Research and planning: magazine title

After searching through a list of film industry words and phrases I narrowed the list down to
Backdrop
Blockbuster
Cinerama
F/X
Buzz

I decided on "Buzz" as i think this is appropriate for the magazine and is used to emphasise the hype created around a film.

Research and planning: Drafts Film poster

Research and Planning: Publication Plan

Publication plan on Prezi

Research and planning: Film magazine first draft

Research and planning: Magazine analysis

Target audience: The target audience for this film is I would say was late teens and adults, this is due to the font that is used and the colour implies violence which due to regulation is nowadays associated with mature teens and older, although the picture itself gives off a more creepy feel, this may mean that the audience who watch this may be looking to be scared by the film psychologically rather than through gore, therefore the red may only be there to imply moderate violence. Also Leonardo Di Caprio is associated with more mature films as well so the actor helps to attract the audience. the style of writing and the colour and picture also help to create a thriller look to the cover, and so this will help attract an audience who watch thriller films. Leonardo Di Caprio is also an actor who teenage girls will be attracted too therefore this also enforces the target audience as being for more mature teens. The coat that Leonardo is wearing is usually associated with detectives, this may mean that it is a film where something has to be solved meaning the audience may play a more active role in the film rather than being passive  to its content and storyline.

Genre: You can see instantly from the front cover that this is a film magazine, the title "total film" makes this blatant, and also anybody who watches film will recognise the actor Leonardo Di Caprio and the film "AVATAR". The main image is of the main character of the film in "Shutter Island" which by the way the it is being portrayed I would deem as a psychological thriller, as the mist doesn't imply excessive violence but it does give a creepy feel to the cover. The red colour scheme mixed with the misty blue also gives a thriller feel, as it implies blood and violence but along the more psychological lines, due to the mist and the connotations that come with it such as fear and the "unknown".

Narrative:  The magazine does not give to much of the film away except the genre which is implied through the picture and the colour scheme, also the actor shows that the film is of a high budget as the actor may be considered an A-Lister. The jacket worn by Leonardo would be associated with a detective so therefore this may show the audience that the film is about solving a problem of some sort. The magazine also gives an idea of the setting of the film with the phrase "Leo takes over the asylum" this shows me two things:
1. The film is set in an asylum, the connotations that come with that tend to be people who suffer from psychological problems, this can be linked with the genre being a psychological thriller.
2. The article within the film may be looking at Leonardo Di Caprio role within the film as the abbreviation of his name "Leo" implies that the magazine and the actor have become close, maybe even friends.

Representation: Leonardo Di Caprio seems to be portrayed as a sort of detective implying that the film may have some action within it, as these are the roles he normally plays. Leonardo normally plays a "Good Guy" roles within films but his facial expressions give him a sort of "bad boy" image, this could be implying that he is a sort of rogue cop, especially when looked at alongside the detective coat and police badge.

Media language: the magazine is very conventional as it has the masthead at the top in a large font, but the majority of the magazine is taken up by the picture of the film.  The title of the film that is the main heading has a larger font and also the font of the headings suits the type of genre the film is.
There is also a smaller picture of the film avatar but even this is inferior to the shutter island picture and it is surrounded by a border that fits the style of the main film, implying that Shutter Island is more important in this weeks issue of the magazine.

Research and Planning: Location recees

research and planning: risk assessment

Research and planning: Mise-en-scene

Setting: There are two settings for our film a storage container and a desolate car park.

Props: I've considered all of the props needed and have listed them in the following blog...
Research and planning: costumes and props list

Costumes: Also have been considered and are considered in the following blog...
research and planning: costumes and props list

Make-up: As the man being held captive has been injured and will have suffered from some trauma, make-up will be needed to give the effect of him being deteriorated and hurt. therefore white powder may be used to make him look pale and fake blood will be used to show his injuries.

Colour: The colour of the trailer will have a green tinge to it, this will give the trailer a "grungy" look that I believe will help enforce the genre of thriller.

