PLANNING: TREATMENT

I learned from Frank Ash, the creative consultant at the BBC academy about what Digital Storytelling: how to connect with an audience through a relevant story to create suspense and anticipation. Frank devised this into a series of questions, in which you have to answer in your piece. These questions were: The Top line, and the Big question. 
Frank later went on to explain that when making a production you must work out what you as an audience member would want from a story. He also talks about how you must put your self into the shoes of an audience member in order to discuss what universal themes or ideas you want to convey, that connect all humans together. 
If this can be achieved, it would mean that the audience would be able to relate to your main message and can really understand the production later on. They might even be able to put themselves into your story. This all comes under the umbrella idea of social trends.
He finishes off by saying, if you can answer all these questions, you will be more confident when coming to making decisions about your own productions. 

When thinking of ideas for our production, we found that murder mystery had been in the news recently as the film 'Knives out' had started its advertising campaign and started gaining momentum. This gave us the inspiration to use the enigma genre, and we brainstormed our USP, and decided to reignite the love for Film Noir and use that approach. 

We then came up with our Top Line and Big Question:

Top Line: On a cold night, a man is walking home from work when he is brutally murdered in an alley way. Detective Swanson, a close friend of the victim, is put on the case and he suspects the mafia, and it is up to him to find the truth, whatever it takes.

Big Question: Will the detective solve the murder

Rogue One - A Star Wars Story

• Who produced the film?

Kathleen Kennedy and Allison Shearmur

• Who directed the film? 

Gareth Edwards 

• What other films have they directed? 

Star Wars: the last Jedi

End day 

Monsters 

Godzilla  

• What was the budget? 

Gross: $265 million Net: $219.5 million

• What was the Box office?

1.056 billion USD ($)

• Who stars in it? 

Felicity Jones

Diego Luna 

Riz Ahmed 

• What other films have they been in?

Felicity jones has been in: The theory of everything, on the basis of sex. Inferno 

Diego Luna has been in: Narcos: Mexico 

Riz Ahmen has been in: Venom, The night of, The sister’s brother 

• What technology has been used to make the film? (What cameras did they use? How was the film edited? What CGI was involved?) 

They used a computer-generated imagery was utilised in order to bring Catherine Fisher's character (Princess Leia) to life as she sadly died during the creation of the film.  

• How was the film marketed? Which different marketing tools were used?

Lucasfilm released a teaser trailer for Rogue One April 7^th 2016. It was praised by reviewers and critics for the portrayal of strong female characters. The film is one of the only Star Wars films with a lead female role. The trailer was viewed 30 million times in it’s first 29 hours, Rogue One was promoted at the Star Wars celebration Europe III event in London. During the event, a new official poster was unveiled, a second set of teaser trailers was also unveiled and was screened exclusively for the audience at the event. Streaming platforms like YouTube were not allowed to screen it live until the official release of the trailer. 

 • What examples of synergy with other products/merchandise can you find? 

When the film was released it had many items of merchandise referencing many characters within the film made and sold in Disney stores. This is because back in October of 2012 Disney acquired the rights to star wars which meant it could exclusively sell star wars merchandise through their stores. This meant all star wars merch sold went straight to their bank accounts. LEGO Star Wars Rogue One sets were released which also helped to keep the film relevant.

• What examples of cross media convergence can you find? 

Walt Disney supports the film by selling merchandise in their stores, which are exclusive. 

• What examples of technological convergence can you find? 

Through the use of their official app, on the app you can take a selfie of yourself as a Jedi and share it on social media, this is then shared around to other people giving them the option do it as well. This is an example of free publicity as people who are uploading it to their social medias are giving more people exposure to the Star Wars brand

• Where and when was this film released (nationwide, worldwide) and in what cinemas?

The film premiered in Los Angeles, California on December 10^th 2016 and was released in cinemas in the USA on the 10^th December 2016 and then in the UK on the 13^th December 2016.  

• What formats was it available in (digital / 3D etc…)? 

DVD format and online streaming platforms such as Apple TV, Disney Plus and also on blu-ray and 3D. 

• Who is the target audience?

The target audience for this film is extremely broad. This is mainly down to the fact that Star Wars has been a franchise that has been around for so long, and many people have heard of it and watched it. The ideal target audience according to BBFC is a 12A meaning people under the age of 12 can watch accompanied by an adult. The film is unisex.

