Props and Costume Boards

By doing these props & costume boards i have thought about how props can show the status, wealth and how a character can be portrayed. I also learned it is very important to portray characters in the right way otherwise the audience will be confused. Also thinking about stereotyping, it makes it easier to show a character correctly if you stereotype them eg Dan is lower class so shown smoking, Tony is wealthy therefore has an iPhone etc. I can use this to my advantage so the audience know what is going on. 

Settings board for the film 'Escape'

This is the park where our main character Dan runs to, to get away from Tony, using this setting is effective as it is quite open in places for him to be seen but also is dark in some places meaning he has a chance to escape. With it being so open i will have the opportunity to film him from a wide range of different angles.

This is where i will film the last scene in the opening in which the main character reads a bus timetable and then flags down a bus. this is an appropriate bus station to use as it is rarely in use so i wont be disturbed by passers by as i am filming, it is also next to a long main road meaning i will have the chance to film from a lot of different angles.

This is the outside of the house i used to film inside and out at the very start of the 2 minute sequence, in which Dan gets a threatening text, packs a bag and runs away. I chose this house as i think it reflects the kind of background Dan comes from.

By looking at where is appropriate to film i have learnt that it is best to use places that are accessible and that reflect what is happening in the film eg. Dan's house looking a bit rough and worn down showing he isnt from a wealthy background. Also by doing this i feel more confident in where i am filming is appropriate.

Script for opening 2 minutes of 'Escape'

(Tony and Shaun’s phone conversation - Shaun is in college. Tony and Shaun are meant to be meeting there but Tony hasn’t turned up yet. Shaun’s leaning against the pillar; Tony is sat down in an unknown place.)

Tony: Alright Shaun?

Shaun: Yeah, alright?

Tony: Yeah, where are you?

Shaun: Ah mate I’m just in college.

Tony: Yeah alright mate, I just had to sort a few things out, I’ll be there soon.

Shaun: Yeah…alright…yeah just hurry up.

(Dan walks in behind Shaun)

Dan: Alright Shaun?

Shaun: Dan?!

(Dan punches Shaun and the fight begins.)

Tony: Shaun…Shaun?

(Dan come back out of the flashback and is sat on the bench in the park trying to stay away from Tony. He sees Tony running after him.)

Dan: Shit

(Dan runs away.)

 

By writing out the script and going through it, it has helped me in the production on my media text. 

By doing this I can now start to think about the music as I know where dialogue is and isnt.

Textual Analysis of RocknRolla

This is my textual analysis of the opening two minutes of the film RocknRolla. The genre of this film is crime which is the same genre i have chosen for my media text.

• Film starts with a black screen 
• Loud music with a deep bass
• A voice over comes in over the music saying 'Whats a RocknRolla?' in a deep cockney accent - cockney usually associated with crime also establishing the setting of the film maybe

• Camera zooms in on a young male who is topless - maybe introducing main character?
• Voice over continues telling audience what a RocknRolla wants 'Sex, drugs, money...'
• Music stays the same 

• Camera still zooming in
• Stops on a mid shot of the male reaching for a gun in his back pocket - a gun is a key convention of any crime film 
• Music begins to get quieter - maybe because he is about to shoot something?

• Camera pans around the character quickly 
• We see the characters gun is actually a lighter
• Character is doing drugs - another key convention of a crime film as it is against the law etc.
• Never see the characters face - maybe he isnt the main protagonist?
• Music stops all together as the voice over says 'A RocknRolla wants the f**king lot'

• Same music as before comes back on loudly as the main titles come on screen
• The RocknRolla title comes up in black and white - maybe signifying that there will be conflict?
• The picture behind the title is of an animated young male - maybe the character we have just seen, we don't know as we never saw his face
• Character holding guns - again key convention

• Names of the stars in the film come up against animated pictures of them
• The pictures are of their character either using guns, doing drugs, fighting etc all indicators of the genre - crime
• Music continues to play loudly with no voice over now

• After all the characters' names have come up the music dips as the voice over comes up and we see a close up of a male 30/40, smartly dressed, focused direct address
• Close up suggests he is the/a main character
• The character on screen is the voice over as he says 'My names Archie formally known as Archibald...' again suggesting he is the/a main character

• The scene the cuts to another character called Lenny as the voice over tells us
• The voice over also says 'i work for...' showing this new character is even more important than him
• Lenny is smartly dressed; suite, tie etc... dark glasses on - maybe signifying he is evil?
• We can tell he is important as he has bodyguards - also smartly dressed - maybe due to good pay showing Lenny to be rich
• Music continues at a low volume

• A long shot of London comes up clearly establishing the setting
• Voice over tells us 'London is on the rise' 
• music continues at low volume

Taking into account all these points over the first two minutes of this crime film it shows that upbeat, bass heavy music works effectively with faster pacing camera shots. Also that one of the characters doing the voice over is effective as it establishes many factors of the film eg. accent/dialect of voice, what they say and when they say it.

Giving main protagonists close ups works well as it shows their significance, importance and even their status, it also works well when not showing the characters face as it gives the film mystery and makes it intriguing  for the viewer. However there is not a wide variation of shots which can make it boring to watch, so in my media text i must make sure i use a variety of camera shots.

Overall by doing this textual analysis work i have learnt to make a successful opening two minutes i need to use a variety of camera shots, i got an understanding of the type of setting i need to use eg a big well known city, a voice can add tension and give hints towards the film and finally the type of music i need to use eg. bass heavy, fast paced, upbeat. 

Knowing all this now i have a better understanding of what needs to go into my own media text to make it effective and successful.

Character profiles

These are my character profiles for both actors who will appear in the opening 2 minutes of my crime film 'Escape'

Storyboard for the film 'Escape'

I decided to animate the storyboard of my film 'Escape' because it makes it more clear to the viewer what is going on and also because it is more exciting to watch it as a video making it more appealing than lots of JPEG images with alot of writing explaning  them.
From doing this i have got a vague idea of where we need to film our first lot of filming, what camera shots would be appropriate for the scene and what props we need to make this section of filming look its best.

Preliminary Film Task

This task helped me to learn the basic skills of camera work and learning the 180 degree rule and match on action. I also had to have over the shoulder shots of 2 characters saying some dialogue.
By doing this preliminary task i was able to see what my camera skills are like and putting all the camera shots we had learnt about into practice such as match on actions etc. In the task the first one i filmed i broke the 180 degree rule meaning i had to film again. however i feel this compulsory task set me up for filming the main task.

Regulation Research

As we are thinking of classifying our film as a 15 i needed to do some regulation research, so i went on the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) website to find out what i could and couldnt put in a 15.

The BBFC Guidelines



The BBFC or British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body, which has exercised responsibilities over cinema for more than ninety years, and over video since 1985.

They classify every film taking into account content, language and genre and UK law. They are classified with either; U (universal), PG (parental guidence), 12/12A in cinemas (only suitable for 12 or above/ 12A must be accompanied by an adult if under 12), 15, 18 or 18R (restricted)

These guidelines are put in place so people know what the film is likely to include or at least have an idea and stop people from being offended etc at the content.

Works which feature: portrayal of violence as a normal solution to problems, heroes who inflict pain and injury, callousness towards victims, the encouragement of aggressive attitudes, and content which depicts characters taking pleasure in pain or humiliation are likely to receive a higher certificate. 

The BBFC have a strict policy on sexual violence and rape. Content which might eroticise or endorse sexual violence may require cuts at any classification level. Any association of sex with non-consensual restraint, pain or humiliation may be cut.

Here are the guidelines for a 15 certificate film...
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.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

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 (for example, ‘cunt’) 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.

The genre of our film is crime/gangster which means our film is going to have violence, bad language, drugs, maybe sex/nudity, discrimination and bad behaviour.

These guidelines will help us limit what is in our film to make it appropriate.


By doing this research i have learnt exactly what i can and cant put in my 2 minute film opening.
We will incorporate these guidelines into our 2 minute film introduction. 
In our opening we are going see our main protagonist Dan and beat someone up, so with the guidelines in place we will be able to show the characters fighting and our main character beat the other character to the floor unconscious, but we wont be able to dwell on the character who has been beaten up's injuries or the fact he is unconscious. We will also may hear our main protagonist using bad language but at the worst we will only use the word 'fuck' and not overstate it or use it very frequently.

Institutional Research

Media institutions that might distribute my media text…

Two big media institutions I think would distribute my crime/gangster film are Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal as they have made a lot of high grossing crime or sub genre crime films such as Scarface & Batman: The Dark Knight.

If I were to pick an institution to go with it would probably be Warner Bros. Pictures as they have distributed many successful crime films including Goodfellas & the Oceans trilogy (11, 12 & 13) these 2 films were hugely successful in cinemas and had worldwide appeal to the niche audience of crime/gangster films.

Production and distribution of my media text…

For my film to get big companies interested I will need a production company to put up money for my media text. Some include New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures & Lions Gate Entertainment.

I think these companies would be interested, but mainly New Line Cinema as many of their films have been crime films. New Line Cinema were also involved in distributing Batman: The Dark Knight; is a superhero movie with the sub genre and main theme of crime, making these 2 institutions perfect for distributing my film.

My media text will have a niche audience as it has a specific target audience of males from 15 upwards as the certification on my film will a 15.

I believe it will be a successful film as it sticks to the codes and conventions of a crime film with a couple of twists the audience wont expect to keep them interested and to create that tension that will draw them in.

By having these twist will make my crime film seem individual but still having traditional conventions so the audience aren’t put off. Overall I think my film will be a success with its target demographic.

Film Synopsis

This is a brief synopsis of what will happen in the whole of our crime & gangster film which we have named 'Escape'

By doing this task i have learnt writing a synopsis is more difficult than i first though and it has shown us what charaters, settings and themes we need to convey in our opening 2 minutes.

Finished Audience Research

Finished audience research from Katy Cowie on Vimeo.

By doing this research i have learnt many people think that the target audience for a crime film is males from 15 upwards so now i know exactly who to target my film at. I also got a good understanding of what should be in my film, where to set it and possible story lines.

Target Audience Reseach

By doing this research i have learnt that our main target audience is males 15 and above, i have also learnt that the themes we need to incorparate into our film are things like violence, revenge, suspense etc.

Codes and Conventions of two genre's

This research helped me to choose 2 genre's i was interested in making a film about and by researching them and finding out what they include it helped me pick one and the outcome was to do a CRIME film instead of comedy beacuse i thought it would be more exciting and fun to film but also comedy would be hard to do as it is harder to make people laugh!!