Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Monday, 13 May 2013

My Audience

I got a bunch of pictures of the brands I think my target audience use and got them together on a slide to show an idea of what the people I am aiming to get are like.

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Target Audience


Demographics


This is the sorting of people based on their age, gender and social class.

  • This consists of class A/B/C1 who are professional and non-manual workers like lawyers, teachers and office workers.
  • Classes C2/D/E are manual workers, unskilled workers and unemployed like maintenance engineers, post office workers and students.



Psychographics


This is a more personal way of looking at an audience by see what people are like. There are 7 generalised groups to put people into. These groups are:

  • Mainstreamers – the most common group and tend to want security and often have families to care for.
  • Aspirers – the people in this group are goal seekers and often are young more entrepreneurial people. 
  • Succeeders – these are people to like to be in control and be prestigious in what they do, they tend to be more upper class people. 
  • Reformers – these people like to look at things from a different point of view and can be from nearly any way of life. 
  • Strugglers – people in this category tend to lack money and drive as they spend all the money they have and can’t ever seem to find what they are looking for. 
  • Resigned – these people are older people who no longer need to work and are free to spend time doing what they like. 
  • Explorers – these are adventurous people who are not afraid to try new things and love getting involved with both new and old thing they may not have done before. Again these people tend to be younger as they have less family to care for and support. 

Comparing to other films


I have compared my film to pacific rim as it has science fiction ideas in it like the box which appears to teleport the boys to an unknown location.


I have also compared my film to man of steel as my film will contain super powers and magic often shown in fantasy, but still fairly realistic.

My Target Audience

I have made a table using the two films I compared my film to show a rough idea of the audience figures I hope to get.

Age
%
Gender
%
Class
%
4-6
0%
Male
65%
AB
30%
7-11
3%
Female
36%
C1
35%
12-14
7%


C2
20%
15-24
40%


DE
15%
25-34
22%




35-44
18%




45+
10%








Thursday, 25 April 2013

The purpose of a film opening – Batman: The Dark Knight

Thriller openings are meant to create enigma's so that the viewer wants to continue watching so they can see what happens. Batman: The Dark Knight creates many enigma's in the opening scene which makes the others want to keep watching. Thrillers also have something happen that is realistic and sometimes action packed with a glimpse of the storyline.

The Dark Knight starts with an establishing shot of zooming through a city towards a building. We know that something is about to happen by the lack of sound in the clip. A window smashes and there is a cut to an over the shoulder, two shot of unidentified men in clown masks with a harpoon gun. Throughout the shots we only hear diagetic ambient sounds made by the smashing glass and the firing of the harpoon gun. This shows us that they are well prepared for the job they are doing and that the need to be secretive. The clown masks that we see here create the question of whom they are and why they are wearing clown masks. We also see another man with a clown mask standing in the street. The camera slowly zooms towards the mask to make sure we noticed this and make us keep asking ourselves who they are, what they are doing and why they are wearing clown the masks.

Dialogue in a clip of three clown masked men in a car and two on the roof we get told about The Joker and about a split between money they are going to make. Through the camera shot and the dialogue we can tell they are middle-aged men and that they don't quite know who The Joker is but they are doing something he has planned which will gain them lots of money. By now we realise from the large cash income opportunity they are talking about and the masks to hide their faces that they are probably about to commit an organised crime.

In the next few cuts we see that they are robbing a bank and a slow zoom of a man, unseen to the robbers, who, by the way he looks, seems to be high-class and has quite a high job status at the bank. The cut between the bank floor scene and the roof scene shows us they are happening simultaneously. The roof scene and then confuses us when one of the men kills the other after he has done his job. This makes us wonder why they would kill each other and if it is part of a different plan or if something has just gone wrong. On the floor instead of tying them up we can see close-ups of a robber, still masked, making the hostages hold bombs. This seems like a weird, expensive and unpredictable way of stopping people from doing anything as anyone could let go and destroy part of the bank ruining the heist in the progress.

There is a short part of the scene where the bank fight back against the threats it is faced with. A long shot shows us the high-class man shoot one of the masked bank robbers through some glass with a shot gun. At the same time as this the man trying to break into the vault is electrocuted by default security measures. Back in the bank lobby area a tracking shot follows a robber as he runs, ducking for cover, to where another robber is hiding.

Later in the scene one of the robbers asks another robber what happened to the hacker. The robber replies by saying The Joker told him to kill him before getting killed himself by the robber. This tells us that each robber has only been told what they are doing and to kill each man after their job has been completed so that they can gain more money for themselves.

This opening scene creates many enigmas, a few that it answers later in the scene. Most of the puzzles remain unsolved, like who is The Joker and why the robbers were made to kill each other only to get killed themselves. This is the job of the opening scene and makes us want to watch so we know what will happen and why what happened did happen.

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Filming Today

i have planned to film today and the weather is good for film as it is not windy and the sun is out

i have made a couple of changes and additions since my plans. one was a staff i made for the shade.

i have added a new scene and changed the ones i had already had.

i have also improved on the wound that on actor will get using the fake blood i had, glue, toilet paper, red lipstick and foundation.

Monday, 22 April 2013

What is the purpose and function of a film opening?


The opening to Tomb Raider shows the protagonist and what they are like in the film. It shows their personality and tells us something about their occupation/hobby which is the purpose of a film opening as well as communicating and creating narrative enigmas.

Right from the start the opening gives us plenty of narrative detail with the scene starting with an extreme close-up that slowly zooms out and twists to show us the characters face and her orientation. This immediately makes us wonder what she is doing and where she is. These enigma's are answered very quickly with a long shot that shows us a tomb which she is hanging into on a rope. A big close up shows and artefact like object which we assume she is looking for. The purpose of this is to show the viewer the main character and show them how acrobatic and active she is.

We see a close up of her eyes as they look left and right telling us she is fairly wary and cautious of her surroundings. A close up of her feet when she is running makes us assume she is confident of her decisions and may be slightly hasty. When she slows down we are shown a point of view shot of the artefact. At this point a tilted down mid-shot shows her hands ready to grab the dual pistols she has. This shows us that she is ready for whatever may happen. There is no music in this part of the scene which builds tension.

Everything slows down when we see a point of view shot of something above her looking down at her. We see rapid cuts between many different shots to show the immediate excitement and speed presented by the entrance of the robot coupled with the louder, faster paced non-diagetic music. We see a point of view with effects for the robot in a shot reverse shot between the robot and the main character. The purpose of this is to show the viewer that the robot is looking for her for whatever reason.

Later in the scene, the protagonist reloads their gun, but, instead of just reloading we see close-ups of every stage of the reload. With everything else out of focus to make viewers watch and emphasise that she is reloading. We also realise that the non-diagetic music stops and the diagetic sound of the gun reloading is louder to make it more noticeable and dramatic which gives the viewer a rest from all the excitement that is happening.

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Batman: Dark knight Rises - 9 Shot Analysis


The first shot is an establishing shot that has little sound with it. It is a tracking shot that shows us an off road car speeding through grass in a rural environment. This create enigmas of who where and why. Coupled with this is a shot of three people with bags over their heads in the back of the land rover which shows us they are hostages of some kind.

The next shot is a man in front plane in a slightly low angle shot. We see marine like men at the plane showing us he has money and he has some power. He is dressed casually making us think that he doesn’t fight much and gets other people to do it for him. He is waiting for the land rover by the looks of it form the way the shots are put together.

The next shot shows the plane flying in the air over a large rural place in an extreme long shot. This tells us they are alone in a large area with nothing else near to them. The high angle shot has little sound as the re is still a build up of something about to happen.

The next shot is a medium two shot of one of the hostage men with his head being hung out of the plane with a gun on him for the casually dressed man who we now see is an agent of some kind. This shot has he agent threatening to shoot them and throw them out if they don’t give him information on a masked man we hear of.

This next shot shows a medium long shot of everyone looking at the last man who has said something to them. Even though he is not in the position of obvious power we see there is something about him that makes him look powerful and threatening more that the marines and the agent.

This shot shows us the masked man that the agent was looking for and the lower half of the agents face in a over the shoulder two shot. This makes the out of focus marines in the background look slightly nervous and makes the masked man look powerful and intimidating.

This medium long shot is just after the plane is tiped by another plane and we can see that the masked man who looked powerful in an inferior position is now the superior one. This very low angle shot makes the masked man look very powerful and in control.

This long shot shows blood being transferred for an unapparent reason and crates a new enigma for us. It makes the man on the right look inferior and very scared of the superior people on the left.

The last shot shows the masked man and the man who was scared being carried while the other plane falls. This is a good shot because is shows the rural empty land below and the masked man in power and control of the situation from seemingly not at the start. This shows us how he works and the strengths he processes.

Monday, 18 March 2013

Film Script

Scene 3 (interior)

(man 1 + man 2 searching through stuff)
(man 1 chuck something back onto floor)
(man 2 quickly look over)
(man 2 find box)
man 2: hey, look at this
(man 1 turn to see)
man 1: what is it?
(man 2 open box)


Scene 2 (exterior)

(man 2 laying dead on floor)
(Shade standing over him)


Scene 1 (exterior)

(man 1 run across bridge)
(man 1 keep running)
(man 1 bend down to catch breath)
(man 1 look up)
(man 1 look scared)
(Shade standing infront of him)
(man 1 step back)
(both man 1 and shade stand oppasite each other)

Monday, 11 March 2013

Shooting Schedule

For filming have recruited Josh Edwards as man 1, Matthew Suares Whaley to be man 2 and my brother Anthony to be the Shade who will have to try and stand still.

Scene
Location
People in Scene
Equipment
Props
1 - Man 1 Running
Dorney Common
Josh Edwards
Anthony Wilson
Camera
Big Tripod
Small Tripod
Skateboard
Sunglasses
2 - Man 2 Dead
Dorney Common
Matthew Suares Whaley
Anthony Wilson
Camera
Big Tripod
Small Tripod
Fake Blood
Box
3 - Men Find Box
Garage
Josh Edwards
Matthew Suares Whaley
Camera
Big Tripod
Small Tripod
Box
Torch
Garage Equipment

Friday, 8 March 2013

Shot List

Scene 3
Medium Longshot - Whole Scene
Medium Longshot - Empty Scene
Extreme Close Up - From Behind Box When Picked Up
Close Up - Box Opening

Scene 2
Medium Longshot - Whole Scene
Close Up - Whole Scene
Point of View Shot Form Man 1 - Whole Scene

Scene 1
Low Angle - Start To Crossed Bridge
Mid Shot Of Man 1 Feet - Crossing Bridge
Tracking Mid Shot - Running Away Off Bridge
Close Up - Catching Breath
Extreme Close Up - Looks Up, Look Scared And Surprised
Tracking Shot - Moving Right To Left Of Shade
Two Shot / Longshot - Shade Right / Man 1 Left
Low Angle - Of Shade
Mid Shot - Of Man 1
Low Angle / Two Shot - From Behind Ankle
Pan Up - Shade
Pan Across - Man 1
Extreme Close Up - Shade Face

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Props and Prop Testing

Box
This is the box that starts everything in the film. it is a small dark wood box with a pattern on the top.

Light
Small head torch.

Sunglasses
Normal tinted.

Fake Blood
To be made from golden syrup (20ml), cornflour (5ml), red food colouring (1 lid full), blue food colouring (1 tiny drop). for this is doubled the quantities for my test batch and it is slightly runny but seems like it will last until filming day.



Sunday, 3 March 2013

Location Research

I have decided where i want to film my two minute opening sequence for the urban part and the rural part of my film. I have made a map of Dorney Common which is where the rural part of my film will be made. I chose Dorney Common because it is close to where i live and makes it easier to arrange everything.



Scene 1 will be filmed in the blue section and involves the footbridge and the main part of the common. The edge of the village and the road across the common present hazards to filming as scene 1 is meant to seen old and otherworldly. Another hazard to filming will be the sound and sight of passing planes going to and from Heathrow Airport.



Scene 2 will also be shot in the common but will not have the same hazards as it will only face one way into trees.



Scene 3 needs to look completely different to the other two scenes so i chose my garage as it looks very different to Dorney Common and will suite well.

Actor Skills needed

Man 1
He does not say much if anything in the opening so he does not need to have excellent acting skills widening my choice of actors. The actor i choose must be able to look surprised and scared for part of the opening scene. Man 1 does a lot of running so my actor must be capable of running.

Man 2
This actor may say something or not depending on what i think looks best in the editing stage. Man 2 dies so the actor i choose must be able to look convincingly dead.

Shade
The Shade is a completely silent character who say nothing and makes no noises. It is only shown standing still so i have decided to use a mannequin instead of a third actor as i think it will be easier.

Saturday, 2 March 2013

Costumes & Costume Research

I have thought about the costumes a lot and have got together a summary of the costumes the characters will wear in my opening scene.

Man 1
This is the main character in the story and will need to look the same all the way through the opening sequence. He may have a bit of mud on him for part 1 of the opening.

Man 2
Has the same cloths all the way through and may also have mud on him for part 2. A must for him in part 2 of the opening sequence is a gash or cut on his forehead.

Shade
This character has been the most tedious to sort out the costume for. It will look the same the whole way through the opening scene. For this i had to do some first person research into what i thought could work. I ended up with a bed sheet and a belt as a robe for the character. It will not be wearing this as i think it will be a bit bright for the evil villain of the story. In the opening scene it with have a black bed sheet instead of yellow and have a robe-like belt. It will also have black gloves and an something on its face that i have not yet decided.

Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Initial Ideas

Recently i have not been at school and been unable to get to a computer to post anything. But i have thoroughly thought through what the content of my  two minute film opening will be and have scribbled it onto five sheets of paper.

Thursday, 24 January 2013

Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task i worked in a group with two other people. The work for the task was evenly distributed between the three of us and a banana who stared in the clip.

Machined Productions Animated Logo

Blog Start

This blog will follow the processes in the production of my two minute film opening. The production company has been named Machined Productions and I have got an animated logo for it. I am in this group on my own therefore will be posting everything that goes onto the blog myself