update

Today Georga and I made some decisions on what we are going to do.
We have decided we are going to do horror/thriller and romantic-comedy as a back up plan

Update

Today in my free period I went to the media room and finished off all of our editing which is fantastic news for the rest of the group as they dont have to do much else. Next time we meet in lesson we will be choosing some music to lay over the top of it.

The finishing product looks pretty good.
the continuity editing was hard to start with but we have now got the hang of things.

Questionnaire

Here is my questionnaire i will be giving to people to fill out.

Questionnaire

What Film Genre do you like best?

[ ] Horror

[ ] Thriller
[ ] Chick Flick

[ ] Romantic Comedy

[ ] Comedy

[ ] Action

[ ] Other   (if so what) __________________

Who is your favourite actor?

[ ] Robert Pattinson

[ ] Shia La Bouef

[ ] Rachel Mcadams

[ ] Miley Cyrus

[ ] Sylvester Stallone

[ ] Megan Fox

[ ] Amanda Seyfried

[ ] Ryan Reynolds

[ ] Julia Roberts

[ ] Daniel Craig

[ ] Other (if so who?) ___________________

If you were to buy a film from this list what would you buy?

[ ] twilight

[ ] mean girls

[ ] Transformers

[ ] disturbia

[ ] harry potter

[ ] Hannah Montana the movie

[ ] mamma mia

[ ] John tucker must die

[ ] iRobot

[ ] Pearl harbour

[ ] Toy story

[ ] Titanic

[ ] Hero

[ ] Jennifer’s body

[ ] Shaun of the dead

[ ] love actually

[ ] Girl with the dragon tattoo

[ ] social networking

the age group i will be asking is 15-18 year olds.

This will help me and Georga determine what film we will be making.

soundtrack research

films such as Twilight use well-known bands like Paramore. 

Me and Georga might make our own music for our opening.

4.3.2.1 similar film to our genre

Updates

Today my group have been editing on our preliminary task,
we found it quite easy as we had a tutorial on editing from
an older student. We done some continuity editing but 
at times found it exceptionally difficult due to the dialogue
in the scenes.

I have spoken to my fellow student Georga,
We have provisionally agreed that we will work
together for our 2 minute film task.

We have discussed the advantages and disadvantages
of working in a pair but we feel that the work
combined together will get us into a better grade boundary

As i said this is only provisional but if one of us decides that
we want  to work alone then we will do this.

December Research and Planning Mark

Shelby,

You have analysed some relevant 2 minute openings and have done some good planning. Your blog is presented clearly and you analyse in detail. It is good to see you have an idea for your opening already and have researched accordingly. Your online diary is also going well as is your use of photos etc

Targets:
Planning - questionnaire/shot lists/storyboard/animatic/mood board etc are all tasks you need to start thinking about over the next month
Research - When analyisng opening 2 minutes - discuss the order of titles and credits etc - when does the directors name come up - over the action or over black screen etc

Mark:
At the moment we are looking at B grade territory - well done!

Shane meadows

10 points from Joe Queenan's guide to horror film cliches

1. If the Japenese started making horror movies that did not revolve around creepy little girls who come back from the dead to avenge themselves on other,even creepier little girls,no one would go to see them.

2. If zombies didnt constantly turn up in unusual places - convenience stores,high-rise student housing,rural Pennsylvania - aficionados would drop the subgenre just like that.

3. Small children are often evil in horror movies,a tradition that descends from The Bad Seed and The Exorcist and The Omen.

4. Teens in horror movies are usually spoiled brats who deserve to die. They are always the products of broken homes. This is why they are so often home alone.

5.Horror movies almost always contain a scene in which a woman washes her face in a sink, and when she straightens up and looks in the mirror, a girl missing half her face is starting directly back at her.

6. Horror films work best in rural settings, because rustics are scary in and of themselves, and because there are lots of frightening farm tools on hand,and also because there are no neighbours to beg for help when the flaying and amateur surgery get into full swing

7. Horror movies also contain lots of scenes in which the living dead or the living undead zip past an open door or window,but nobody sees them.

8. Women constantly take showers in horror films, even though this has been a terrible idea ever since Psycho.

9.In a horror movie, you should never purchase a dirt-cheap house or apartment without making detailed inquiries about how many previous tenants were skinned alive in the pantry.

10.Never go into a darkroom alone,because someone in the film you are developing will come to life and rip your lungs open. Finally never answer te phone in a horror movie.To avoid disaster,text.

updates (again)

above: on set of our preliminary task when i was locked in a cubicle. see later

below: we has to make a sign so filming didn't get interrupted, not only did this look dodgy but there were a group of boys being taught in the room opposite. oops!

hello :)
we have finally done the long awaited preliminary task which was immense fun! i have been so excited about doing the task and thought it would be super easy but as i found out - i was completely wrong.

For the 2 minute film task, i was thinking about working alone but just from filming this preliminary task i have decided i am more than willing to work in a group and all of us contribute ideas.

because we had a triple media lesson we had some time to plan out what we were going to do for the task. 2 of us out of the group take drama (me and gemma) and i had an idea for the location which was the girls toilets. In class time we planned out our camera shots who was going to be who and even managed to get our friend nicole involved in her free period.

Being involved in drama i love to act so i wasn't behind the camera much in this task but when not in shot i helped with camera work and gave my opinions and advice to the person that was behind the camera. We found the tripod quite handy but also at times very hard to use.

As i want to be involved in TV acting when i am older this also gave me an insight into what it would be like. We had to do the scene many times say the line and match the actions everytime we shot it. There were also many outtakes. And a point during the two hours where i sat in a toilet cubicle for about half an hour.Overall i enjoyed the making of our preliminary task.

Next lesson a year 13 student will come in and share some editing experience and we will get to edit together our preliminary task which i am excited for.

As soon as i can i shall post our preliminary task.

certificates

These are the ratings from bbfc.co.uk

our film would be a 12A

This is a pre-preliminary task

Evaluation:

Things that worked well:

locker shots
overlaying music

Things that didnt work:

keeping the camera steady
using the tripod smoothly
continuity editing

Things that i could have done better:

editing
better microphone
more shots when the two people are in conversation

update

Soon in class we will be making our preliminary tasks which is quite exciting. I will post it on my blog :)

Possible Target Audience for My Film

It is most important to check out the categories and tick off each one too make you film successful. My film which at the moment provisionally is a chick flick is aimed at 13-17 year old females. To make my film appealing and to make profit if i were to release i would have to consider

Age
whats suitable for 13-17 year olds? i would have to bear in mind that something suitable for a 17 year old will most probably not be suitable for 13 year olds. Also a relevant storyline/narrative, i would have to do more research into what is going on in teen life at the moment. Obviously there is the obvious heartbreak and the 'gay' bestfriend. I will also have to think carefully not to make my characters to stereotypical, I will have to include characters that can relate to teenagers but make sure they are not too cheesy.

Gender
In the cinema, recent surveys showed that male audiences dominate. My film is targeted more at girls but i will have to also think of the boys that will go to see it with there girlfriends, have something for them to watch also. Maybe like 'freaky friday' the annoying little brother harry and the grandpa who are quite humourous and immature.

some other things i may want to think about are

Location,
Occupation,
Lifestyle choices,
Political backgrounds,
ethnicity and attitudes.

update

In class recently we have been editing our practice tasks. The way you edit will give a definite effect to the audience.

Genre: Romance - The Notebook

here is an extract written by Joe Queenan The Guardian

'According to popular lore, the romantic film is based on a simple formula: boy meets girl, boy loses girl,boy finds girl again'

This is societies general stereotypical view of a romantic film.

Genre: Musical - Camp Rock Opening

Camp Rock is a budget Walt Disney film that wasn't released in cinemas but the companies childrens channel 'Disney Channel'. The film was directed by Matthew Diamond. The film starts a long shot of a house with 'Disney Channel Original Movie' in text that last for around 5 seconds and then the title logo of the film is presented to us with the sound of a clean guitar. The genre is stated when the clean guitar rocks with the logo, also the title 'Camp ROCK' suggests music, The genre is also stated in the first two minutes as we are introduced to the main character 'Mitchie' in her bedroom where she has a guitar, piano and 'Mitchies Songs' book which appears several times.

The character is VERY stereotypical american girl which isn't unusual as it is made by Disney. But I must credit how clearly the character is presented and introduced which needs to be clear as this is aimed at a younger aged audience from approximately 6 years old to 14 although I've heard most of my friends who are 16-18 almost broke their legs to watch the second installment in September 2010. (not mentioning any names).

I think the first opening minutes achieve the genre,location and description of character and plot.

Genre: thriller - disturbia

Disturbia is a hugely successful movie that earned profit at the box office, this film stars Shia La Bouef (Even Stevens,I Robot,Transformers) and David Morse, both incredibly talented actors, David Morse is a method actor and In an interview La Bouef stated Morse told him not to talk to him because it would ruin the connection of the characters.

The film starts with production company Dreamwork sequence that lasts for around 7 seconds and then we are left with a black screen for around 10 seconds while a voice-over accompanies.  The Genre is not given away in the first two minutes of the film, the genre is revealed later on in the film along with the plot. If I were analysing the first 10 minutes i would have alot more to say about this film as it is one of my all time favourite films.

The main character is identified in this first scene, we are told alot about him.

I think the first opening minutes achieve the genre,location and description of character and plot.

Genre: family - toy story opening

Toy Story is a very successful film that was released in cinemas 22 March 1996. The film was directed by John Lasseter starring popular actors Tom hanks (Big) and Tim Allen. The film starts with production company sequences Pixar and Walt Disney which is then followed by the opening plot line. The genre is clear to the audience straight away as it is an animated film which uses bold childish colours.The movie starts with the main character Andy playing with his toys which also suggests the genre. At around 1:50 the main plot line is introduced to us and a sharp camera animated movement is made which is effective

The character is introduced to us in the first 2 minutes as the stereotypical boy child playing with his toys and being imaginitive.


I think the first opening minutes achieve the genre,location and description of character and plot.

Updates

Over the past couple of weeks in class, we have been having pre-practice preliminary task camera activities. Asandile and I found it difficult to hold a steady non-shaky hand with our camera and we then found out more about the tripod. We adjusted the length of the legs.

The tripod was also good for moving the camera smoothly from side to side or in a curved shape.

I have had a few more ideas for the main task to do a musical. I will be researching into musicals and will be posting some more analysis on my blog.