Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Unit 1- Funding
Anyone can fund their own production. This can be done through personal wealth , which means it is already limiting many people, down because not everyone in the world is a millionaire or has a disposable income. Self-financing your film will make it personal to you because everything has come from your pockets essentially.
A licence fee is a payment made by someone to a government agency in order for them to provide a service. (BBC Films)
Personal Investments mean that the party (individual person or company) have made an investment into making this production, they essentially fund all costs needed for everything needed to do with the production. This could include things such as, the camera's (lenses) camera men , light stations , hire or buy editing software. An Executive Producer who in the context of making a film for instance is in charge of overseeing things like the budget and if it is under/over, if the film is completed on time etc. Therefore, some executive producers can sometimes fund their own productions, without any grant or loan from anyone else. They're are in one of the top positions in the pre-production process and because of this they often have tones of money to spare, for which they can fund a whole production piece.
The next method of film funding is done via the National Lottery. The British Film Institutes gets regular funds from them to make and fund films, help fund short films for promotion and for small projects such as young people's film ideas. On the left is a screen grab of the film fund team at the BFI, the director of lottery film fund is responsible for overseeing the BFI's investments and keeping a check on the income they get from the National Lottery. This method of film funding I would say has more benefits than drawback because as a major organisation the BFI are quite lucky to have the financial support from the National Lottery. Also they often hold young people's events where they get the chance to meet people within the industry and express their ideas. This is an advantage to us teenagers because as film is a difficult industry to get into, learning about it from now will increase those chances of finding a space. Also, I personally have been taking part in a work experience program with a film company called 'Creative SparkWorks' who are funded by the National Lottery through the BFI. Without this opportunity I wouldn't of been able to use industry equipment or have tutors who work in the industry.
Crowd sourcing has become a common method of film funding. It is a way of coming together as an audience or crowd of people and collectively funding a production, which is posted through a pitch on the kickstarter website.
There are several options for people to contribute to for example , video games, Art, Food, Music, Journalism, Dance and so on. For this blog I will focus on the funding for films. Every week the kickstarter website is updated in accordance of the statistics for each pitch, so when someone posts their film idea people/ the public can hit like, and send off a fund this can be any amount. The example to the right shows that the film 'The missing ingredient' has reached $10,631 dollars. There are many advantages we could draw with this way of funding films, for example as you're getting financial support from complete strangers, it is a way of enhancing your personal confidence , because this way you're no directly asking people to fund your film. Another advantage would be that people can put in any amount of money as there isn't a limit to how much someone will need to contribute, this is good for people who simply want to socialize and don't mind giving money and helping something develop. It gives people of a regular background or those who have never had any film experience an opportunity to explore their likes/hobbies/talent etc. The down fall to this could be that someone may steal your idea, because once you've posted it and everyone has seen it, the likely hood is that if it isn't successful , someone else may tell it better and therefore steal it. Another disadvantage to this is that although you may be able to raise a lot of money, this doesn't mean you'll be able to fund your film well because, for example if you wanted to hire a camera man instead of buying equipment, it will take a huge amount for only a few days worth of filming.
An example of a film that has gone over budget is the Disney animation 'Tangled'. This film was first released on January 28th 2011, the reason for it being over budget was because the development of the film kept started and stoping many times, where costs include writing, story boarding and making versions of Rapunzel. Also, the CGI and animation that went into the film to make the characters look as realistic as possible and lastly staffers charging for the production in its early stages.
A licence fee is a payment made by someone to a government agency in order for them to provide a service. (BBC Films)
Personal Investments mean that the party (individual person or company) have made an investment into making this production, they essentially fund all costs needed for everything needed to do with the production. This could include things such as, the camera's (lenses) camera men , light stations , hire or buy editing software. An Executive Producer who in the context of making a film for instance is in charge of overseeing things like the budget and if it is under/over, if the film is completed on time etc. Therefore, some executive producers can sometimes fund their own productions, without any grant or loan from anyone else. They're are in one of the top positions in the pre-production process and because of this they often have tones of money to spare, for which they can fund a whole production piece.
The next method of film funding is done via the National Lottery. The British Film Institutes gets regular funds from them to make and fund films, help fund short films for promotion and for small projects such as young people's film ideas. On the left is a screen grab of the film fund team at the BFI, the director of lottery film fund is responsible for overseeing the BFI's investments and keeping a check on the income they get from the National Lottery. This method of film funding I would say has more benefits than drawback because as a major organisation the BFI are quite lucky to have the financial support from the National Lottery. Also they often hold young people's events where they get the chance to meet people within the industry and express their ideas. This is an advantage to us teenagers because as film is a difficult industry to get into, learning about it from now will increase those chances of finding a space. Also, I personally have been taking part in a work experience program with a film company called 'Creative SparkWorks' who are funded by the National Lottery through the BFI. Without this opportunity I wouldn't of been able to use industry equipment or have tutors who work in the industry.
Crowd sourcing has become a common method of film funding. It is a way of coming together as an audience or crowd of people and collectively funding a production, which is posted through a pitch on the kickstarter website.
