Poster Analysis 5

The title ‘Body of Lies’ is in large capitals in the centre of the image in red text which links to the genre signifying blood and violence. The tag line is short and bold and a strong statement. The image of a gun represents violence and war which show the genre. In the billing block, the order of the jobs it takes to make the film are as follows: Film Studio, Production, actors, Film title, Costume design, Music, Editor, A.C.E, Production design, Photography, Executive producers, Novel, Screenplay, Producer and Director. The jobs are always in capitals but in a smaller font size to the peoples’ names or the production companies which are also in capital but a larger font size. This poster advertises cinema release.

Poster Analysis 4

The title ‘X-men origins: Wolverine’ is in large capitals in the centre two-thirds down the page. The main actor was also in the previous X-men films so this creates appeal and familiarity with the audience. The title is linked to the other X-men films as this is a prequel to show a specific detail of one characters life.  In the imagery specific things are highlighted such as one male’s glasses with red light coming out and one woman’s body sparkling as well as the main character that has blades coming out of his hands. These all show that the genre of the film is supernatural and unreal but exciting. In the billing block, the order of the jobs it takes to make the film are as follows: Film Studio, Association with, Production, actor, Film title, Costume designer, Special make-up effects, Music, Co-Producer, Photography, Producers, Screenplay and the Director. The jobs are always in capitals but in a smaller font size to the peoples’ names or the production companies which are also in capital but a larger font size. This poster advertises online access.

Poster Analysis 3

The title ‘Blade Trinity’ is in a large font in capitals in the centre of the poster two thirds down. The colour is altered to look like it’s the silver of a sword and the first and last letter sharpen out like swords which is relevant to the storyline (silver and swords are used to kill vampires). The tag line ends with a full stop which creates a certainty and finality of what’s going to happen, and also shows it’s the last film in the series. Odd shaped knives are shown in the image which shows the genre is violent and supernatural. In the billing block, the order of the jobs it takes to make the film are as follows: Film Studio, Production ,Association with, film by, actor, Film title, Casting, Music supervisor , Music, Costume design, Editor, A.C.E, Production designer, Photography, Co-Producer, Executive Producer, Producer, Writer and Director. The jobs are always in capitals but in a smaller font size to the peoples’ names or the production companies which are also in capital but a larger font size. This poster advertises release into the cinema.

Poster Analysis 2

The title ‘Dear John’ in a large font in capital letters two thirds down on the left, the first word is in white and the second half is in orange to show significance between the words. The tag line is in the form of a question which sparks the interest of the audience and can persuade people to watch the film. The image is on the beach, it’s bright and colourful and the two characters are in an embrace showing that the genre of the film is based on love. In the billing block, the order of the jobs it takes to make the film are as follows: Film Studio, Production, actors, Film title, casting, CSA, costume design, Music supervisors, Music, Editor, Production designer, Photography, Executive Producer, Co-Producer, Producer, Novel, Screenplay and the Director. The jobs are always in capitals but in a smaller font size to the peoples’ names or the production companies which are also in capital but a larger font size. This poster advertises the release onto the internet.

Poster Analysis 1

The title ‘Harry Potter’ has a large font in the centre of the poster two-thirds down. The font is jagged and sharp edged to hint at the wicked nature of the film. It has dull colours to show the seriousness of the film and to show that the genre is more dark and unhappy. The three main actors are on the film poster; the public instantly connect with the characters as these three actors have played their roles for the films for many years as they are based on the exceptionally popular Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. The actors are known worldwide for their characters. The director David Yates is most well known for his work on two other Harry Potter titles, however he has also directed other films and television series. The tagline is very effective and creates curiosity which draws the audience in making them want to watch the film. There is little genre coding which would link to the film as it is supernatural yet the poster appears to be ordinary. In the billing block, the order of the jobs it takes to make the film are as follows:  Film studio, Production company, Director, Film title, actors, Costume design, Music, Editor, Production designer, photography, A.S.C, A.F.C, Executive Producer, Screenplay, Novel, Producer and Director. The jobs are always in capitals but in a smaller font size to the peoples’ names or the production companies which are also in capital but a larger font size. This poster advertises the release into the cinema.

