Shot List (EA+SL)

Shot list of morning sequence:

Shot list of Travel Sequence: 

Ident Research (EA)

I have been researching different idents to get a feel for the ident I would like to use. I will discuss the sound/movement/image/name of the idents and decide wether I like them.
My first example is an ident from the company Perceptireel Pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLg5NzRYLQs

This ident is interesting because of its feeling of "ruggidness". The grainy effect and the images being quite smudged make the ident seem rather gritty. Moreover the rubix cube idea is great because it makes alot of action which is surprisingly simple to concentrate on, the images which play on the rubix cube relate to the company which is about images and films hence the eye and the reel being the main focus of the images on the rubix cube. Also the colour scheme is black and white, this makes the image simpler and the audience are more receptive to it. The music for this ident is good because it is powerful but low key keeping the viewer interested in the actions. Finally i like the name because it is a play on words, the word perceptireel is a mixture of perception, real and reel which I find clever and I quite like in an Ident name.

Next i would like to discuss The Weinstein Company ident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRVh_8y2CAQ

This ident is shorter than the Perceptireel pictures ident, I prefer the ident being shorter as people might get bored looking at an ident. However the weinstein company is not only shorter but much simpler, it starts by making three downward shaped triangles appearing in descending order. Then the name of the company appears, the simple colour scheme is great because it means the audience is not going to have to concentrate too hard. The sound is gentle and uplifting which promotes the weinstein company in a positive way and gradually crescendos till the end of the animation. 

An ident that I dislike is the Island Pictures animation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iGbu-x1qJ0

I do  not like the island picutres animation because it does not seem to have any correlation with the title name. Admittedly it is abstract and I do quite like that aspect of it but i feel it should be abstract within boundaries, however the randomness  i find there is too much colour and you have to strain to watch the ident. A positive aspect of this ident is the music, it is slow and melodic which has a nice ambience and makes the audience relax. 



In conclusion, I would like my ident to be simple and short. This is because i don't want to overdo the atmosphere and the ident should be memorable but not too imposing. Moreover I would like to make minimal movement so the viewers do not need to focus too hard. 

To achieve this I would like to make my ident in black and white, an example of this would be the Weinstein company's ident. I like the simplicity in colour as opposed to that of the Island Pictures, there is a large contrast between the two idents and I would be worried that I go too overboard with an ident similar to Island Pictures animation. For Movement, I think that movement is key but it must be subtle and slow. The rubix cube is a smart idea however it is too powerful or bold. I would like to use a some shapes and maybe just move them, maybe create a tessellating pattern like - 

This will be simple and inspiring, for the name of the company I like to have a clever play on words much like the first example of perceptireel pictures another good example of this is an independent company called layZeye, this type of idea is interesting and engaging. Music wise I firmly believe that the music should be empowering of sort,  the weinstein company have very uplifting and motivational music which i believe promotes the ident greatly. However the island pictures music is soft and quiet which can possibly be used to their advantage. 

Graphics Research (EA)

Graphics Research

The opening credits are crucial and must be exactly as we want them. There are a variety of different ways in which they can be displayed and I would like to show a few examples of opening credits to give light on a couple of ideas I would like to use.

Dexter:

The opening to the series Dexter is intense, it is very ambiguous and suggests multiple different meanings. However I would like to focus on the written graphics of this introductory sequence and highlight its strengths and weaknesses.

The idea of using a simple text is good because we need the audience to not be overloaded by the text and the video at the same time. This is important because if the audience is taking in to much information then they will find it hard to understand or follow the introduction. This means that using simple text such as Arial will be good because it will give the viewer a clear text which is easy to read. The text is in red which is a good idea because it is obvious symbolism for blood, however there is a lot of red in the video which means that the audience may not be able to focus on both at the same time. For this reason I think i would like to use a more standard colour such as black or white because it makes the text easier to read.

Skyfall:

The credits for skyfall are very strong because they are so simple and have such a high contrast to the film. This is desperately needed because there is so much going on in the video that if the text was not very visible or too powerful then a lot of effect could be lost. The text is in a simple format; white colour and a simple font. The text is sometimes displayed at angles to suit the artistic side of the video, the titles are still very central because they do need attention. Even though they are very central it does not steal the attention as the video and titles work in tandem, the video tends to tone itself down when there is something to read. This is a good technique as it guide the viewers on what to focus on. I would like to use the video contrast between the colour in the video and the text to our advantage during our piece as it is a good way of presenting the titles. 