RESEARCH: AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

I used Google forms as a medium to ask my audience questions as to what they wanted in  a film and to find out their common ways they watch films and their favourite genres in order to see if our film would appeal to some people. 
Google forms is a very simplistic method for those to take the questionnaire and the interface is very easy to use. Through the use of Google forms I was able to collect data (consensually) about my audience which will be easy to represent visually and graphically in order to gain quantitative and qualitative information.

These are the questions I intend to ask on my Google Form:
What is your gender?
What age are you?
What are your favourite film genre? (You can choose multiple)
What medium do you prefer to watch films?
What are three recent films you have watched and enjoyed?
Do you tend to watch the trailer before the film?
Which of the following influences your opinion on watching a film?
And I included some trailers related to then genre of my film.

Here is the link to my form

PLANNING: MY TARGET AUDIENCE

I had to plan how to reach my target audience for my film piece. I also needed to know who they were. I researched age, gender, ethnicity and social class. I researched what their media needs were so that I could produce a product that they will want to watch so in theory my film would succeed. Finally, in order to market our movie, I had to know how to reach them. I researched popular social networking sites used among the age group of my target audience. I will show how my research has influenced my planning by answering the question below along with pictures to help support my answers.

1. Who is my primary target audience?

My primary target audience is unisex 15 - 35 year old's from Britain. 

2. What kind of films and television are they likely to prefer?

Films would include Baby Driver, Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, Kingsman and Murder on the Orient Express 

TV shows would include ones like The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime and Silent Witness on the BBC iPlayer

3. What platforms do they choose to watch films and where are they likely to see information about films?

Frequent cinema visitors with a love for old fashioned style of film viewing. High quality cinemas, like the Everyman is their favourite way to watch a film. They are embracing the future with an account on Netflix and/or Amazon Prime. They are familiar with many of the new streaming brands available to them in this new age of Internet Streaming. They are not afraid of these new challenges they have to face to watch their favourite films

4. What brands do they prefer?

Apple, Nike, Adidas, Playstation, Coca - Cola, Spotify, Audio Technica, Disney, Metro

5. What makes my film stand out from the competition?

It is an old style genre film being rejuvenated and brought back into the 21st century after spending too much time in the shadows

6 . Why should my audience watch my film? 

It's a change from the norm. Too many films these days are franchises or sequels. This film is unlike any in cinemas right now and for that reason it should entice the audience.

My target audience from TomHutchinson24

ON THE SET

This record is about what I realized and what hardware we used when we have demonstrated the best way to utilize the Canon cameras and Manfrotto tripods. 

Cameras and tripods. We passed the camera around in groups and each of us practised managing the camera, inserting the battery and memory card. You should say 'yours' and 'mine' when you pass the cameras around to avoid the risk of dropping it.  We learned how to set up a tripod and use the spirit level to' bubble' it to help balance and focus the camera. We explored the camera such as how to focus.  The exposure on the camera is adjusted by moving the dial up and down. 

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic colour casts to make white objects in the image. Proper white balance camera should take into account a light source's "colour temperature," referring to the relative warmth and coolness of white light. You adjust it by selecting the ‘WB’ on the camera, it will then come up with little pictures representing difference colour tones that are used in different lights which will give a more realistic effect.

Rule of 180 degrees. We learned about the rule of 180 degrees.  The 180-degree principle is a guideline for cinematography that states that two characters in a scene should have the same relationship between the left and the right. When the camera passes over the invisible axis that connects the two subjects, crossing the line is called, and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.

On the set We learned the terminology that was used on set in the film industry. Before filming, the director shouts' Standby' to make sure everyone is ready and when they are, they'll answer' Stand by.'

When the director shouts ' rolling,' everyone on the set must be quiet, then he / she shouts action telling the actors to begin. The director said the last cut after the shoot, he/she will say' strike the kit' which is the cue of the film crew to pack away, charge the batteries, and make sure the footage is uploaded.

Good practice in editing. We are using Adobe Premier Pro on the iMacs in the media studio. When uploading our footage, we should create a folder to keep the shots. These folders are called bins and the unedited footage from cameras are called rushes.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE (SPLIT)

The title sequence to SPLIT is very effective at showing the genre of the TV series as being psychological horror. This is done by the use of non-diegetic sound and the effects used on the text that appears on-screen.