Special Effects

There are many different special effects you can use to create different effects. Optical effects are techniques which photographically create images or in frames either on the camera e.g. multiple exposures, or in the post-production processes using an optical printer. Greenscreens and Bluescreens are used in chroma key special effects. A person or object is filmed against a blue or green background as these colours are furthest away from skin tone. Sections of the video that match the preselected colour are replaced by an alternate background video; this process is known as keying.  This makes actors appear to be in a different location which is artificially made e.g. In Harry Potter, when playing Quidditch characters fly across water which isn’t really there. There are also mechanical effects which are added for live-action shooting. These are mechanized props, scenery, scale models, pyrotechnics and atmospheric effects which create physical weathers. As we are on a low budget we couldn’t afford to do any fancy special effects. We only added special effects in post-production. On the scene where the clown goes crazy there are many light alterations and image shape changes to create confusion. Throughout the film there are places where footage is slowed down for added effect.

Bibliography: www.wikipedia.com

Titles

We kept to the classic white on black contrast for the titles and credits. The titles come up with the typical order of the jobs and the actors. They are in quick snippets which fade in and out and add to the confusion of the imagery. The title of the film ‘Fatality’ fades in as the word ‘Fate’ then the title dissolves the ‘e’ away and more text appears so the title reads ‘Fatality’. Credits were also added at the end in the typical style of the text scrolling up the screen slowly.

Sound Addition

For the titles we added a sound called ‘distortion’ which we repeated and increased the volume as it got near the end of the titles. In the end not all the music fitted the action so we cut the carnival music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuisPf8M40U and repeated it through most of the scenes. Then the scenes where the clown goes crazy we used the distorted clown music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuNdgQkOkk but sped it up for some parts and repeated it. We also added sound effects of the cello tape being ripped off the car windscreen to show significance.

Finalised Editing

When we had all done our own sections of editing, we had to connect all our scenes together to make our finalized film. After the titles we left a gap of a blank screen before the first scene fades in as we put the title ‘the first day’ and planned on starting the music in the blank screen which would create curiosity. The first day was already connected to the second day with a fade out then the title ‘the second day’ appears and the action fades in. The second day fades out, the text ‘the third day’ appears and the third day fades in. Then the third day fades out, the text ‘the final day’ appears and the action fades in. As the text reads ‘the final day’ it shows there will be a change in the narrative and keeps the attention of the viewer. At the end the scene fades out and the credits automatically appear. The only thing that needs to be done after this is adding the sound.

Rough-Cut Meeting

We had a rough-cut meeting when we all had our sections nearly finished. We discussed what we needed to do to get things completely finished and decided when we could get it done. At this time we reviewed each others scenes and noticed mistakes and made changes where appropriate to ensure our film is as good as possible.  We also were able to sample music and get a rough idea of what we wanted in each scene.

Editing

When editing we decided that we would all do a bit of editing each so we all edited our own scenes. For my own scene I had the third day where the male gets mugged by two girls. I kept the editing pace the same for the scene up until the ticket is dispensed so it would be the same as the other two days. There are many short dissolves used in the clown scene to make the action flow more smoothly. The sound volume is turned down as the wind was very noisy through most of the scene; however we had to turn it up when the mugger was talking despite the wind so her voice was more audible. We also changed the pitch of the speech to make her voice sound lower. The editing pace quickens as the man gets mugged then fades out at the end to show the day has passed.

Shooting Diaries 5

 For the titles we filmed the clown in a dark cupboard with a torch creating disorientating imagery. We panned the camera to show different angles of the clown mask; with the lighting it creates a creepy image.

Shooting Diaries 4

Adele's House-

When we reviewed all our footage, yet again we realized there were a few faults so we decided we needed to film again. These were shots including the box so we decided to re-shoot round Adele’s house as we didn’t have time to go back to Felixstowe.

Shooting Diaries 3

Felixstowe-

We went back to Felixstowe for our third day of filming to get the rest of the footage filmed. We had also reviewed what footage we had at sixth form and decided that we needed to re-film a few shots such as our back tracking. We were more organized on our previous day of filming and so close to the end we were determined to get it all finished. Filming ran smoothly we got everything else we needed including all the car scenes, the mugging scene and the drive by visions of the clown.

Shooting Diaries 2

Felixstowe-

On our second day of filming we went to Felixstowe. We aimed to get it all finished but it was an unrealistic target. We got the majority of the footage with the clown finished and the starting scenes of the four days. However it became dark fairly quickly so we couldn’t film anymore as the shots would go from daylight to darkness and wouldn’t transition properly. Also the camera doesn’t pick up footage that well in the dark.

Shooting Diaries 1

Paiges house-

On our first day of filming we decided to shoot the last scene which was in Paige’s house. We got the footage of the male getting in the house going upstairs and eventually hiding from the clown. We got all the footage filmed; it took quite a long while as we were unorganized. We now knew that we needed to really get on with filming when it came round to going to Felixstowe.

