Practical Production: One minute film

'Dank' (Young's Productions,2016)

Production

Pre-production:

• In preparation we had to decide the genre of the film, and we decided to make a thriller film about a school drug dealing incident.
• We also had to allocate roles to the cast, for example; Skylar plays the drug buyer.
• A setting/location had to be decided and we chose the hidden areas of the school to create a realistic area for a drug deal to take place which created verisimilitude.
• Props had to be planned and either borrowed or made, we used green paper and elastic bands to create a roll of cash. To improve our use of props we could have found more realistic objects to enhance verisimilitude, as we had to use scissors as opposed to a knife.
• A camera man was to be decided and the filming equipment had to be acquired, which was to be supplied by the St. Mark's Media department.
• A storyboard was created to visualise the film before filming, this showed us character positioning and how the scenes would develop.
• Along with the storyboard we wrote a script with all the characters.
• We had to pitch and sell our product to our teacher who acted as an investor.

Production:

• Once we gained the equipment for filming we were able to go out and begin filming. The equipment that we used consisted of a camera and a tripod. Due to the lack of equipment and experience our filming process gained many flaws of which we had no control over. All lighting used was natural therefore some scenes came out too dark or shadowed, artificial lighting would enable us to film with bright and focussed lighting. Our skills with the camera were very basic and amateur therefore gaining focus when filming was a difficulty and the product came out fuzzed and not very clear.
• We used a range of angles and filming techniques, such as the use of the tripod, hand held shots and shots level with the floor.
• We did not have the use of microphones therefore sound was an issue, wind caused the dialogue to be distorted and rather quiet.

Post-production:

• Timing was an issue when editing the film as we needed more time to get use to the editing programme. We were able to put the scenes and shots into place and gave the scene background music which fitted perfectly with the genre and theme of the film.
• The film ended with a moving illustration of the film title which highlighted the film title.
• Another issue that came with the need to rush was the high chance of a mistake and we uploaded the film to Youtube without noticing that one shot of about three seconds replays itself.
• In scenes with dialogue we were able to reduce the level of the music and then raise the sound once dialogue ended.
• Our final film had a duration of 1:28 which exceeded the required 1 minute duration.

Final reflection:

• Overall I am very pleased with our film as it was our first experience with the use of a camera, and editing platforms. Our storyline was realistic and fitted the genre perfectly, and having little experience with acting I believe we did very well, performed seriously and avoided the comical side that we could have potentially not have controlled.
• I showed the film to my family, my Mother was very impressed with how well we acted in such a serious issue of the drug industry. My Brother expressed the good use of appropriate music for the situation that was created in the film. 

'Spectre' (Mendes, 2015) -Trailer Analysis

'Spectre' (Mendes, 2015)

https://youtu.be/7GqClqvlObY

The Conventions:

• The trailer provides a montage of the best parts of the film, including an exhilarating car chase, collapsing buildings, helicopter stunts and huge explosions.  
• The genre of the film is established as an action thriller as the trailer shows a build up of action leading to a thrilling ending.
• This is Daniel Craig's fourth Bond film therefore he is used significantly to sell the film and plays the biggest role in the trailer to attract an audience. 
• As the trailer progresses, the speed of visual images and clips increases to represent the thrill of the film. 
• One liners are used as it doesn't reveal too much about the film but these one liners are powerful as they set the mood and genre of the film, 'It was me James...the author of all your pain'.    
• Mixture of camera shots; helicopter shots, shots from sports car whilst during a chase, landscape shots, air plane shots.
• At the end of the trailer the title boldly appears so at the end of the fast paced trailer the viewers are memorably left the the title. 

The target audience:

• There has been 24 Bond films since Ian Fleming created the character in 1954 and so the target audience has no specific age but the target audience are fans of action thrillers, or fans of British based films. 

Distributors targeting the audience:

• The British based film is promoted with pride in British culture significantly in mind, the film is promoted across London on red buses and black taxis, on London Underground tubes, therefore the film is promoted with the same identity as the film. 

Personal response:

• This trailer successfully attracts an audience as it provides everything that is needed for a powerful action trailer. It has eye-catching explosions, fast paced chases, fatal tragedies and a well known cast. I am a huge fan of the Bond films and am very impressed with the 'Spectre' trailer, it is slick and sophisticated with the style the Bond is known for.    

Official Website: www.sonymovies.com/spectre

Social Network Sites: Twitter, Facebook

Viral Marketing: Twitter, online banners

Fan Sites: www.007.com 

Actors: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux

Director: Sam Mendes

Merchandise: Collectables, Fragrances, DVDs, Books, Clothing, Jewellery

Production Companies: Eon Productions, Columbia Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer 

Pre-Production: Budget: $245,000,000, Locations: London, Mexico City, Rome, Austrian Alps

Production: Filming took a total of 7 months during 2014-15, production began on 8th December 2014, at Pinewood Studios, Mexico City; 1500 extras for 'The Day Of The Dead' which took six months, Guinness World Record for biggest cinematic explosion filled in one shot filmed in Morocco,  8 Aston Martin Cars made for the film. 'Visceral excitement you can only get from real stunts' - Mendes (Director). 

Post-Production: Composer: Thomas Newman, the film contains over 100 minuets of music, the soundtrack was released on 23rd October 2015 in the UK, in September 2015 it was revealed that Sam Smith would collaborate for 'Writing's on the wall'. 

Distributors: Columbia Picture, MGM Pictures

Exhibitors: IMAX, BFI, Odeon, Vue, Cineworld

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' -Trailer Analysis

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' (Lawrence,2015)

https://youtu.be/3PkkHsuMrho

The Conventions: 

• The trailer shows the 'best bits', intense action scenes are shown to grab attention, for example many scenes with explosions are shown as explosions cause instant attention whether on a screen or in real life.
• The trailer must establish the genre of the film, and this is successfully shown to be an action film due to the fighting and shooting of fire arms, along with explosions.
• The big stars are promoted highly to sell the film, Jenifer Lawrence, being the main protagonist, is shown in the majority of the trailer.
• Fast visual images- quick glimpses of buildings falling, planes crashing and arrows flying. 
• The dialogue presented is usually one phrase, for example; 'Its the things we love most that destroy us'.
• Dramatic camera angles are shown, mid air shots of panes and air crafts, wide shots of significant settings, birds-eye views, landscape shots.   
• Clips of action cut straight to the title of the film which is shown at the end of the trailer. 

The target audience:

• The film has lots of action and a very well known cast so there is no specific target audience but this film would appeal to 15-30 years old. This film is part of a big franchise therefore the film already has many fans so it already has an audience.  

Distributors targeting the audience:

• The majority of social media users are of this 15-30 age, therefore promoting the film on social networking sites will target this audience. 

Personal response:

• The trailer for 'Mockingjay part one' is very engaging with class clips of powerful action. However I am not a fan of The Hunger Games films and therefore the trailer does not urge me to see the film. Despite my opinion, the franchise is very successful worldwide.  

Sixteen (Brown, 2013) -The Conventions

'Sixteen' (Brown, 2013)

https://youtu.be/JZonhJbvJ_Q

The Conventions:

• The trailer of any film must show the 'best bits' of the film. The trailer shows the main incident of the film, where the old man is stabbed. It also shows significant action scenes and the most dramatic parts as these are the essential scenes to draw in an audience.

• Another aim of the trailer is to establish the genre, and we see much suspense throughout the trailer which classifies the film as an urban thriller. The evidence of this is that hints and secrets are revealed throughout the trailer suggesting that it is leading up to a big ending. 

• The trailer should justify the main character which is completed by close ups of the main character's face, or shows lone scenes of him. 

• One liners are used to highlight significant points in the film which also show the dramatic parts of the film, 'They could have killed you, what about next time?'

Case Study: Sixteen (Brown, 2013)

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/film/sixteen-actor-roger-nsengiyumva-i-have-a-responsibility-to-speak-out-because-my-age-marks-the-time-10129509.html

Lead Actor in the film Sixteen, has personal reasons as to why he felt he was perfect for the lead protagonist in the movie. This article gives insight into his reasons. 

Case Study: Sixteen (Brown, 2013)