Lighting: lighting will be quite dark throughout the trailer as it emphasises the genre, also it is closer to how dark it would be in a closer container with only a small amount of light.

Composition: Some of the shots and angles that will be used in the trailer will be used to play a mind-game with the audience. Such as having the actor positioned further to one side of the screen rather than in the middle, this will make the audience focus on the darkness he is in a re-enforce the fear of being help hostage.

Research and Planning: Week schedule

Thursday: Location recces.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Acting auditions.
Monday: Filming
Tuesday: Filming
Wednesday: Filming

Research and Planning: Codes And Conventions Of A Film Poster

When I see a film trailer I expect to see the following things:

The slogan is used to give a cue to the idea and plot of the film. It also helps emphasize the title of the film. usually the actors name is given above the Film title but is in a smaller font so it does not take up to much room and demand more attention than necessary. The main character or most important part of the film usually takes up the most space as this is what the producers of the poster want the audience to look at. The background and effects are there to help make the film look attractive and also give ideas into what the film genre and plot is.

After considering these convention this is one of the ideas and designs for my film poster.

Research and Planning: Film poster analysis

Genre:  Psychological Thriller, the blurred face seems to make Ryan Reynolds look like he his shouting and moving is head in rapid motion, this implies that he is in some sort of distress. as the name of the film is buried I can figure it is about being buried alive, which would cause more psychological distress rather than physical.

Narrative:  The climax of the film is not revealed but the basic plot is given away. Man buried in a box in the desert with a phone and time running out. The film is clearly about the man trying to get out of the box using his mobile phone. Why he is in the box and who put him there is not given away.

Media language/Layout: Orange is used as this is given off by the flame being used to provide "buried man" with his only source of light. the edges are black to show how dark it would be without the lighter, and also a bit of mud can be seen over the top of the poster to emphasise the idea of being buried. The mans face is also distorted which mirrors a distressing and confusing situation that he is in.

Audience: The audience will be mature teenagers and adults as the poster does not seem to show any kinds of physical violence but leans more towards psychological distress, which means more mature teenagers would be able to watch a film like this without it causing them any emotional problems. i would therefore say this film was rated ...

Representation: The man within the trailer the man is portrayed as being disorientated and suffering from some serious distress, which is why the blurring of the face is used. Also the man takes up a considerable amount of the poster, this shows that his situation is cramped and also with the dirt running along the top of the poster this enforces the concept of the film and the title "buried" and the idea of being buried alive.

Research and Planning: New prop list

Research and Planning : Animated Storyboard

This is a rough idea of what my trailer is going to look like.

Research and planning: New storyboard

We have decided that the story of our film is going to change slightly due to the bad lighting in the container used to film our original idea. This also means a change to the magazine front cover will have to change as the character will no longer be in the container and therefore the main heading is redundant. The image below is a rough idea of our new storyboard and teaser trailer.

Research and planning: Teaser trailer rough idea

This trailer was a test run for filming, it gave us a rough idea of what things we were going to have to do on the filming day and also helped us to play around with certain shot types to find out what was effective in emphasising our genre and what wasn't. It also gave us some clips that could get us used to using movie editor software and again finding out what efefcts may be used such as the slow motion effect in this trailer we decided would not be used in our trailer.

Research and Planning: Analysis of Teaser Trailer

Genre: The genre of this trailer is a Psychological Thriller, I get this impression from the way that most of the trailers cinematography and effects are used to create suspense rather than try and scare an audience with gore and violence. Also the people who are trying to attack the couple wear headgear that looks "creepy" and is used to try and scare the audience and the characters within the film psychologically rather than physically.

Target Audience: I would say this film was aimed a late teens 15 or over, mainly because the film doesn't seem to show any sort of violence which usually comes with an 18 certificate, also the film seems more Psychological thriller rather than horror, so these sort of films tend to get a lighter certificate.