The opening to SPLIT gives the audience a good introduction to a fractured mind and a very twisted and disturbed character. The title is sinister and sophisticated and the title sequence has an enigma/mystery aspect to it which is something I would like to incorporate into my title sequence. The main drive to this title sequence is the music, accompanied by the white text on a black background. This all gives the title sequence a slow and eerie pace whenever the soundtrack in the background of the title sequence reaches a climax the credits appear on-screen usually breaking up the flow of the live-action scenes in the middle of the sequence. The soundtrack acts as a cue for each of the credits, with the oscillating sound being echoed throughout the title sequence. It could be viewed as the sound helping to connote the ideas of underlying the characters' terrifying half-consciousness, and this gives a very unnerving and eerie effect as the audience will be very sceptical about the sounds that are given off. The soundtrack changes from two different sounds, a low almost growl and far off screeches that create the idea that creatures are moving around as if it is a living nightmare and this further gives implications towards the psychological aspect of this title sequence. This type of sound will be very effective for the type of title sequence and film opening I'm trying to achieve.

The typeface used in the title sequence is also very effective, each credit before being shown is sliced up and put on a 24 grid frame before coming together to show the person involved in the TV series. This is very effective as it is reflecting the fractured mind of the character involved and the title of the series. This title sequence is solely driven on the typography and this is rare as many rely on CGI. The use of this in the title sequence is effective as it is reflecting the uncontrolled nature of the character and the difficulties they might face in the series.

There are a variety of shots of a person who has been attacked in the title sequence, which adds a mystery effect to the title sequence. We see in the beginning of the title sequence a man in a mask attacking the screen in a POV shot. The mask is a visual code for someone who wants to hide their identity, which can further persuade the audience to assume that he is going to do something wrong. The use of the POV shot is effective as it shows the audience that they are the person being attacked in that short scene, it has further implications in making the audience wonder who that person is. Further on in the title sequence, we are shown the identity of the girl. It makes the audience wonder who she is, why she is there, and who attacked her. We are shown a low angle shot of her on a hospital bed which is a visual code for someone who has been injured so badly to the point they can't walk. This, therefore, suggests that the attack this girl suffered was extremely brutal. There is little mise en scene in this title sequence which further adds to the suspense of the title sequence and the enigma which accompanies it. There is use of a Gaussian blur which changes the camera's focus to that of focusing on her face, to nothing at all. This could suggest that the girl is fading in and out of consciousness and is struggling to stay awake. This further shows the audience that she is in danger and further causes the audience to feel sympathy for her.

PRACTICE FILM OPENING

We viewed Delicatessen's title sequence (1991, Jean-Pierre Jeunet) and To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962, Robert Mulligen)  and focused on how the tracking shots were created to reflect a meaning. A story is told and a theme is represented throughout. The camera cuts into different shots throughout the title sequence, zooming in on food products which are visual codes for a restaurant of some description.This was successful because it told the audience that the story is about food on an ongoing basis. As many of the food items have French words written on them, this leads the audience to assume that is where it is taking place. 

In addition, credits were added to product labels and old recipe sheets to enable the audience to understand who created the film and behind it the production team. The camera, however, also adds different parts of the body to the shot, showing the audience that the film is about murder and mystery.

We then used it as an inspiration after viewing the title sequences to create an original title sequence, following the same theme of 'Tabletop'. We did this in groups and set up the table, which followed a theme to create the same enigma. This was created by choosing a set soundtrack for the sequence using props from the range we had. We decided to set the Nostalgia soundtrack by Emily Barker (the song of the Wallander theme).

After choosing the music and choosing the props, we started to start the top of the filming table. We decided to use cash, a brief case, a pistol, a snake, bottles of alcohol, etc. After that, we selected some objects and put them on the table in a way that suggests a story. What we decided to go with was a story that involved a assassination attempt and the enigma being who it was. We utilised a picture of the victim and a large red circle around their face, this was used to act as a stereotypical visual code for a victim who is targeted with the intention to kill.

We didn't want our table top scene to be too static nor did we want it too active. We decided to include 3 examples of movement within the opening: the briefcase to reveal the victim and payment (connoting intent), the snake (suggesting betrayal) and the gun loading (showing the possible end to someone's life and the end of the tabletop sequence).