There are several options for people to contribute to for example , video games, Art, Food, Music, Journalism, Dance and so on. For this blog I will focus on the funding for films. Every week the kickstarter website is updated in accordance of the statistics for each pitch, so when someone posts their film idea people/ the public can hit like, and send off a fund this can be any amount. The example to the right shows that the film 'The missing ingredient' has reached $10,631 dollars. There are many advantages we could draw with this way of funding films, for example as you're getting financial support from complete strangers, it is a way of enhancing your personal confidence , because this way you're no directly asking people to fund your film. Another advantage would be that people can put in any amount of money as there isn't a limit to how much someone will need to contribute, this is good for people who simply want to socialize and don't mind giving money and helping something develop. It gives people of a regular background or those who have never had any film experience an opportunity to explore their likes/hobbies/talent etc. The down fall to this could be that someone may steal your idea, because once you've posted it and everyone has seen it, the likely hood is that if it isn't successful , someone else may tell it better and therefore steal it. Another disadvantage to this is that although you may be able to raise a lot of money, this doesn't mean you'll be able to fund your film well because, for example if you wanted to hire a camera man instead of buying equipment, it will take a huge amount for only a few days worth of filming.
An example of a film that has gone over budget is the Disney animation 'Tangled'. This film was first released on January 28th 2011, the reason for it being over budget was because the development of the film kept started and stoping many times, where costs include writing, story boarding and making versions of Rapunzel. Also, the CGI and animation that went into the film to make the characters look as realistic as possible and lastly staffers charging for the production in its early stages.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Unit 1- Risk Assessment/Cast list/Locations
This is a risk assessment for our short film production. It is essential that we identify any possible hazards so that we are able to control them to stop members of our cast and team members from being harmed. A risk assessment sets out the essential risks that you may come across during the filming process. All production companies have to provide everyone involved with the production a risk assessment- whether that be runners/staff to the actual actors and crew members. Everyone has to know what dangers are possible so that the company can avoid being sued for causing someone serious injury. It is a way of covering your back from people who may want to sue you, this could even be cast members who have suffered an injury due to a loose wire or broken cable etc.
This cast list shows what actors are playing which characters. This allows us to keep up to date on characters and if so, what props we will need. It gives us a clear set out of exactly who will be involved in which scenes at what time.
This allows us to manage our time.Why is time management so important when filming? Time management is important because there is a limited amount of time in a day, there are only 24 hours in a day therefore planning ahead and managing time is crucial when filming as it allows different aspects of the production to be delegated to a certain time therefore you can follow a certain time table and not be confused. Also time management helps you prioritise things which are important first, therefore more the filming stage may be more of a priority than the editing stage. In order to execute a successful edit you need a good film which comes before it. Also, your team members have a clear prospective of times and days where they have to be there for filming which makes the whole procedure clear and quick cut.
This is our call sheet, it is designed to make sure that on each day of filming actors / crew members know exactly what they're doing and where. Locations, numbers of scenes , cast , props and reminders are included in the call sheet. Reminders for instance help crew members know what they're expected to bring, whether that be props, extra costume for actors of even a spare camera charger. It organises the process and makes there be less fuss when the day of filming comes.
I filmed all the scenes over three days and found that these call sheets are really helpful when for example we filmed the dining room scene in the flat, we had a reminder for the production designer to move around and arrange the furniture before we arrived so it saved us time, and we got on to first rehearsal then filming very quickly.
Job Roles
This table is another significant part of the production process. It is a source which tells you exactly who is acting who and what crew members have what job. If anyone wanted to speak to the script writer for instance, they wanted to suggest something they would refer to this sheet and see the persons name and therefore are able to contact them. In a film production it is important to know who everyone is, because it is a collaborative process where everyone plays an important roll.
Locations:
The next location we are going to film in is the St. Marks church, just by the Oval station. We chose this location because one of our scenes include our father character standing by a gravestone signifying to the audience that there has been a death in the family. The lighting there is also quite good and we think that it will really add to our film and the creative aspect of it will show. Not far from this location there is Kennington Park where I will use the path way which is eerie and suitable for the scene where the mother is watching the father. For our locations we have decided to go with three different places to film. One of which is a shop on lambeth walk which I have gotten permission for to film in, this location was suitable for our film because it is quite old and there are several back rooms where we'd like to use for gruesome scenes- just to help the mise- en-scene be even better. 
Our final location is my neighbours flat which is in the building I live in. I have decided to use this location mainly because I wanted to show that they are in fact a family and they're living together as a family. The sitting room is where they will be seated for the first scene, because I wanted to show that they're a genuine english family , in which they will be conversing at the dinner table, the father and daughter will be together in the kitchen where he will torture her and abuse her. I have been in contact with Film Fixers which is a website for getting permission to film in certain boroughs and locations. As I will be using a public location with the public around I had to email them to get their permission just in case any problems arise in a later stage.
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| Film Fixer - Email contact for permission |
Unit 1- A2 Materials
Task 3- Materials
The materials in my team’s production will be necessary because without we won’t be able to create out short films without the equipment such a camera which we need to record.
We might need some self-made materials would benefits as we won’t have to spend any money in our production but it will take some time to make materials for our self which will take some time which would also be a disadvantage but we would want our short movie to be as good as possible. This is why I think that self-made materials help the movie so you don’t have to spend money buying items.
Archive materials help as they can be drafts from pre-production so the team working on the movie can understand how the movie should go about being created and the team making the movie has a clear idea of what must be done. They can also take past pictures to show a certain area which the director wants the movie to be set. Library materials can really help a movie be created as it is from this that the director can get some inspiration in creating the movie. For example if I was a director and I wanted to make a movie which was set in world war 1 or 2 I might want to research back into some past history so that I know how people in past felt at that exact moment in the world war. I would also like to know some locations where war could have taken place to make my movie create some suspense in the atmosphere.
TV show like the BBC news always talks about historical things which happened in the past and it uses library and archive materials to do so. In the BBC news you always gain some sort of knowledge as the team at the BBC always do their research and TV shows like planet earth also use library and archive materials and is every informative.
The move that I and my team are creating is called The borderland seer which has 5 characters. I would say that everyone would be looking really smart as four of the characters are rich and some are professional workers in our movie. There will be a family of four in the movie which are rich. The farther in the movie would be using a business suit and a brief case as a prop to show what kind of person he is. The doctor which is not part of the family would use a long lab coat and maybe a stethoscope and syringe as props. Both mother and daughter are expected to use a dress. While the son should wear a sweater or t shirt. Some of the equipment we will need is a tripod to keep the camera steady when filming, a skate board to also keep the camera steady but to record at a very low angle. We might also need other props such as a fake knife, hammer and pliers as in the movie there will be torturing scene and one of our movie genres is horror. My team doesn’t think that it is worth spending money on this film and I agree as it’s only a four minute movie. I think that with the props and equipment my team has got we can pull the movie off successfully all we need is the right schedule and to work together as a team which supports one another.
Here is my release forms for each character. Release forms allow permission from the actors and sets out to them exactly what they will be doing and where. This is done to avid any confusion and misinterpretations. Actors starring in your film will have this document at hand if any problems occur. Release forms can sometimes be used in public places, where members of the public give consent to for you to film them. It ensures the protection and safety of anyone in your shot.
Here is my release forms for each character. Release forms allow permission from the actors and sets out to them exactly what they will be doing and where. This is done to avid any confusion and misinterpretations. Actors starring in your film will have this document at hand if any problems occur. Release forms can sometimes be used in public places, where members of the public give consent to for you to film them. It ensures the protection and safety of anyone in your shot.  |
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Story boards are a key ingredient in the film making process, they are a priority when planning your film, including shots/ angles/ movements. A story board contains a brief simple drawing of what is in each scene , the duration of the scene , what shot type/ camera angle or movement it will be. For my story board I have included detailed drawing of what I want to happen in each scene, although this is isn't exactly important it gives me a clear image of what each character will do. This is good because then when filming there is no fuss on what to do and I can direct people according to my storyboard on what to do, therefore your actors are not annoyed or frustrated.
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Distribution and Exhibition
- Distribution and Exhibition
In this blog I have carried out research on the blockbuster film 'Star Wars' looking at distribution and marketing, I have been asked to research various methods of distribution and marketing, I will be discussing; the intended primary and secondary target audience , Box office revenue, Trailers and their importance, Social media impact, Posters and their effectiveness, merchandise and press junket such as interviews and premieres.
As well as being a historically stunning and visually engaging film for centuries, in terms of special effects, Star wars has been massively influential on Hollywood films, as before the 1950s it was not commonly used in films and Star wars made its breakthrough from this , nowadays the majority of Hollywood films are appreciative of special effects. So, in a way Star wars are perhaps the pioneers i would say and has from the beginning been effective in distribution in their film , distributing a new scope of ideas about film. This shows that they have been successful in promoting their film because people who watch their films will be entertained by the amazing screen manipulation, this is good because it means that as there was not much of it in those days, people see it as something new and different and so would more likely be urged to go and watch it, in film more audience = more money, its that simple.
I reckon the primary audience for star wars would be males aged 11-38 years. This is because star wars is predominately a sic-fi / action based film franchise which makes it enjoyable for eleven year olds to watch as they will enjoy all of the light sabers and gadgets they'll see in the film. These things are all exciting and entertaining for young children and so will make them urge their parents to let them go to the cinema and watch it, also it offers escapism for young children, as they would escape from their normal lives into a world where there are storm troopers and light sabers with all the cool sounds that young children like to hear. With the more older viewers ranging from 20 years and older, who will not have their mouths drooling over light sabers, will enjoy the films as they could identify perhaps with the characters, for instance some of the costumes worn in Star wars are amazingly stylized. Some people who enjoy dressing up as a hobby or dress eccentrically for fun, therefore they will enjoy wearing costumes and props to comic-cons and special events.
Star wars hasn't reached blockbuster and won more than a dozen film awards for no reason. This means that the successful promotion of the film through distribution and marketing has been really effective in box office charts. All of the star wars films have been a success in the Box office, and the gross , this is evident from the table to the right where there is a list of the Star wars franchise history of hits. The table shows that 1999's The Phantom Menace was the biggest hit for worldwide Box office revenue. However, the most recent film produced 'The Force Awakens' has had no updates yet as it hasn't yet been distributed, but will on the 18th of this month. This is beneficial for an audience because after they see these figures, the first thing they'd want to do is go and pay to watch one of these films to see whether it was worth all that money, or whether the film is of a good enough standard for it to cost that great amount of money. Also, it will explain to them why the box office hits were so great. 
This newspaper headline displays the effectiveness of the distribution on the Star Wars films. The headline reads "It's Empire day Today" referring to one Star wars' many premieres, this article can be considered a distributing source in itself, newspapers are part of the media , and the public have complete access to it, which promotes the Star wars film. In the article there is also a mention of royal attendance at the premiere which again brings more audience members together. Those who are fans of the royal family and those who are fans of Star Wars, will watch the film as a result of the success they see.  |
| Star Wars webpage- Where fans can buy films after watching a trailer |
*SPOILER FREE PREMIERE*
The world premiere of the newly released Star Wars film , 'The Force Awakens', is a good example of how the exhibition of the film is important if you want to gain more audience members. the premiere holds many things that relate to the film. One of which was the charity that Star Wars has teamed up with Unicef as well as helped funding. The charity is called 'Force for change' which is a program for getting children active , which helps them unlock nutritional packs hat are sent to children in their world countries. I think this is a good way of exhibiting the film, through showing people that Star Wars are generous and innovative , people watching this will straight away feel the need to help or contribute because they're amazed by what Star Wars is getting involved with. In turn this helps the distribution of.
As well as this trailers can also be very effective for distribution of the film. In fact I reckon it is the best way of distributing a film, this is because trailers show you the whole film, in around two minutes, starting from the beginning then the middle (arc) then the end, it sums up the entire narrative which can help an audience decide on whether they want to watch the film or not.
Another way a film could be distributed or to an extent even exhibited is through interviews or press junket. Often the cast of a film will appear on talk shows to talk about their new film, which alllows for the viewers to know and hear about the film if they haven't already. Recently Harrison Ford who stars in the blockbuster Star Wars, we see Ford being interviewed by Johnathan Ross on his show, asking him questions about the film and even playing a game with him. This is beneficial for an audience watching because they can talk about the interview on social media and the word of the new film can spread which is another way of distributing the film. The producers of the film will also benefit massively as they will be gaining more people who would want to watch the film, and therefore potentially more profit and revenue. This is aside the merchandise and other products the Star Wars put on offer, which people will also want to buy.
References:
- https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=star+wars+facebook+page&biw=1895&bih=952&source=lnms&tbm=isch&
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
- http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Wars#tab=summary
- http://www.starwars.com/
- https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=star+wars+newspaper+strip&biw=1895&bih=
- https://youtu.be/KkqsUmxuccw
- https://youtu.be/dZpsvHN2Ml8
Pitch evaluation
https://youtu.be/WDlHl9s_jvA
Happy Families
Nada Mudawi
Above is the link for my short film pitch. In this evaluation I will be talking about what i thought went well in my pitch and what I believe could be improved, I will do so by outlining each slide I went through and exactly what I spoke about, highlighting areas where I thought I could have improved upon.
To begin, I feel that as it was my first time ever delivering an idea through a pitch, which of course required me to stand up in front of a class of around 18 students, I found quite daunting and patronizing. I believe my pitch had its downfalls here and there, where I had either not gone in depth with what I was saying and so my listeners were perhaps finding it hard to understand what I meant or where I spoke for too long on something which didn't need much emphasis.
Firstly, I began by talking about the scenes and considering we only have 4 minutes in total to perform our film, I thought it would be sensible to film each scene at a maximum of 10-20 seconds long. This was a brief about how long i would want each scene to last, therefore what went well was that i have recognized that it is important to stay under the time limit, and avoid prolonging each scene. What i could have improved on would probably be to actually mention this in the pitch- and perhaps what effect it would have on an audience if i only have 4 minutes to film an entire story the end should be the end. An extensive scene means i am unbalancing the flow of the film, so my audience would feel as though the film is not correctly done.
Secondly, I went on to speak about the genre of our film which was as a dominant genre Horror and a sub-genre suspense. The fact that i only touched on the genre but did not explain perhaps why we have chosen this genre, would be the downfall. To improve i should have discussed the audience and what makes the genre of horror more appealing compared to another such as comedy. Both entertaining but what makes horror just that tiny bit more usable. Also, i should have spoken about the genre conventions and again what makes it engaging. This would have made my pitch more convincing and therefore my listeners would be more urged and exited.
Thirdly, the major pitfall in my pitch was probably when I started describing our entire film content. I feel as though I dragged on, individually talking through each scene meant people were less engaged and started to get agitated. Although it was disappointing to see that what i was saying was not getting through to my audience, i feel there was some strength as well. Where i had described the scenes i was mentioning the various characters who will feature in my film, this is good because it means i have introduced them into the action of each scene and how they're prime factors of the film. This is useful because it allows my listeners to picture the characters in the scenes which makes it exiting and effective for them.
The next part of the pitch, handed over to my partner (Marcelo) who spoke again about genre. He mentioned one extra genres apart from horror and suspense/mystery which was tragedy. This again, was only outlined briefly, and my partner went on to speak about editing and narrative. Thereafter, he should have stayed on the topic of genre and explained why exactly we collectively have chosen to include these particular genres.
Our influences I thought were partially explained well, although they were self explanatory, as they are popular horror films, my partner has been successful in mentioning the fact that they are Japanese films which were directed using an American style. He should have made it clear that each film contains a certain asset in which we will try to duplicate and mirror in our short film.
The priority here would have been to mention the developments which we will obtain to, what we are going to do differently from these films, and step out of the norm.
Tamica who is the third member of our group, spoke quickly about identification and particular stereotyped characters in our film. However, it was quite poorly explained, the wording was not particularly clear and she spoke in a confused manner. To improve this she should have explained each characters representation, why it is they're a stereotype. Also, she could have stuck in a rhetoric asking the listeners whether they agree or not with the stereotype, or perhaps is there any ones they'd suggest in terms of our characters.
I felt Tamica was perhaps decapitated for ideas and what to say, which created a sense of confusion from our listeners.
Another thing which didn't go well was, where Tamica skipped the slide about themes, this would have been a good topic to speak about as themes are a key element which can help to construct a film. This made, the pitch look poorly delivered and again we as a group looked unconvincing.
For the next, few slides I spoke about camera language - but not camera language. The slide was supposed to cover camera shots, angles and movements. However, I only spoke about camera shots , saying that we were planning on using all camera shots, i could have included what impact it will have on our audience to have a specific camera shot, and in what way it is useful and effective when filming. The improvement here would be to have spoken further about camera language , talking about angle positions of my camera and the flair of movement my camera will perform.
As our influence we have chosen 'Night Night Nancy', we decided on this as it revealed exceptional sound design, which impressed us and sent chilling spikes down our spines. The main sound technique we picked up on in the video was the use of a dramatic soundtrack- which was from a classical song. Therefore i have decided to use Gustav Holst's planets classical music. This would be suitable for our genre and acting as he had conducted 'Mars' which was about war/battle so you get the dramatic feel which is alerting and makes you think something will happen next- again appropriate for our film as the hybrid genre is Horror-suspense. Once again, we skipped editing techniques which was a big mistake as we should have spoken about what editing techniques we're planning to use in our short film.
We then played the video clip 'Night Night Nancy' and it lasted 4:56 , which of course was far too long for the audience to watch. What would've made this better would be to only play 2 or so minutes of the video, suggesting that that specific part is what the influence for our film, a bit like a taster of the influence in order to portray what in this case was sound design really influenced us.
Next, we went on to talk about the props and costumes, on a high I would say that we succeeded in listing exactly what props and costumes we're going to use, and allocating them to the appropriate characters, also we spoke about why those characters would have these props and would where a specific . However, an improvement would've been to further explain how and why perhaps those props suited not only the film but the genre and themes.
Again very quickly we spoke about the equipment, just listing them. This was not a good idea because our listeners would want to know why it is important to have all the equipment we need.For instance, we mentioned using a tripod-from there we could have said , this is to get more accurate shots and so the camera is steady or at a specific height as the tripod is adjustable. Also, having a skateboard would play the part for a dolly track, and as we don't have the budget to purchase a dolly track using a skateboard could potentially give you the same smooth slow/fast shots that you'd need to make the film interesting. By saying that our pitch would have been a whole lot better and made more sense.
The location of a film can play a major role in establishing a lot of things, such as characters and how they fit in. For instance in our pitch we mentioned that we are going to travel to Hampton Court (known for its plush houses and up market shops). However we did not mention that we have chosen this location as it only makes sense that our "rich" father character owns such a house. Another location we mentioned was a cemetery which is iconic of sadness and grieve, therefore as our film is primarily about loss and mourn it is a perfect place for it. An improvement would be to elaborate on everything , speak more broadly and give reasons for everything, to keep things clear with your listeners.
Lastly, for advertisement, we went for the generic publication on social media. This is because the market we're are looking at to target our film to is teenagers, perhaps young adults, so ages between 16-23 years. Also, on tube stations , many young adults who travel via tube are more likely to see our film advertisement whilst waiting for their tube, than perhaps on social media. Therefore to improve I should have explained
Overall, i would evaluate this pitch with massive commiseration, there was defiantly a lot of errors and the consistency I feel was not smooth, therefore i have learnt that next time I should be better prepared with every little detail included in our presentation, speak less of things that do not need elaboration and more of things which are very important.
Happy Families
Nada Mudawi
Above is the link for my short film pitch. In this evaluation I will be talking about what i thought went well in my pitch and what I believe could be improved, I will do so by outlining each slide I went through and exactly what I spoke about, highlighting areas where I thought I could have improved upon.
To begin, I feel that as it was my first time ever delivering an idea through a pitch, which of course required me to stand up in front of a class of around 18 students, I found quite daunting and patronizing. I believe my pitch had its downfalls here and there, where I had either not gone in depth with what I was saying and so my listeners were perhaps finding it hard to understand what I meant or where I spoke for too long on something which didn't need much emphasis.
Firstly, I began by talking about the scenes and considering we only have 4 minutes in total to perform our film, I thought it would be sensible to film each scene at a maximum of 10-20 seconds long. This was a brief about how long i would want each scene to last, therefore what went well was that i have recognized that it is important to stay under the time limit, and avoid prolonging each scene. What i could have improved on would probably be to actually mention this in the pitch- and perhaps what effect it would have on an audience if i only have 4 minutes to film an entire story the end should be the end. An extensive scene means i am unbalancing the flow of the film, so my audience would feel as though the film is not correctly done.
Secondly, I went on to speak about the genre of our film which was as a dominant genre Horror and a sub-genre suspense. The fact that i only touched on the genre but did not explain perhaps why we have chosen this genre, would be the downfall. To improve i should have discussed the audience and what makes the genre of horror more appealing compared to another such as comedy. Both entertaining but what makes horror just that tiny bit more usable. Also, i should have spoken about the genre conventions and again what makes it engaging. This would have made my pitch more convincing and therefore my listeners would be more urged and exited.
Thirdly, the major pitfall in my pitch was probably when I started describing our entire film content. I feel as though I dragged on, individually talking through each scene meant people were less engaged and started to get agitated. Although it was disappointing to see that what i was saying was not getting through to my audience, i feel there was some strength as well. Where i had described the scenes i was mentioning the various characters who will feature in my film, this is good because it means i have introduced them into the action of each scene and how they're prime factors of the film. This is useful because it allows my listeners to picture the characters in the scenes which makes it exiting and effective for them.
The next part of the pitch, handed over to my partner (Marcelo) who spoke again about genre. He mentioned one extra genres apart from horror and suspense/mystery which was tragedy. This again, was only outlined briefly, and my partner went on to speak about editing and narrative. Thereafter, he should have stayed on the topic of genre and explained why exactly we collectively have chosen to include these particular genres.
Our influences I thought were partially explained well, although they were self explanatory, as they are popular horror films, my partner has been successful in mentioning the fact that they are Japanese films which were directed using an American style. He should have made it clear that each film contains a certain asset in which we will try to duplicate and mirror in our short film.
The priority here would have been to mention the developments which we will obtain to, what we are going to do differently from these films, and step out of the norm.
Tamica who is the third member of our group, spoke quickly about identification and particular stereotyped characters in our film. However, it was quite poorly explained, the wording was not particularly clear and she spoke in a confused manner. To improve this she should have explained each characters representation, why it is they're a stereotype. Also, she could have stuck in a rhetoric asking the listeners whether they agree or not with the stereotype, or perhaps is there any ones they'd suggest in terms of our characters.
I felt Tamica was perhaps decapitated for ideas and what to say, which created a sense of confusion from our listeners.
Another thing which didn't go well was, where Tamica skipped the slide about themes, this would have been a good topic to speak about as themes are a key element which can help to construct a film. This made, the pitch look poorly delivered and again we as a group looked unconvincing.
For the next, few slides I spoke about camera language - but not camera language. The slide was supposed to cover camera shots, angles and movements. However, I only spoke about camera shots , saying that we were planning on using all camera shots, i could have included what impact it will have on our audience to have a specific camera shot, and in what way it is useful and effective when filming. The improvement here would be to have spoken further about camera language , talking about angle positions of my camera and the flair of movement my camera will perform.
As our influence we have chosen 'Night Night Nancy', we decided on this as it revealed exceptional sound design, which impressed us and sent chilling spikes down our spines. The main sound technique we picked up on in the video was the use of a dramatic soundtrack- which was from a classical song. Therefore i have decided to use Gustav Holst's planets classical music. This would be suitable for our genre and acting as he had conducted 'Mars' which was about war/battle so you get the dramatic feel which is alerting and makes you think something will happen next- again appropriate for our film as the hybrid genre is Horror-suspense. Once again, we skipped editing techniques which was a big mistake as we should have spoken about what editing techniques we're planning to use in our short film.
We then played the video clip 'Night Night Nancy' and it lasted 4:56 , which of course was far too long for the audience to watch. What would've made this better would be to only play 2 or so minutes of the video, suggesting that that specific part is what the influence for our film, a bit like a taster of the influence in order to portray what in this case was sound design really influenced us.
Next, we went on to talk about the props and costumes, on a high I would say that we succeeded in listing exactly what props and costumes we're going to use, and allocating them to the appropriate characters, also we spoke about why those characters would have these props and would where a specific . However, an improvement would've been to further explain how and why perhaps those props suited not only the film but the genre and themes.
Again very quickly we spoke about the equipment, just listing them. This was not a good idea because our listeners would want to know why it is important to have all the equipment we need.For instance, we mentioned using a tripod-from there we could have said , this is to get more accurate shots and so the camera is steady or at a specific height as the tripod is adjustable. Also, having a skateboard would play the part for a dolly track, and as we don't have the budget to purchase a dolly track using a skateboard could potentially give you the same smooth slow/fast shots that you'd need to make the film interesting. By saying that our pitch would have been a whole lot better and made more sense.
The location of a film can play a major role in establishing a lot of things, such as characters and how they fit in. For instance in our pitch we mentioned that we are going to travel to Hampton Court (known for its plush houses and up market shops). However we did not mention that we have chosen this location as it only makes sense that our "rich" father character owns such a house. Another location we mentioned was a cemetery which is iconic of sadness and grieve, therefore as our film is primarily about loss and mourn it is a perfect place for it. An improvement would be to elaborate on everything , speak more broadly and give reasons for everything, to keep things clear with your listeners.