Narrative: The plot of the film is given a lot of substance in this trailer, it is clearly about a group of people trying to attack or scare the couple. Wether the violence is going to get physical is unknown as at no point in the trailer do you see anybody getting hurt by the group, it merely shows close encounters such a the axe breaking through the door. he ending of the film is not given away either, as the trailer leaves you wondering why the people are after this couple and wether the couple are going to survive or not.

Media Language: the sound used at the beginning creates an creepy feel around the film, letting the audience know that something is going to happen, the music eventually picks up with the pace of the editing till the eventual climax of the trailer. Also the mise-en-scene implies that the couple are a regular group of people who have a normal lifestyle as this is given off from the clothing and house they own. The group who are after the couple on the other hand are portrayed as slightly psychotic as the mask is there to freak people out, this means that the group are probably going to cause some sort of harm, but the scenes that are shown in the trailer leave the audience wondering what sort of harm they are going to cause.

Research and Planning: Costumes and prop list

Research and Planning: Software/equipment list

to start our production, we need to acquire certain tools that help make the teaser trailer. The list below is a list of the software/equipment we will need:
HD camcorder
microphone
lighting
Digital camera
I-MAC
Photoshop
PC
Adobe after effects
sony vegas 9.0
Final cut express

Research and Planning: Production Schedule

To give oursleves a rough estimate of when we will be making certaing parts of our film trailer and also to help work out when will be best to make the magazine and poster we have made a production schedule.

Some of the areas that are to be done are being worked on at the same time this is usually due to somebody else within the group will be doing one thing whilst another person does another, this is due to the areas we have placed oursleves in e.g. I am going to be in control of mise en scene whilst others may be doing sound and editing. It is also due to certain criteria that needs to be completed are very similar in what is needed and therefore will work better when worked with alongside other criteria e.g. doing the storyboard at the same time as the script saves time, or doing my drafts for my poster the same time i make drafts for the magazine.

Action trailer music

To make this I used GarageBand and applied layers upon each other to create the music for an Action theme trailer

Research and planning: Storyboard

Trailer: Film locations

To try and find some filming locations we looked at some websites that provided filming locations at a price. I emailed one company about a location, but unfortunately the location cost £1000 for a full days filming. This is too much to pay, so the group and me will go and look for our own locations that are suitable for our film.

Trailer: Film Idea

After speaking with the members of my group we have decided to create an almost psychological thriller. The film will start with a news headline saying that a Multi-millionaire has gone missing, this will be a close up shot of the tv and the shot will have an effect that puts the blurry lines that you get across a tv when there is a bad signal. The scene will then end and it will switch to a microphone hung up in the corner of a dark derelict room, the camera will slowly pan out as a voice from the speaker acts as a narrative. As the camera pans out it goes of the persons shoulder who is being kept hostage, he is startled and wakes.
The film title will be "Captive" as this fits the idea that the man is being kept against hiss will, and his this word also carries a negative connotation with it.

Research and planning: Audience theories

The hypodermic model:

The hypodermic mode suggests that messages from the media are "injected" straight into our brains. Some theorists suggests that the media can be addictive; like drugs.

Cultivation theory:

The more people watch media the more likely people are to have their world view influenced by the media. The problem is that it will make people develop false views of the world.

Desensitisation:

This theory suggests that the more violence people are exposed to the less people are affected by it: it is said that more violence seen on screen makes us desensitised to real life violence.

Modelling theory:

Also known as the copycat theory and it suggests that whatever people see in the media causes people to copy the actions and behaviour seen. No research supports this interpretation, and is normally maintained by the press.                                        

Uses and gratifications theory:

The theory says that people interpret media differently depending on their personality situation and background. it says media does not change beliefs already developed over a persons life.

Research and planning: My pitch

This is the pitch I produced to the class to show my ideas for the film I wanted to create. After talking with my team we aren't going to follow through with this idea and are going to produce a horror movie instead.