By adding live action to help viewers visualise the reason behind the story, we continued our filming. We decided to add the sequence at the end to add to the suspense and enigma style of genre. As we saw in Delicatessen, having the live action at the end of a silhouetted figure walking away added a question which we led the audience to have their own questions about.

With the credits, we came up with the idea to try to replicate what we saw in Delicatessen and to try and make the credits flow effortlessly into the opening of the film. Unfortunately we found this to be very time consuming. We found enjoyment in syncing the visuals with the lyrics and the audio of the song, such as when a door is mentioned the live action scene cuts to the man walking towards the door, which i thought was very successful.

Scoop.IT

I created my own ScoopIt! account so that I could find different film openings, in order to aid in me in providing ideas to create my own film opening. By using ScoopIt! I can curate my board to be specific to the genre of film opening I want to do, therefore making my thought processes much moee effective

RESEARCH: TITLES

Fight Club (1999):

• Production Company – fox 2000 pictures & regency enterprises, Linson film production
• Director - David fincher
• Starring – Edward Norton , Brad Pitt, Helen Bonham Carter
• Title - Fight Club
• Starring – Meat Loaf, Jared Leto, Zach Grenier, Holt Mcallany, Eion Baliey
• Casting - Laray Mayfield
• Costume designer - Michael Kaplan
• Special make up effects supervisor -
• Sound designer - Ren Klyce
• Music - The Dust Brothers
• Film editor - James Haygood
• Production designer - Alex McDowell
• Director of photography -Jeff Cronenweth
• Executive producer -Arnon Milchan
• Based on novel -Chuck Palahniuk
• Screenplay -Jim Uhls 
• Producer - Art Linson, Cean Chaffin and Ross Grayson Bell
• Director - David Fincher

Black Panther (2018):

• Production Company – Marvel Studios (presents) Walt Disney Pictures
• Director - Ryan Coogler
• Chadwick Boseman , Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
• Title -Black Panther
• Casting - Sarah Finn
• Costume designer - Ruth E Carter
• Special make up effects supervisor -Daniel Sudick
• Sound designer - David C. Hughes
• Music -Ludwig Göransson
• Film editor -Debbie Burman, Michael P. Shawver
• Production designer -Hannah Beachler
• Director of photography - Rachael Morrison
• Executive producer -Louis Desposito, Victoria Alonso, Nate Moore
• Based on novel - Stan lee and Jack Kirby
• Producer - Stan Lee
• Director - Ryan Coogler

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE (STRANGER THINGS)

Stranger Things
The colours of the typeface is very stereotypical of the genre set. The red of the font can connote blood, and many of the fans of Stranger things would know this is relevant as one of the characters has nose bleeds in the episodes. The darkness that fills the rest of the screen can connote feelings of evil or unknowing which also fits in with the genre as it is a thriller/horror. This feeling of unknown is what makes a good horror film. The typeface of the title sequence is also associated with the 1980, this ties in with the title sequence as the iconic synth of the 1980's music style is played as non-diegetic sound in the background. The visuals to the title sequence have also been synced to the music that is played, with each time there is strong bass to the music, the frame changes position and new credits are shown on screen. This is very effective as it gives the title sequence pace. The typeface also appears like neon fluorescent lamp which connotes a stereotype of the 80's style of clothing which tended to be bright colours and neon lamps were a regular occurrence.

The story of the title sequence is very linear, with the story being the letters of the title sequence coming together to make the main title. The text tends to slowly move in towards the middle of the screen which is a contrasting white so they stand out in the frame. It makes it very easy for the audience to distinguish who was involved in the making of the TV series.

The weaknesses to the title sequence is that there is no introduction to the prominent actors and actresses involved in the TV series, this means that the audience will struggle to make connections between the characters and the actors that play them. To improve this I would add still shots of the actors with their characters name with the style of the still similar to that of the main header font.

RESEARCH: DISTRIBUTION COLLAGE

My chosen film is positioned as a thriller film that utilises the escapism aspect of our theoretical framework Blumler and Katz’ theory. The main selling points of this film is that it is an established franchise. It also incorporates a cross over between previous movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Chris Resseling of Pathe showed me insight into how distributors market a film’s unique selling point. This includes things such as star cast and its provenance. In this case Spider-man is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which means audiences who may not watch Spider-man but enjoy Avengers films may be more inclined to watch Spider-man Far From Home as a result. The star cast includes renowned actors such as Tom Holland (who was the previous Spider-man) and Samuel Jackson, an actor of high prestige and is known for being in good films. Spider-man Far From Home  is a sequel to the Spider-man franchise.