Lastly, for advertisement, we went for the generic publication on social media. This is because the market we're are looking at to target our film to is teenagers, perhaps young adults, so ages between 16-23 years. Also, on tube stations , many young adults who travel via tube are more likely to see our film advertisement whilst waiting for their tube, than perhaps on social media. Therefore to improve I should have explained
Overall, i would evaluate this pitch with massive commiseration, there was defiantly a lot of errors and the consistency I feel was not smooth, therefore i have learnt that next time I should be better prepared with every little detail included in our presentation, speak less of things that do not need elaboration and more of things which are very important.
Legal Issues and Regulations
I will be discussing and researching into different media institutions which are responsible for regulations in the media. The institutions I have been asked to research into are ; British Board of Film classification and Advertising Standards authorities.
Firstly the BBFC play a major role in assisting the public. Audiences who watch films, are given regulations and restrictions as to what is seen appropriate and what isn't. On the other hand, you could argue that the BBFC may also go against films, to some extent. For instance if a film's director originally aimed an action film which contained some violence but mostly bad language, at teens and up, then got a restriction the film. The BBFC decides to classify it as an 18+ film, then the film loses half of it's audience members.
To the right is a video brief of the work of the BBFC, it explain what their work involves and what their purpose for regulations is. It was interesting to listen to the way that classification of films are decided, although no one every really pays much attention to the classification symbols, it is an extremely vital thing to consider when going to the movies. After all you don't want to turn up and they tell you that you're too young to watch the film you wanted. This has happened to me several times. Which brings me to conclude that the BBFC as an industry don't really get their work out publicly , because i wasn't aware of them until I learnt about them in class, which is quite a disappointment!
Below is the BBFC's latest film classification on the new release ' The Force Awakens' by Walt Disney. This examples show you how they set out everything that needs highlighting. Whether that be their insight or the running time. This is on their website and the public have access to it, in order to check before they go and watch the film.
The following video below , explains the work of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
They have a control over what adverts are broadcasted in our TV screens and help to regulate what they feel is somewhat inappropriate or may encourage less vigilance across society.
I have been researching into their work and found some pretty interesting and understandable bans on adverts which, when first seeing didn't really realise its in-appropriacy. The main thing to focus on is the viewers and their concerns, different viewers of the advert will have varied points of concern. One may be a parent who for instance sees an advert with too much sexual reference and reports the fact that their child can become influenced by it.
Here is an advert banned by the Advertising Standards Authority which is on the VIP E- Cigarettes Tv advert. This advert was complained about by many people, who collectively raised a particular point about the disgrace of the advert. Firstly, the public were swayed away from the point of the advert which is supposedly trying to promote a decrease for the amount of tobacco inhaled by people. The E-cigarette is meant to allow consumers to 'vape' which means by using an electronic cigarette you are producing a nicotine rich vapor. Of course this wasn't the main concern in the advert but the public along with the ASA pointed out that there were many sexual references, this automatically brought its value down. Another thing to look at was the fact that they have used a women to host for the advert and not a man- which again sexually objectified her. However, one of the main reasons why this advert was seen to be inappropriate was that there was some encouragement within the dialogue and teenagers were encouraged to copy this young lady. Not only this but the E-cigarette also comes with various flavours including milkshake and bubblegum, this again was a hazard for young children who decided to consume it. The news article below explains this concern from a medical angle to the advert.
Firstly the BBFC play a major role in assisting the public. Audiences who watch films, are given regulations and restrictions as to what is seen appropriate and what isn't. On the other hand, you could argue that the BBFC may also go against films, to some extent. For instance if a film's director originally aimed an action film which contained some violence but mostly bad language, at teens and up, then got a restriction the film. The BBFC decides to classify it as an 18+ film, then the film loses half of it's audience members.
Below is the BBFC's latest film classification on the new release ' The Force Awakens' by Walt Disney. This examples show you how they set out everything that needs highlighting. Whether that be their insight or the running time. This is on their website and the public have access to it, in order to check before they go and watch the film.
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
Type: Feature
Approx. Running minutes: 135
Release dates: 17/12/2015
BBFCInsight: moderate violence, threat
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Adventure, Action
Director(s): J. J. Abrams
Summary: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is a sci-fi action adventure in which a young woman becomes embroiled in a galactic conflict.
Cut: All known versions of this work passed uncut.
The following video below , explains the work of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
They have a control over what adverts are broadcasted in our TV screens and help to regulate what they feel is somewhat inappropriate or may encourage less vigilance across society.
I have been researching into their work and found some pretty interesting and understandable bans on adverts which, when first seeing didn't really realise its in-appropriacy. The main thing to focus on is the viewers and their concerns, different viewers of the advert will have varied points of concern. One may be a parent who for instance sees an advert with too much sexual reference and reports the fact that their child can become influenced by it.
The tabloid to the left shows you what the 'Mirror' had to say on this issue. The headline is a direct warning to parents, because they may be unaware of the fact that children have had access to these cigarettes. Below this it says that 'reports found 11 and 12 year olds have been buying them from pizza parlours and high street shops..' which raises the concern for the law and the safety of children in public places. As a law student this in the UK would definatly conrodict the Protection of young persosn act 1996.
