Friday 25 October 2013

Research into title sequences

What is a title sequence?
title sequence is the method by which films or television programmes present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound .It usually follows but should not be confused with the opening credits, which are generally nothing more than a series of superimposed text.

Aim of a title sequence:
The aim of a title sequence is to draw the audience in by showing links and foreshadowing what the film could be about, or showing symbols and demonstrating the plot discretely. For example on the title sequence from the horror film saw, shows props like: clocks, timers, newspaper articles talking about deaths and disappearances  pad locks, creepy houses and CCTV  There are a lot of clocks in different forms such as: digital clocks, regular clock, countdowns, timers and stop watches which suggests the foreshadowing of 'time' which makes the audience wonder what the big link with time is to do with the film/story-line. There are newspaper articles in which talk about deaths and disappearances which also links to the 'time' theme as it suggests there is a count down to life and death, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccZnOc0hbd4

I took some screen shots of the title sequence I watched which was Saw. I noticed that a lot of the shots included the convention of 'time' On the screen shot on the left is a stop watch. Which could foreshadow the length of time of something or a timer.




 Again, another clock used in the title sequence. Which does suggest the length of time, it is also 12;05, why this time in particular?  what does it suggest?
 The font used in the title sequence is piercing and looks sharp and effective to the audience, it is the same font used on all the saw film title sequences, it is in white to make the background more effective
The colours used in all of the title sequence shots I have chosen to print screen are all dark colours like: Black, Blue, Grey, White, Green etc. The lighting used is exposure on this screen shot to the left.



This is the screenshot of the actual masthead introducing the film, It is in small white small appealing letters in the middle of a black background the two colours are monochrome in which look good together, but are also two bland colours but put together can be made effective.

Thursday 24 October 2013

Official Script

This is the official script of our short film 'Dazed'.










Research into similar films. Videos, Images etc

As our film is based on schizophrenia, I have looked at films with other genres similar to ours which is Psychological drama, in which have similar based mental illnesses like the one we have chosen to base our story line of our film 'Dazed' about.

I looked into films with a similar film genre and found films like:
- Girl interrupted
- Mental
- Sybil
- Compulsion


Girl, interrupted:
Based on writer Susanna Karen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.

Mental:
A charismatic, crazy hothead transforms a family's life when she becomes the nanny of five girls whose mother has cracked from her husband's political ambitions and his infidelity.

Compulsion:
The lives of two female neighbors intersect when their individual obsessions begin to unravel.

Sybil:
A young woman whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed at least 13 different personalities.




Research into poster design

Conventions of a film poster design:
A film poster must have many aspects involved in it to make it stand out and make it intriguing for a producers target audience and attract them to watch the film they have made. 

Important conventions of a film poster design:
- A film poster must be eye catching and captivating towards the chosen target audience
- There should always be a focal picture that will attract the audience
- The masthead should always be displayed in large, eye catching colours and font

- It should always show the films genre clearly: horror, drama, thriller etc.
- The poster should be designed to attract as many people as possible from different ages and genders.
- They always should include a release date or a 'coming soon', but can sometimes be less specific and state 'Coming to cinema near you' or 'In cinemas this summer'
- Information on the directors/ production company is often displayed in the billing block at the bottom section of the poster.
- There would also be quotes and reviews from other films the company has created or from film critics.

Example:



 Film poster for Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part one:
- Hermione has a red dress on suggesting danger or romance. She stands out in comparison to the other two characters who are both in black clothing. She is also looking in another direction, which also makes the viewer want to see what she is looking at with the expression on her face that she has got. Each character is looking in a different direction which suggests danger in every direction, which would make the viewer want to watch the film and see what is happening or about to happen.

- Each character is looking in a different direction which suggests danger in every direction, all of the characters have an almost scared fearful expression on their face.

- The title is in large and the same font used in every harry Potter film, which will instantly draw a regular fans attention as it is known.


- There is also a quote in the top left corner saying 'Theres no place to hide' which would intrigue the target audience to want to watch the film to see what is going to happen and why the characters would want to hide or have to hide.


- There is a date on the bottom left of the poster 'November 2010' in which shows when the film is available in cinemas.


- The bottom of the poster shows a 'Coming soon' sign which as I have said before is less specific when, but then above states 'November 2010'.


- Also on the bottom line in smaller text is the Institution, a website and production names.


- The colours used in the poster are dark, greys, blues and black which are all gloomy colours in which represent death or confusion which is exactly what is involved in a high class film like Harry Potter


How to create a film poster: 

I looked at clips on you tube and other video websites on different techniques and skills that go into making film posters, and here are some of the videos I watched and found useful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhs2MEPCmjw

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2013/09/26/how-to-design-a-movie-poster

Other examples of film posters:
These are some other examples of film posters that I have looked at, all from different types of genre. I looked at the different techniques that editors and poster designers use in order to foreshadow the film or relate it to something that later on occurs throughout the film.

  • The borne legacy film poster above has parts missing which suggests mystery or hidden identity which could link to the film genre of action or crime. This poster has a redacted effect, in which hides some identity or adds a hint of mystery, I like this poster as i beileve it adds a sense of confusion and makes me as a viewer want to view the film to understand what is giving me the impression it is a mysterious film and if it relates to the poster well.






  • The blues brothers poster contains the two things that show the identity of the blues brothers and makes them known which is the bowler hat and sun glasses, I personally recognise these characters by their costume therefore I understand why they have been placed on the advertisement poster






  • This Twilight poster shows the two main characters, as one is a vampire it is showing the stereotypical aspects of a vampire, which includes: full moon, white skin, Apple, Midnight etc. 


  • This film poster is for Juno, based on a young immature teenage couple in which become involved with pregnancy, it emphasises teen pregnancy. The poster is bright, colourful and demonstrates a basic happy film, as it doesn't contain colours like red or black which are the stereotypically dangerous colours.



























Research into viral advertising

I have researched viral advertising for different kinds of films, and how it can be done and the different methods.

Our possible cross promotion for our film will be creating a Facebook group, twitter account, my space account, Apps on i phones or apple products, Screen-savers of Carrey and Jared or any other characters (for over eighteens), Xbox branding, YouTube clips of all the scenes, or bloopers we have used, wallpapers, theme tunes of the opening scene, background music etc. We can't give out toys in happy meals of 'Dazed' as our film is an age restriction of 18 years, therefore the characters may not be suitable for children of young ages and may cause some upset.

We will sell our merchandise our products such as:DVDS and blue ray  adverts, Trailers, Websites of the official Dazed and it will have competitions, Sneak peaks, Games, Videos, Quizzes, Clothing products and mugs available to buy.

 We could use the viral market to advertise our film on social networking websites like Facebook, where audience members can like photos, videos, status' and enter competitions.
Another social networking website we could possibly use would be Twitter, where people can follow our film 'Dazed'. By using this social networking website we could gain more members of the audience, photos, videos, favorite and re tweet tweets we make


 Xbox branding would also be a good method of viral marketing, you can show your advert for your film, they contain: BBCiplayer, itvplayer, love film and Netflix. You can also purchase DVDs from using the Xbox also.



YouTube  is a very useful way of selling your film, as you can use this to show clips, title sequences and tasters of your film for the audience to watch at any time. It is accessible and easy for them to reach.






By making an app on I phones or smartphones makes your product easier to sell as the majority of people own or have access to technology, where by you can purchase or download free apps in which could contain: Games, competitions, information, fun or gossip in which could give out clues to a possible film sequel.
- Also with mobile phones or laptops or other forms of technology you can download: wallpapers, games, music, soundtracks etc from the film you like.

Things to do over the holidays



  • Analysis of relevant short film
  • Analysis of title sequence
  • Research into viral ads
  • Research into film poster - design (steel tongs)

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Analysis of a title sequence

The chosen title sequence I have chosen to analyse is a film named 'Girl interrupted'. I have chosen to look at this films opening title sequence due to the fact that it is a similar genre and storyline to our film 'Dazed'.

The storyline for 'girl, interrupted' is based on a 19 year old girl, from the 1960's, who feels like reality is becoming 'way too dense' and is soonly diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The doctor suggests to her parents that she should be committed to the Claymore hospital and she should spend the upcoming eighteen months struggling with her troublesome psyche and bizarre world of the institution. She bonds with several other patients, named: Lisa, polly, and georgia. As she then realises Lisa is ispontentially a danger to her and genuinely does need help, she begins to work harder with her psychiatrist and the nurse on her ward. But she soon learns that getting out of the mental hospital isn't as simple as it was to get in. The whole title sequence basically shows the life of a cigarette, showing her sparking up, smoking it and stubbing it out. This could be personificated into the story of the girls life, Her life is normal, an outburst occurs and then the settle down or downfall of her life.


Sound: The sound used is a sad song named 'Bookends' by Simon and Garfunkel' , in which foreshadows the upcoming events in the story in which are going to take place.

Mise en scene: There are several aspects of mise en scene within 'girl, interrupted' title sequence, this is including things like her nails as she is smoking, as the title sequence is just a girl, smoking a cigarette. Her hand is grey, holding the cigarette, her nails are unpainted and plain, hinting that she is a simple, plain girl, She also has dirt down her nails in which could show she isn't a proper girly girl. As her nails are fairly long also, which could suggest she is girly, but her skin colour is grey which could foreshadow illness or age. She is also wearing a black and white striped t-shirt, which is long sleeved, this also could foreshadow confusion as two colours put together, which White is seen as a confusing colour, also bland and plain which could represent her life, black as it is a colour of death or the end of something. Both colours together I believe offer the viewer the perception of confusion and reality. The camera then zooms into her lips taking in the smoke from the cigarette her lips are chapped and sore looking, which could suggest she doesn't look after herself or she isn't well, as her face is grey and her lips are pale and chapped.
This is a screen shot of the girls hands holding the cigarette, showing the dark background and how the cigarette is the light and is white amongst the gloomy dark colours within the background.




This is a screen shot of the girls chapped lips taking in the cigarette and her dirty nails. The shadow of her hand is reflected on to her face around her mouth and chin, this could suggest she has a bad mouth, in terms of bad language possibly.
This shows the girl stubbing out the cigarette. Which shows the end, which could foreshadow death or ending of something which is enjoyable.





Lighting: The lighting in the title sequence is gloomy and pretty dark, showing the girls life is quite dark and adding the hint of mystery to it. The girls skin is also pale which blends in with the in-exposure of the light in the background as in the background are bland colours like: Brown, cream, black, white and beige.

Cinematography: The lens in the shots are blurred which i believe also adds confusion, as the scenes change or the shots change the transition is blurred and almost in a slow motion action.

Editing: The editing is adding the names of the directors, and people involved in the film. As it is a simple plain black background with normal white text and font with their names on. When the film title 'Girl, interrupted' is shown the interrupted part flickers as to give off an almost spooky or unhinged effect.














Thursday 17 October 2013

Possible distributer

Possible film distributors:
A distributor is an intermediary entity between a the producer of a product and another entity in the distribution channel or supply chain, such as a retailer, a value-added reseller.A system integrator. The distributor performs some of the same functions that a wholesaler does but generally takes a more active role.

I have looked into different distribution companies for different films in which can be independent and mainstream. I think that 'Dazed' is more of a potential of an independent film, this is because our film is aimed for at a niche target audience. We have chosen this because we think it would be easier to promote and advertise to our target audience of 18 year olds and over. 

The distribution company that I think would produce a film similar to ours would be a distributer like lions gate, in which is an independent film distribution company who in which has produced films such as American psycho.

 I believe that an independent film distribution company would be more suitable company to have in comparison to a mainstream company such as Warner Brothers , this is because that type of company might not have the best suited skills in which can create a film like ours in which is aimed at a Niche audience. 


 

Thursday 10 October 2013

Age Certificate for our Film

For our film, we have spent time thinking about what age certificate 'Dazed' is most likely to be.
We looked on the BBFC website and observed the different age restrictions and which our film is most likely to be more linked to than others. We looked mainly at age 15 and age 18 and what they include that our film also includes and which would suit are target audience the most whilst also fitting in well with 'Dazed'.

In an 15 age certificate, allows:
- Strong violence
- Frequent strong language
- Refrences to sex
- physical sex
- nudity
- sexual violence
- discriminatory language or behaviour
- drug taking






An age 18 certificate includes:
- very strong violence
- very strong language
- sexual activity
- strong sexual violence
- strong horror
- strong blood and gore
- real sex
- discriminatory language and behaviour
- strong drug use

Our film 'Dazed' has several different aspects of both of these age restrictions, our film includes:
- Drug taking from 15
- Drug use from 18
- Disturbing scenes

We believe our film is most suited to an 18, this is because it includes a lot of drug use, alcohol and smoking, we also think that there are several disturbing scenes where by someone commits suicide therefore is likely to include blood and gore. We don't think that this film would be suitable for anyone under the age of 18, due to this. This film will be mainly aimed at girls, but boys also, this is because it is a psychological drama, but with also aspects of a chick-flick, thriller and romance.

Possible Distributors

These three distributors all distributed films that had similarities to our short films so I thought they would be possible distributors for our film. (paramount pictures)
Originally we classed our film as independent, however after looking at three films that have some similarities with our film, 'Mental', 'Girl, Interrupted' and 'Sybil', which are all mainstream films we decided it was possible for our film to also be mainstream, so the three companies I looked at predominantly distribute mainstream films.
Universal Pictures International distributed a comedy film, in 2012 called 'Mental', about a group of girls with mental health disorders.


Columbia Pictures distributed a tear-jerker/drama, in 1999 called 'Girl, Interrupted', about a girl admitted to a mental institute and follows the time of a few of the girls in there.

National Broadcasting Company distributed a drama, in 1976 called 'Sybil', a film based on the true story of a girl abused as a child leading her to develop a personality disorder.

ABSENCE POST

This post is for if anyone is absent so if anyone needs to contact them they are able to do so, as long as they come on blogger whilst not in.

10/10/2013

BECCA can you give us an idea of how carrie can get into the drugs pleaseee? :) - Emily

Well to start with it needs to be a new day, maybe a few days later he offers her a cigarette and says there's something special in there (meaning weed) , she's quite resistant but takes it as he says it will chill her out (persuades her with the usual methods) then everything could seem like slow motion maybe and the image goes sort of fuzzy/misty from her vision, then we'd need a shot to show time passing (i.e. a shot fade) it should be a couple of weeks later and he's getting her to take drugs, she's hesitant at first but seen as though she's high on weed it seems like a good idea so she takes it, the shot goes all crazy and she could black out, this then leads onto him persuading her to commit suicide with him - he could say something along the lines of "I've had an epiphany, after having fun these last few weeks, being so close to you I never realised how special life is and how special you are to me, I want to be closer to you Carrie, not just physically but emotionally and mentally and in any other way possible, I want us to commit the ultimate act of love and devotion so nobody can stop us being together, you said yourself you're mum's been trying to pull you away from me, well lets do it.. we'll die together then we'll be as one forever, I can't think of a better way to devote ourselves to each other and show our love to one and other" - Becca

Thanks, that really helped us - Emily

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Film Synopsis



Synopsis:
Carrie seems to be in a happy loving relationship with Jared, they've been together for two years although a month ago they had a bit of a break (this is all told through narration by Carrie whilst looking at pictures of them together.)
The shot fades to Carrie and Jared meeting up and he's smoking, he then persuades her to steal some alcohol and drink it, he eventually gets her regularly drinking and taking drugs. Jared suggests they commit the ultimate act of love by committing suicide together.The couple find a busy road and walk into the middle of it to kill themselves.
Shot fades to black as Carrie is opening her eyes thinking her and jared are dead but their suicide attempt failed, she's talking to Jared when her mum comes in and asks 'what the hell was she thinking?!' then asks who she's talking to, Carrie says she's talking to Jared and her mum explains that Carrie was there when Jared was killed by a car a couple of months ago. Carrie looks at Jared and he slowly fades away.

(Used for questionnaire - written and video)

Things to do Week Commencing 07/10/2013

This is a list of things that need to be completed within the next two weeks;

- Individual Research on similar films, review, links to youtube, websites etc. EVERYONE NEEDS TO DO THIS.

- Possible Distributor. EVERYONE NEEDS TO DO THIS.

- Research into certificate of our film. AMANDA

- Video Questionnaire + Analysis of Results. EVERYONE WORKING TOGETHER.

- Completed Script. EVERYONE WORKING TOGETHER.

- Practise Video; once edited normally, once edited elliptically. EVERYONE NEEDS TO DO THIS AS A GROUP.