Kezia Williams head of theatrical distribution at Pathe explained that, in a congested marketplace, a distributors aim is to position a film in a way so that it stands out for their target audiences and makes it look unique to other films they may have seen in the same genre. They utilise their twitter pages and other social media networks in order to help build hype for the target audience so that on opening weekend the box office revenue will be larger than if no hype had been built. This includes the drip feeding of information on the film and the posters associated with it. In the case of Spider-man Far from Home the choice of posters is limited. There are four posters, the one standing out the most shows the iconic Spider-man mask and the locations they will be visiting in the film as well.

As the Spider-man Far From Home movie was made under one of the big six names (Disney) there was a big budget for high quality CGI to be used in the making of the film. This meant that scenes used could be abroad like the countries the trailers, as well as high quality animation for the web slinging in which Spider-man is renowned for. This high budget allows for a high quality movie to be made, so as a result the movie can be marketed to an audience for these aspects. As a form of marketing, as depicted by the collage above, Disney released a VR experience for Spider-man Far From Home. This game was then played by many large Youtubers, gaining the film lots of free publicity as many of the people who watched the Youtube videos would then buy the game and watch the film.

Spider-man Far From Home on the whole received good reviews from many critics. Rotten tomatoes gave the film 90% and IMDB awarding the film 7.7/10. The movie received 3 Teen Choice Awards for Movie of the Summer and best Male and Female star.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE

The Mindhunter title sequence is very effective. The story of the opening sequence is very linear, as it only follows a single story. This makes it easier for an audience to be able to keep track of what is happening on screen without getting confused with who the characters are and who the minor characters are. The Title Sequence is a chance for the filmmaker to set the tone and prepare the audience for the world they are about to enter.

The title a sequence is a person setting up an old style of audio recording hardware. This includes the diegetic sound of the hardware making creaks and the gyrating sound of metal on metal when he/she is screwing on bits of the machinery. This linear storyline avoids the addition of new characters, allowing the viewer to have a simple introduction to the new TV show. This avoids confusion and the viewer becoming overwhelmed with new and possibly irrelevant characters without even starting the show.

The use of the subliminal editing of the chilling images of rotting corpses and the dead person is very jarring. The quick-fire nature of these images helps to create a semantic field of psychological horror, as the images never stay on screen long enough for the viewer to get a good glimpse of what’s actually appeared on the screen. This could imply as to what the viewer is about to see in the episode, showing bits and pieces of the lore. This gives the viewer a brief introduction to the victim of the crime and leads them to make questions as to the significance of the corpse and the significance of the person setting up the machinery.

 Combine this with the eerie, sparse sound of the non-diegetic sound of the piano in the background. This gives the effect of the viewer's mind filling in the blanks. As the viewer can only get a split second of an image, their brain plays a part in over-exaggerating the seriousness of the images and making the images even more horrifying. The juxtaposition of the shot of the recording equipment and the corpse allows the viewer to conjure two questions: Who is the corpse, and why is there recording hardware.

The sound of the eerie piano is stereotypical of a psychological horror genre tv show. The sound of the harder-hitting keys of the piano provokes a hard cut to the frame of the corpse. This is very effective as syncing the sound to the video gives the title sequence the pace that the director is trying to give. In contrast, the pace of the person setting up the machine is much slower than the quickened frames of the corpse. At the end of the title sequence, the main title of Mindhunter appears on the screen, accompanied by a bass-filled hum of a breath. This could mean many things and the audience will generate their own questions about why it is significant. It could be indicating what the Mindhunter’s do in their jobs, the breath signalling death suggesting they are involved in, or it could present the possibility of it being the corpse’s last breath too. 

RESEARCH: Digital Storytelling

I learned from Frank Ash, the creative consultant at the BBC academy about what Digital Storytelling: how to connect with an audience through a relevant story to create suspense and anticipation. Frank devised this into a series of questions, in which you have to answer in your piece. 

When I start to plan my own Foundation work I will generate my own Top Line (an elegant sentence which will sum up the film opening to your piece) and the Big Question (what will happen next)

Frank Ash gave me guidelines to ensure i can do this successfully, which I have summarised in a comic strip using the Comic Life software, which you can see below: