List 3 characteristics that you'd like a superhero to have? Badass-ness, determination and a secret weakness


From asking these questions, I have found out that The Avengers was the most chosen for the favourite comic book film, and Thor was the most chosen for the favourite superhero. I have also found out that people look for a good personality in superheros, and don't just want someone who is good looking, this is because it makes them seem more like a real person

Production and distribution companies

Marvel
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Daredevil; antagonists such as the Green Goblin, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Galactus, and the Red Skull. Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with locations that mirror real-life cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.



DC
DC Comics, Inc. (founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications) is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner. DC Comics produces material featuring a large number of well-known characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Black Canary and the Martian Manhunter, along with such superhero teams as the Justice League and the Teen Titans, as well as antagonists such as Lex Luthor, the Joker, Darkseid, the Riddler, Catwoman, Brainiac and the Penguin.

 File:DC Comics logo.svg

Audience, profit and reviews

Genre- Comic books

Films like these did very well in regards to profit and reviews:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus

Whereas films like these didn't do as well:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311429/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091225/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348150/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus

A lot of comic book based films got good reviews, for example:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/26/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world-review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/31/kick-ass-review-film
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9403551/Batman-The-Dark-Knight-Rises-first-review.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/avengers/review/314291

These 2 comic book films, however, didn't get very good reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hulk/
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/howard-the-duck



Checklist


Task
Done and blogged
An analysis of two film openings looking at the different shots that are used: annotate them exactly, shot by shot.
  √
Conventions of your chosen genre – with lots of video evidence. Make sure evidence is embedded properly into your blog posts.
 √
Analysis of a range of opening credits – ensure that you look at when certain names come up (i.e. director, producer etc). Look for a pattern. Use this as a template http://cmdiploma3.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/homework-for-6-11-october.html
 √
Research into production and distribution companies associated with your genre
 

Research audiences who are attracted to your genre – look at IMDb statistics
 

Research into real audience tastes and trends – use social media to get feedback on likes/dislikes
 
Research into average ratings for your genre: look on some statistical websites e.g. http://industry.bfi.org.uk/weekendboxoffice
 

Research into posters and how they attract their target audience – look for motifs and conventions
 
Research into websites of upcoming films and how they attract their audience 
Research into classification categories
 √
Research into costumes
 
Research into typical soundtracks/music for your genre
 
Research into sound design

Thursday, 7 February 2013

2 film openings

For our main piece, we have picked comic books as our genre of film. We are looking at 2 different film openings from this genre. The first film we're looking at is Superman



0:02: Alexander Salkind presents
0:09-0:20: Main characters
0:21: A Richard Donner Film
0:28-0:33: Superman logo
0:34-0:40: Superman (title)
0:41-2:14: Character names
2:15-2:22: Procudct Designer
2:23-2:30: Photography
2:31-2:35: Editor
2:36-2:41: Music
2:42-2:45: Sparkler effect
2:46-2:50-:The creators of Superman
2:53-2:58: Story by...
3:00-3:04: Screenplay
3:04-3:12: Names of the people who did the screenplay
3:13-3:18: Creative Consultant
3:20-3:24: Associate Producer
3:25-3:30: Executive Producer
3:31-3:37: Produced by...
3:48-3:44: Directed by...

The next one is Hulk (2003)



0:00-0:21: Universal introduction
0:23-0:33: Marvel logo
0:43-0:46: Universal pictures presents
0:47-0:50: In association with Marvel Enterprises
0:53-0:57: Company productions
1:00-1:02 An Ang Lee Film
1:04-1:05 Hulk
1:08-1:46: Character names
1:47-1:50 Casting by...
1:55-1:58: Music by...



Tuesday, 5 February 2013

Sci Fi Codes and Conventions

Codes and conventions

Sci Fi
Outer space, planets, aliens, rockets, UFO's, shiny, silver, metallic, lasers, events happening on Earth, high tech, water, scary. fiction

Rom-Com/Drama
Love, romance, passion, feminine, diary-like outlook, intense events, problems, relationships, revenge, jealousy, emotions, weddings, dates, food, friendship, non fiction

Comic books
Superheros, villains, damsel in distress, feminine/masculine figure, over exaggerated, drawn, narrator, good vs evil, fiction

Fiction film
Fiction, based on true events, dramatic, realistic, families, problems, true stories, telling it from somebody's perspective, natural disasters.

Film openings

Sci Fi







Rom Com/Drama






Comic book







Fiction Films




Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Preliminary Task

First preliminary task:



Planning
As a group, we decided that I would film and edit the video since I have the most experience, and James and Ryan would be in the majority of the video since they didn't mind being filmed.
We only used 2 props in the video, these were:
- A backpack for James and a backpack for Ryan

This worked well in our group because we didn't need to find many of our own props, and both James and Ryan had backpacks on them anyway so it made it easier for us. Me filming and editing the video worked well because I am more experienced with a camera, and I am also quicker and more efficient at editing.

Scripting
Since we decided to base the video around some sort of 'deal' taking place in school, we only wanted a bit of dialogue to make the 'deal' short and sweet, just how it would be in real life.
At the beginning of the clip, James and I are miming our words to make it seem like we're talking, and after the bell goes off, we just say goodbye to each other and go in different directions.
The dialogue that happens between the student and the 'dealer' goes like this:
Student: So, you got the stuff?
Dealer: *Opens bag to show the student* Yeah I got the stuff, you got the money?
Student: Yeah I got the money.
Dealer: Okay, good. *Closes bag and puts it back on his back* So, do we have a deal? *Holds out hand for handshake*
This scene ends on a close up of the student looking like he is in thought and worried about the decision.

This worked well in our group because the conversation was very quick and both characters got to say equal amounts of dialogue, which made the parts fair.


Mise en scene
We set the video in a school because it was easy to access and there are plenty of places for us to film without getting interrupted.
The 'students' are wearing ordinary clothes and one is carrying a backpack, this shows us the normality of the video and it is set in a realistic environment.


The 'shifty' character is wearing all black, he has his hood up and also carries a backback, the fact that he is wearing all black denotes that he could be the villain/bad guy in the video.

All black denotes villain
Prop- Backpack













Camera angles:
We used a variety of camera angles such an arial shot, rolling shot, over the shoulder shot, close up, arial panning shot and a long shot. All of these camera angles were used for a reason and they all show something different that another camera angle couldn't do as
successfully.


Arial shot

Over the shoulder/rolling shot

Close up








Long shot

















Editing and Sound
I edited the video to make sure there are no continuity issues in regards to where people are stood/how they move from one shot to the next. I also edited sound effects in, such as the contrapunctual sound of birds chirping outside, a school bell ringing inside, and background noise of people talking throughout the majority of the video. I also used a few fade in/fade out effects throughout the video. At the end of the video, I edited it so the last few seconds are in slow motion, I did this to add a bit of drama to the end of the video.
The program I used to edit the video on was iMovie. I have used the program before and it was easy to use, but I could still edit the video better than on a more simple program such as Windows Movie Maker.