Planning and Research: Genre

The Genre of a film is defined by it's narrative elements and code and conventions. Some well-known genres are action, comedy, romance and horror, and all of these genres have different techniques used to help the audience grasp the genre and also enforce what is expected of the genre.

Action 
An action film usually consists of moderate violence, usually 2 groups of individuals portrayed as good or bad. The film is usually fast paced to create suspense and may contain special effects to create an over-exaggerated situation usually making the "good guy" within the film seem almost superhuman.

Comedy
A film that is made to amuse and make the audience laugh. There are also different categories of comedy, due to the diversity in peoples humour. There is a realistic humour such as films like superbad which follows a sort of mundane life of regular people, these films tend to be quite slow as to creat the effect of a real life situation. then there may be films such as anchorman which creates surreal situations and over-exaggerated comedy acting to create the comedy effect.

Horror
Usually unsettling films that play with the audiences emotions such as fear, disgust and shock. Tend to use clever angles or cinematography to create suspense and to catch the audience unaware, it may also use gore and violence to try and scare the audience.

Romance
A film that usually involves 2 people falling in love and overcoming obstacles to be with each other, or maybe not being able to get past the obstacles at all. The film usually has a normal pace to it as the idea is for the audience to empathize with the people involved in the romance, therefore the normal pace mirrors the regular pace of normal life.

Research and Planning: Trailers

After deciding on a horror/thriller film idea that we are going to produce for our teaser trailer, I decided to look at other similar teaser trailer films that use the same effects I feel are needed in my teaser trailer and also too get ideas and conventions from the trailer that I could use.
One trailer I found that I felt created the suspense and also used some of the conventions I wanted was the 'panic room' teaser trailer:

The quite beginning and steady increase in suspense is what I was looking to do in the trailer, also the music is not too heavy but it is still effective in creating an atmosphere of wonder around the trailer

Research and planning: Questionnaire

To find out what the target audience is for my horror movie, and also find out some information on what people want in a teaser trailer i compiled a questionnaire that I will give to people to fill out. I will then interpret the information to help make my teaser trailer.

From this I learnt that people who like Horrors may also like Thrillers, and also that the film certificates on films people watch is dependant on their age. As the people who watch thriller and horrors have tended to be under 18 and watched films with a 15 certificate I am going to make my film a psychological thriller, as it tends to be gruesome violence that would put my film or trailer up to an 18 as it may be deemed inappropriate, and due to the media causing a moral panic around theories such as the copycat theory I wouldn't want to make the film to gruesome as the media would assume that it will provoke similar violence in society and therefore the BBFC would have to put the film out as an 18.

Research and planning: Actor release forms

Research and planning: Certificates

U- Appropriate for all ages.
PG-Parental guidance needed as some content may not be viewed as appropriate for children.
12a-In cinemas and means children under 12 ca watch with the presence of an adult
12-Only viewed by 12+.
15-Only viewed by 15+
18-Only viewed by 18+
R-Only to be sold in specialist shops with a license.

Research and Planning: The Test

This is a trailer i did to get used to working in a group and also to try out certain ideas and editing skills.
I used black and white to create the effect that this moment is not in the present but more like a recalled memory r something that happened in the past. The angles used were used to make the officer look superior so I used a high angle shot looking up at the officer, and to make the arrested look inferior I used low angle shots to looking down on her.

Also to help emphasise the idea that this is a conversation between two people and they are connected only by the situation rather than previous scenes or experiences, I used shot revers shot as this helps to see both ends of the conversation without creating a close bond between the two characters.

Research and Planning: Poster

After looking through film genres, and seeing what techniques are used in action genres, I have made my own action film poster. To refresh myself with photoshop and also to test my own ideas for the film poster im will be making for the project.

Pilot Blog...

Welcome to my Blog,

The Blog is going to be my planning and presentation project for the next year,

all containing information on the ups-and-downs of my advanced media portfolio.

So stay in touch for the next blog on "The Media
Dogg's MONSTER Blog!"