Planning Schedule

We planned to film on two separate days to get the house scenes done in one day and the scenes in Felixstowe on another day. I made sure we got some extra days we were all free as I believe we always need back-up days so we can go out if anything needs re-filming.

Target Audience

Knowing our target audience for the film is for older teenagers and young adults helped greatly in casting decisions and the narrative. We picked a tall young man in his twenties four our lead male. Clowns are supposed to make children happy but we put a twist on it and made the clown sinister. We also created a scene where the character is mugged which fits in with the stereotype of teenagers being bad and unruly. For the setting we picked amusements which are an attractive location for teenagers which in turn addresses our target audience. As this is a showcase film we are aware film producers may view the content so we will show a variety of camera shots and movements, music addition, editing and mise en scene to present our talent.

Storyboard

Music ideas

We all decided we needed eerie music to add depth to the imagery. I spent a lot of time looking on Youtube to find the most suitable music. We all like the idea of carnival music but a creepy version to create the tension. I found many different examples such as creepy carnival music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuisPf8M40U , music box: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hio1fHy_3HM&feature=related, circus music:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi_KAT8X6l8, distorted music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuNdgQkOkk. I also looked around to find a clowns laugh as we thought it would have a good effect however I never found anything of good sound quality or serious enough to use.

Dialogue

The part of the film I am responsible for requires a small amount of dialogue. The female will read this dialogue to the main character before she attacks him and robs him ‘I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place.’ This is from the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 9, Verse 18. The purpose of the quote is that the ultimate goal is Krsna, Krsna is like a god, everything exists on his energy, and therefore he is the eternal cause of all causes. This relates back to our idea of fate and that you can’t escape it. That fate is everywhere and everything happens for a reason. Throughout the rest of the film there is no other speech but this is very typical of short films as it adds impact and showcases other skills.

Costume

For our film we considered using either a clown mask, face paint or a full suit. We decided we needed full body suit to create a bigger impact on the viewers. We looked through many sites online to find an outfit and settled on a very suitable outfit call ‘Bobo the clown’ which is very creepy looking. Once this was settled we also had to decide on how we were going to dress our lead male. At first we thought of maybe changing the colour of his suit to show each separate day. In the end we decided to change the colour and patterns of the tie the male wore as we thought it would look odd if he changed suit everyday and more fitting to change tie.

Locations

As a group we started off with no idea as to where we could film. As we decided fate was going to be the main theme in the film we followed the route of circus and carnival and came up with the amusements at Felixstowe. It’s not too far away so it wouldn’t cost too much to get there and we all know the area well. The fact that the seaside is supposed to be a fun place adds depth to the narrative of our film as it’s disturbing and strange. For the house scenes it had to be one of the groups house. We were going to film the different rooms in different houses but realized that it wouldn’t edit together and transition smoothly. So we used Paige’s house for all of the house scenes.

Production meeting

We decided that for the film the clown was going to be in a box so it looks like a realistic machine. Adele’s granddad kindly made our box for us, it was very large and we realized we may have a problem. We decided to call a meeting and discussed our options. We wouldn’t be able to take a box of that size to Felixstowe by train so we had to find out whose car would hold a box that big. It wouldn’t fit in one car so we tried Adele’s boyfriend Luke’s car and it just about fit but had to be tied down securely. Our lead male could drive so he took the rest of us in his car as there was no room left in Luke’s car.

Casting

For casting we had to find actors to play the lead male, the clown, a male in the first scene and how many for the mugging scene. We considered who we knew and decided that a member of our group’s family friend could play the lead male especially since he has acted in the Wolsey theatre. We were looking for someone in his mid twenties who looked more mature and would make the film more realistic and serious. To cut down on transport issues and availability we decided that one of the group could play the clown to ensure we got the filming done. We used one of the group member’s boyfriends to play the male in the first scene as he is a young adult and there’s a more stereotypical view of teens being troublesome. There was a lot of debate as to how many muggers we would have and who would play them. At first we wanted a group mugging, and then we decided two or three would be better. My brother and a couple of his friends were going to play the part as they are all tall young boys; we thought it would play well with representation. However, we decided that it may be more effective to use females so Karlene (one of the group) and her friend were going to play the part. Yet again we hit another problem as her friend was not available when we were, so we decided Paige (one of the group) should join Karlene in the scene as availability continued to be a problem with those outside of the group.

Distribution

Together we decided that as our film is a short film it would be distributed online to sites such as www.Youtube.com. This is where many people show short films to either express a cause they believe needs to be heard or to use as a showcase of peoples talents such as being the actor, director or editor. This is where people are most likely to be noticed for their talents.