Evaluation - Question 7

Evaluation - Question 6

Evaluation - Question 5

Evaluation - Question 4

Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation - Question 2

Evaluation - Question 1

Evaluation

Plot
In my opening sequence the film starts at a house party full of teenagers. The host calls her friend to ask her when she will be arriving at the party and her friend says she will be over in an hour. You then see the girl starting to get ready for the party which inter-cuts with a boy also getting ready to go to the party. After the inter-cuts you see the boy has arrived at the party. The party then inter-cuts with the girl walking to the party. When the girl arrives you see the host answer the door. The girl then enters the main room and the boy looks over at her. You then see the girl walk over to her friend, then the boy walks towards her and it ends on the girl turning around and looking at him in slow motion.

Genre
Romantic/Coming-of-age

Cast
Girl - Ruby Brayford
Boy - Michael Oliphant
Host - Iveta Stefanova
Friend/Guest - Taran Hackman
Friend/Guest - Zain Rawji
Friend/Guest - Niki Patel

Crew
Film by - Natalie Bunbury, Nicola Evans, Iveta Stefanova and Kirsten Byers
Music by - Natalie Bunbury, Nicola Evans, Iveta Stefanova and Kirsten Byers
Edited by - Natalie Bunbury, Nicola Evans, Iveta Stefanova and Kirsten Byers
Directed by - Natalie Bunbury, Nicola Evans, Iveta Stefanova and Kirsten Byers
Bloopers by - Nicola Evans

Locations
Party, Girl getting ready - Iveta's house
Boy getting ready - Kirsten's house
Walk to party - Iveta's road
 
Dates
January 17th - Filmed parts of the girl getting ready (however not all footage recorded).
January 27th - Filmed all of the party, phone call, boy getting ready, girl walking to party and girl getting ready.
January 31st - Re-filmed establishing shot, zoom in on dress, close up on Ruby during the phone call, Iveta opening the door for Ruby, reveal of Ruby and Ruby putting on shoes.

Bloopers

We forgot to film behind-the-scenes during the day we filmed the party scenes so Nicola created a bloopers video which can be viewed here : http://nnikproductions.blogspot.co.uk/
I think this video is very funny and hopefully our audience will agree.

Progress

We are currently working on adding credits to the film while footage of the film is being played in the background. We made the colour of the title 'Snakes and Ladders' green and orange which I think works well as its not over girly and the colours compliment each other well.

Music In Opening Sequence

The song used for the opening sequence of Juno is called 'All I Want Is You'. It is quite an upbeat song. It is ideal for this type of film as it this song shows that its quite a light hearted, coming-of-age type film. There is something almost ironic about the use of this song because it is a love song.

Credits In Opening Sequence

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

The opening credits are very stylised and intriguing. During the opening credits, scenes from the opening shots of the movie are cut in as a full scene with a prominent yellow theme which of course, is the main themed colour of the film. The font used for the credits is the kind of font you would find in a comic book because it is curved and has sharp edges. There are many creative fades used throughout the sequence. When the credits are actually shown, instead of an overlay, they are shown on a range of colourful slides which hint to the comedic genre of the film and the light heartedness of it which contrasts to the usual dark credits found with any horror or thriller.The is very much focused around this idea of video games and the opening few minutes reflect this. I think the credits are done very nicely. I think for our own sequence our credits will be in a similar order as shown in this clip.

Progress

Today we finished editing all the little bits in different clips to make the sequence look more professional. We also added sound like laughter and people talking to the party scenes. We also finished adding all the different music to our sequence. For the very start of the sequence we initially put music from the reggae genre but decided against this in the end and added music that people would more likely dance to at a party. I am happy with all the music that has been added as I think it suits our sequence well. Tomorrow we will finish off credits.

Progress

Today we added credits to our film and created music to play during the party scene on Garage Band. I think the credits look good as they are clear and simple to read and not swirly or over girly. I also think the music we created goes well with our party scene. Our overall sequence is almost finished now we just need music to play during the start of our sequence. Also the sequence is nearly 2 and a half minutes long, which means we need to cut down some of the clips or perhaps delete a couple of them.

Naming Our Film

Today we finally came up with a name for our film. Our film will be called 'Snakes and Ladders'. We have chosen this name because it is a way of describing the ups and downs in relationships like the board game. I am happy with this name because it isn't cheesy and is suitable name for a coming-of-age/romantic film.

Music In Opening Sequence

Legally Blonde
The music used for the opening sequence of Legally Blonde is called 'Perfect Day'. This is a very upbeat and joyful song. The lyrics are reflecting what you see on screen. The characters all look like they are living the ideal life where there is no work and all play. The main protagonist is getting ready in the clip and although the music playing is non-diegetic it is the type of song you would imagine she would listen to while getting ready. It is the ideal song for a chick flick because it is light-hearted and fun song. It would not be ideal for a romantic film, a slower song would suit that type of film better. The same song plays throughout but this does not make the clip boring as the song is what leads up to the big reveal of the lead female. You also hear quieter diegetic sounds such as dialogue.

For our sequence I think we should try and create a piece of music that is not quite as "girly" and cliché ridden as the target audience for our film is slightly different to the one for Legally Blonde. We want our film to appeal to a wider audience and for this to happen we need something less feminine.

Representation

Representation in film is the way certain groups are portrayed. Each group has a stereotype. As the main target audience for romantic films is females you will find in most of these films the lead male is a handsome and romantic and the female is often quite relate-able to most women. For most women this appeals to their romantic sides as most men in real life are not like the ones you see in romantic films. In a lot of these films they show what most women's ideal life would be like, often in a quite unrealistic way, but it appeals to the audience.

Enigma

Suitable Distributors

I have been looking into suitable distributors for our film. Our film is a high budget coming-of-age/romantic film so I have looked at other films with a similar genre.
Mean Girls is a film of a similar genre which was distributed by Paramount Pictures. This distributor is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing film studios. Other films of a similar genre it has distributed include Failure to Launch and Titanic. It has also distributed many box office successes such as Paranormal Activity and Iron Man.
American Pie is film with a coming-of-age genre which was distributed by Universal Studios. It is an American motion picture studio, owned by Comcast, and one of the six major movie studios. It is also one of the longest-lived motion picture studios to be located outside of Hollywood. It has produced many romantic and coming-of-age films. These include Bridesmaids, Leap Year, Definitely Maybe, Love Actually, Bring It On and Sydney White.

Progress

Today we continued working on possible font for out credit sequence. We have decided to not use over fancy font. I think this is a good idea because we want the audience to be able to see the credits clearly. We also found music to play during the 'NNIK Productions' clip. I am happy with the music we chose because I think it suits the clip very well.

Progress

Today we added the music that we created to the opening sequence. Once it was added the clips started jumping so we had to get the media technician to fix it. Once it was fixed I thought it looked really good.

Progress

Today we finished editing the sequence. We managed to remember most of the sequence so it wasn't too much of a struggle to put it back together. Now we have to do credits and finish off creating music. I am very happy with the progress we have made in the past week.

Progress

Today we carried on editing during the lesson. However we could not edit after school as the computer with our work on was being used by someone else. We instead started making a behind the scenes/bloopers video and worked on music. I think we made a lot of progress. The video, I think, looks really good and the music we found is very suitable for our film and could be used during the 'getting ready' shots or the 'party' shots. However we have not decided which part of our sequence we will include this music in. We will decide once we have finished editing. I don't think it would be a good idea to use the same music throughout the sequence because I think it will make it a bit boring and you need a change between the different shots.

Progress - Title

We have decided against the idea of naming our film 'Not Another Love Story' because it sounds too cheesy and we have decided to think of a name that sounds less 'girly' and will appeal more to both males and females. I think our film will be better suited being a coming-of-age film. Tonight each person in the group will try and think of possible names for our film and present their ideas to the group tomorrow. I am personally a lot happier naming our film something less cheesy because I would prefer our film to be aimed at a larger target audience.

Progress

We started editing today. So far everything has been running smoothly. As we had finished editing before and watched it through many times it was quite easy for us to remember the order in which the clips went in. I think as long as we spend our free periods and after school working on it we will finish it in time.

Progress

We have recently just been given new macs and now have the software installed. This means we are able to edit our sequence again.

Examples Of Representation

Sleepless In Seattle

Annie can also be seen as a stereotypical 30-something woman. At the beginning of the film you see her getting engaged to Walter. The audience can see instantly tell that their relationship is wrong, but they are of the naive impression that they are happy. It is clear she is not in a happy relationship. When Annie listens to the radio she gets caught up in the drama of a mysterious man on the radio and listens to him talk about how much he misses his wife. Annie would like a sensitive, caring man like this. When they finally meet it is clear that Sam is a much more perfect match for her and their inevitable meeting on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day provides her with the romance she wants.

Examples Of Representation

Bridget Jones

Bridget Jones is a single woman living in London. She can be seen as the stereotypical 30-year-old woman. She is a successful, with a good job but she is someone who does not want to be single. When her personal life goes wrong, she can be seen to be on the sofa, drinking, smoking and watching romantic films. She also has stereotypical worries, such as her weight, alcohol and cigarette consumption and the opposite sex. However, her ongoing dialogue with herself, also reveals a stronger side to her personality.

 

Credits

The opening credits are shown at the beginning of a film and list the most important people in the production. In a film the title and opening credits may be preceded by a 'teaser' that helps set the stage for the film.
There are numerous variations, but most opening sequences list the following:

• Name of the Distributor
• Name of the Production Company
• Name of Producer
• Name of the Actors
• Name of the Film
• Name of the Casting Director
• Name of the Music Composer
• Name of the Production Designer
• Name of the Editor
• Name of the Writers
• Name of the Director

The opening credits are very important in film as they are what make up most of the opening sequence.

During the closing credits all the production crew is listed.

Progress

We think we will name our film 'Not another love story.' I think this title is a little bit too cheesy, but is suitable for this genre.

Progress

As we have no access to Final Cut right now we've started to create the credits and the film title to put on screen. Although we have not finalized anything yet, as it's still a work in progress, I think it's looking good.

Stolen Macs

Today we found out that all the Macs from our school had been stolen at some point over the weekend. This means all the work we have done in the past few weeks is gone. Luckily we have copies of the all the footage but we have to edit it all over again. This is very frustrating as we have put in a lot of time making sure our actual opening sequence was finished and all we needed to do was put in sound. Now we have to put in extra time redoing it.

Feedback From Class

During our lesson we went around the class in our groups and gave each group's opening sequence feedback. This is the feedback we received from our peers:

Audience Feedback

Today we showed our opening sequence to the class. The feedback was generally all positive and all the constructive criticisms were things we were planning on changing anyway.

Progress

We have finished putting the clips together for our opening sequence, but still need to change the sound. Tomorrow we will show it to our class. I am quite happy with the progress we have made and the overall sequence.

Re-filming

Today we re-filmed the establishing shot and the shots that featured the girl. We are planning on shooting more shots with the boy on Wednesday as we do not have enough shots to inter-cut between the boy and girl.
Our rough cut for our opening sequence is over 3 minutes long. We are planning to take out some scenes that show the party.

Progress

We have been editing a lot recently and we are still unsure about some of the ordering of the opening sequence. We also have to re-film the establishing shot and some of the scenes with the girl putting on her make up due to continuity.

Music

We have started to create our own music on Garage Band. Right now I think the music we have created sounds too much like the music you would hear in a nightclub rather than a house party. We are planning on changing this and I think the music we choose should include vocals.

Independent Distributors

Momentum
Momentum Pictures is one of the leading independent motion picture distributors in the UK and Ireland and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a year. Momentum's most successful theatrical releases include Lost In Translation, The King's Speech and Let The Right One In.



Miramax
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing many independent and foreign films. There was once a Miramax Family which was the family division of Miramax Films it was created in 1991 and shut down in 2006. Some of the films released by Miramax include Adventureland, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and Bridget Jones's Diary.



IFC Films
Independent Film Channel is an American film distribution company based in New York, owned by AMC Networks. It distributes independent films and documentaries under the IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight. It operates the IFC Center. Examples of films it has distributed include Fish Tank, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Chalet Girl.

How Distribution Works

A distributor is responsible for marketing a film. The distributor decides the release date of a film in the cinema, where it is shown and for how long it shown. It also decides if the film should sent direct-to-video. It also decides how they let the public know about the film e.g trailers, advertisements etc. A limited distributor may deal only with particular products, such as DVDs or Blu-ray, or may act in a particular country or market. It sells the film to the public. Big distributors will spend thousands on letting people know about the film. An independent distributor will often seek films at festivals and acquire the rights to them.

Big Distributors

Distribution is the most important stage in any film as it can play a huge factor in a film's success. They are in charge of how the film should be advertised and where the film will be shown and for how long.

Examples of big distributors:

Sony
Sony Pictures Entertainment, is the television and film production/distribution unit of Sony. With 12.5% box office market share in 2011, the company was ranked 3rd among film studios. Its group sales in 2010 were US$7.2 billion. The many film franchises it has produced include Spider Man, Men in Black, Ghostbusters and The Karate Kid.



Disney
Disney Media Distribution is responsible for The Walt Disney Company's branded and non-branded filmed entertainment distribution, now distributing more than 30,000 hours of content to over 1300 broadcasters across 240 territories worldwide. It was once named Buena Vista International Television. It was then renamed Disney-ABC International Television in 2007 to focus on the Disney, ABC and ESPN brands. Then in 2011 it was renamed Disney Media Distribution. Examples of films it has distributed include Pirates of the Caribbean, The Princess Diaries and Toy Story.



DreamWorks
Dreamworks Studio has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totalling more than $100 million each. It has distributed many films such as Chicken Run, Ghost Town and Fright Night.

Art Of The Title Opening Sequences

Murder By Death (1976)

In the opening sequence for this film, there is a soundbridge followed by the opening credits on screen. The credits are written in a font that makes it look like an old film and the background picture is of a ancient looking treasure chest which emphasizes this. The music playing is quite eerie and spooky. Then a gloved hand appears, unlocks the chest and then opens it displaying a long line of drawn characters and then the title of the film appears on screen. The music suddenly changes from eerie to upbeat and fast paced. The camera then zooms in on the characters; first to a person who has been stabbed many times in the back, reflecting the title of the film. The camera then shows each of these drawn characters on screen as well as the cast. As each of the faces are shown an actor's name is also on screen, presumably the character the actor is depicting. Some of the characters are made out to be almost comical, as there eyes are shown to be moving. After every drawn character is shown, the shot moves to a drawn picture of the establishing shot, which is quickly cut into the actual, real life shot.

An Education (2009)

In the opening sequence for this film, there are a few young children's games depicted on screen, such as hopscotch, skipping and marbles; as well as the sort of things you learn at school, such as science and music. This is done perhaps to show the youthfulness of the character. The music playing is quite light and fun. The writing isn't particularly fancy, just straight to the point. After the title of the film is shown it cuts to a shot of young girls in uniform walking with books on their head, showing this to be a posh private school. The next shot is of young girls ballroom dancing, while a middle aged teacher stands in the middle observing and instructing and then a shot of a cooking class. The shot then cuts to a young girl, the main character, walking in the snow, looking as if she is dreading going into school. The next few shots are just general shots of girls at this stereotypical boarding school.

Research Into Coming-Of-Age Genre

1. Submarine
This film is set in 1986 and tells the story of Oliver Tate, a 15-year-old boy and his infatuation with a girl. As well as trying to make her like him, he has try and keep his parents together when his mother's ex boyfriend moves next door.

2. Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko is a troubled teenager suffering from schizophrenia. He receives a disturbing vision that the world will end in 28 days. With the help of various characters, including a 6 foot rabbit called Frank, he slowly discovers the mysterious physical and metaphysical laws that govern his life and that will lead up to the destruction of the universe.

3. Bend It Like Beckham
Jess is a teenager with only one real passion in her life: football. She soon strikes up a friendship with Juliette, and joins a girls team coached by Joe. She comes from a traditional, close-knit and loving Sikh family. Jess' fascination with sports doesn't fit into their idea of a young woman future. She and Juliette also fall out over both liking Joe. With her sister's wedding on the same day as the football final, Jess must decide if she will support her family or her friends.

Coming-Of-Age Genre

Because our questionnaires proved that the Coming-Of-Age genre is popular amongst our target audience I decided to research the genre:

• It is a genre of teen films
• It focuses on the protagonists transition from youth to adulthood
• It relies heavily on dialogue and emotional responses rather than action
• The main character is typically male and mid-teen
• The story is often told in the form of a flashback
• Sexual identity, political opinions and philosophical development are often featured
• These sexual themes are often presented in a comical or humorous manner

Audience

The feedback from our questionnaires has proved to be very helpful. A lot of the feedback was very similar. We think it would be better to make our film more of a coming-of-age film like Clueless or 10 Things I Hate About You, rather than a strictly romance film such as the Notebook or Dear John. We think a coming-of-age film would appeal to a larger audience, as most of the males who answered the questionnaire do not seem to be a fan of the romantic genre. However this is not unexpected as we predicted romantic films would appeal more to females. The obvious favourite film amongst our target audience, although this is not a coming-of-age film, but a romantic comedy, that is obviously more appealing.

Audience

The target audience for our film will be primarily females aged 15-30 as we think they will relate most to the film. We also researched into our target audience by asking them to complete a questionnaire. We uploaded the results onto our group blog: http://nnikproductions.blogspot.co.uk/

Filming

Yesterday we started filming part of the opening sequence. We filmed the main girl on her way to the party and shots of her getting ready for the party eg putting on make up.

Idea

We have changed our idea slightly as we are no longer including Christmas as a theme. We changed it because now it's January it will be difficult to include this theme.

Romantic Genre

In our group we decided to go for the romantic genre.I researched into the romantic and found a few examples of films with this genre.

Romantic films make the love story the main plot of the film. It is generally based on the two main protagonists and the obstacles they have to face during this relationship which threatens to separate them. It usually ends with the two protagonists overcoming all these obstacles and living 'Happily Ever After' together. Romantic films often base around the themes of first love/young love, love at first sight, sentimental love, unrequited love, forbidden love or tragic love. This genre is primarily targeted at women.

Institution

Pre Production

• Casting
• Financing
• Staffing
• Screen Play
• Finalizing Script
• Production Schedule
• Costume and Props
• Location Scouting

 Production

•  Footage is recorded

Post Production

•  Editing footage
• Adding graphics
• Adding special effects
• Re shooting certain scenes if required

Distribution 

•  Selling the film to the audience

Narrative

The narrative is the way the story is being told. Todorov came up with the idea that all stories go through the same 5 stages.

Todorov's 5 Stages of Narrative are:
1) Equilibrium - all is in order, 'normal' and happy
2) Disruption - a disruption to the equilibrium by the means of an event/action
3) Recognition - there is recognition that a disruption has taken place
4) Repair - an attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption
5) New equilibrium - the problem is solved and we return to a new type of equilibrium


Propp came up with the idea that characters have a narrative function

The Hero – a character that seeks something

The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest

The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties

The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message

The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims

The Helper – who aids the hero

The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots

Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Example:

Back to the Future

1) Marty Mcfly is a 17 year old who lives with his parents and older siblings. His family are all underachieving and bleak.
2) His friend, Doc invents a time machine and shows Marty how it works.
3) Marty gets sent back in time to when his parents were his age and accidentally meets his parents which stops them from meeting and falling in love  which changes the course of history.
4) He has to make sure that his parents do meet, otherwise he will have never existed.
5) He manages to make them meet returns back home to find that his family are a lot happier than before.

Other Examples:
Little Red Riding Hood
1) Little Red Riding Hood is going to see her grandma
2) She meets a wolf along the way who finds out where she is going
3) When she gets to her grandma's house she finds the wolf has dressed as her grandma and is going to eat her
4) Her grandma pulls her under the bed before he can
5) A man kills the wolf; and Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma are saved

Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On

1) The man is walking along
2) He tries to help the woman who appears to be about to jump off a building
3) She tries to kiss him and keeps harassing him
4) He tells her to leave him alone
5) She goes back to the top of the building and you see another man walking along