The ASA in a way allow for greater awareness and help society feel safe and cared for.
The 'Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union other wise 'BECTU' is a trade union.
The 'Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union other wise 'BECTU' is a trade union.
BECTU is the UK's media and entertainment trade union. BECTU provides a range of services for their members. They train and support the customers, they give personal advice and negotiate pay. They are important because they fight for the rights and protect their customers. They also promote the best interest of the industry's. Source from www.bectu.org.uk. BECTU is important because they are trustworthy in everything they do. They make the workers feel equal in the work industry and they make sure your voice are heard also it decrease the discrimination in the industry.
Copyright was found in 1988. Copyright is a legal right formed by the law it also is when you have the legal right given to the creator for a fixed amount of years to print, perform, film or record artistic material. Source from www.google.co.uk/webhp.
Clearance is the office agreement for something to take place. The film must have permission to use anything for their film such as certain brands, logos, pictures or music. So in our film we wouldn't use any of the things above and the reason why is because we need permission from the companies and we will avoid going through clearance.
Clearance is the office agreement for something to take place. The film must have permission to use anything for their film such as certain brands, logos, pictures or music. So in our film we wouldn't use any of the things above and the reason why is because we need permission from the companies and we will avoid going through clearance.
Unit 1- Type of Production
What does the brief ask me to do?
The brief for this unit asks me to create a short film for entry into a Short Film Festival. The short film needs to be between 2-4 minutes and must be suitable for 12-18 year olds to view. The brief also required us to research into a variety of formats , styles and features of a single camera production. The short film needs to be completely original and not contain images and sounds that are subject to copyright.
My initial idea for my short film was a simple linear narrative ,action comedy. I have chosen to make my genre this because, generally if you'd like to win an audience over the best way to do this is making them happy and satisfied, I think that this can be effectively done through humour. For my casting, I have decided to employ three (main) characters to play the roles of; a policeman(1), a second policeman and a lady who is mistaken to be non-law abiding citizen. If it is possible I would also preferably like some extras to play other roles.
By the end of the film, the lady after being released from her cell is now planning a major death plot against these policemen, the film merely ends with her walking up to the police station and in her hand a gun. The overall decision we made was that we were not going to not proceed with my idea unfortunately because we just didn't have the budget and cast for all the essential things in my idea.
I was inspired by many comedy movies such as ;
We moved then to looking at possibly another genre, for which we decided on a hybrid genre of Horror/Suspense. This was mainly because It is one we considered to be the next most popular/engaging of genres which can easily be done to engage a target audience. The conventions of a Horror include things such as ; blood, knives, suffering/torture, death , a haunted house, a basement /an attic, the woods etc. For suspense , you'd be looking at shadows , a missing person, death (unsolved?). This combination was perfect for us as it gave us flexibility with many things such as props, costumes even characters. Our final short film idea was decided on and this was, a family consisting of ; mum , dad and daughter. The dad is a cold-blooded killer who tortures his daughter, the mother has always been suspicious of this however never spoke about it. Their relationship becomes increasingly worse and after many tortures and torment from her father the daughter finally overdoses herself in an attempt to kill her self , she dies and by the end the dad is remorseful of his actions and he goes to visit her grave.
The brief for this unit asks me to create a short film for entry into a Short Film Festival. The short film needs to be between 2-4 minutes and must be suitable for 12-18 year olds to view. The brief also required us to research into a variety of formats , styles and features of a single camera production. The short film needs to be completely original and not contain images and sounds that are subject to copyright.
My initial idea for my short film was a simple linear narrative ,action comedy. I have chosen to make my genre this because, generally if you'd like to win an audience over the best way to do this is making them happy and satisfied, I think that this can be effectively done through humour. For my casting, I have decided to employ three (main) characters to play the roles of; a policeman(1), a second policeman and a lady who is mistaken to be non-law abiding citizen. If it is possible I would also preferably like some extras to play other roles.
The opening scenes would include the lady at home, in her kitchen making herself a cup of tea. We then see her go to the living room to watch television. However, not long after the two policemen characters come swarming into the house in a chaotic manner, and without any permission or dignified introduction. They (dressed in uniform) then arrest the lady without again giving any detail or specifying why they're arresting her, she struggles with them and doesn't seem particularly happy with what's just happened. Here I realised that this may be difficult to achieve because it would mean we need to buy the costumes and possibly a walkie-talkie, also the genre of comedy we thought would be useless without a naturally funny person acting the role. Therefore actors were a major problem.
We move on to the next scene for which the lady is now in the police station giving her details to the police, they then take her in to cell where she spends a night in police custody. Again, I planned for the cell to be a frame instead in my estate where the door bars could be used to manipulate the scene, to make it look like a prison cell.
Skipping to the mid-point of the plot, we have the lady from earlier trying to complain about the police men who arrested her without any explanation of what she's being arrested for, and no body is listening to her. This however my group thought would take away from the comedy element and the audience wouldn't be amused.
By the end of the film, the lady after being released from her cell is now planning a major death plot against these policemen, the film merely ends with her walking up to the police station and in her hand a gun. The overall decision we made was that we were not going to not proceed with my idea unfortunately because we just didn't have the budget and cast for all the essential things in my idea.
I was inspired by many comedy movies such as ;
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