Sound Research (EA)

Everything in its Right Place by Radiohead:

I think that the the song everything in its right place is an iconic song and it would add tremendous value to the opening sequence, the dream sequence. This kind of music would be ideal as it is surreal and the dream sequence is supposed to be all about the "unreal" and the abnormalities that we don't really notice much in real life.

Storyboard (EA)

Storyboard (GP + SL)

Non-Diegetic Sound

Both Black Swan and Shame use string music over scenes to create ambience. I couldn't find specific scenes on youtube, but the trailers feature the same music. This could be used to create tension in the sequence when Margot goes outside, still including diegetic sound but them music will be emphasised. The music is also used in the films for characters that have a certain obsession or mental problems, which would work well highlighting Margot's obsession with Eva and her mental issues.

Foley Sound

The opening to collateral effectively shows what i want to do with the sound during the scenes in the house and the street. There is still some atmospheric sound of the airport, but the sound of the footsteps has been amplified so you can hear them above the other diegetic sound. This creates a good effect as it highlights the character Tom Cruise is playing and draws the audience attention to him and what he is doing. If we were to use this in our opening, it could highlight the importance of Margot's character and sound good.

Sound for Dream Sequence (1)

The sound of musical glasses could fit really well into the dream sequence. It has really god ethereal tones that could emphasise the dream for the audience. This mixed with diegetic sound of animals or wind could produce a nice mixture of sound which shows the break in reality during the dream, and increase the ambience of the sequence. It would be unlikely that we could find a track that suited our scene, so will will probably have to record our own track to play during the dream.

Introduction to Film

1.     The increase in the number of screen available has not led to an increase in the number of films being shown because of long ‘holdovers’ of popular films and most films are played at different times throughout the day repeatedly. Though multiplexes were thought to lead to a greater variety of films being shown, they create this effect on the industry instead.

2.     Cinema attendance rose in 2002 because of the release of sequels such as Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. These would have increased attendance as they followed already popular films, so it’s logical that after the distribution of the first. A rise in popularity and notoriety would increase the attendance for the second instalments.
       However, from the 2004 onwards, cinema attendance may have decreased due to the increase in film piracy and therefore the availability of films on the Internet for free. This could have affected a portion of the audience to instead view the films on the Internet instead of going to a cinema, causing an overall attendance to decrease.

3.     £733,333.34

4.     The downside of consumer demand for producers in the UK is that many cannot afford to satisfy the demand for more prints by audiences, as they are too expensive. For example if a film were to open in 204 cinemas across the country, the total of each print needed would tally to £204,000. This incorporated within other costs means that small, independent production companies cannot afford to widely distribute their films, therefore a large sector of a possible audience will not be able to view the film.

5.     If the increases in the cost for film production continue, it is likely that studios will have to rethink their techniques of releasing a film. This is because with the rising costs of releasing a film, there likely to be a decline of audiences spending money to go to the cinema and buy DVDs of the film due to internet piracy. Because films must make two and a half times its production cost to make a profit, studios must find a way to encourage audiences to return to the cinema to view films.

6.     More middle-aged people went to the cinema in 2011 most likely to the prominent release of films directly marketed and created for that age group i.e. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This encouraged middle-aged people to see the film as it mainly featured older actors such as Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy, and had a plot that older people could relate to more easily that younger audiences.

       On one hand the most ‘bankable’ actors for the youth market could be stars such as Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence. They are bankable because teenage audiences are used to seeing them in films directed at their market, and because of this and the phenomenon of obsession with these actors due to their prominent films (Twilight, Hunger Games), the audience is more likely to watch a film that features them. However, stars like Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz are still very popular in the youth market due to their continuing success and variety of films aimed at different audiences, including the youth market.

7.     Of the top ten films last year, only the recent instalment of the Twilight series and the hangover II made ay profit.

8.     Recently, Bruckheimer has produced are consistently high concept such as the 3^rd Pirates of the Caribbean instalment. This film is high concept as it has the ‘look, the hook and the book’ aspects such as big budget action sequences and an uncomplicated plot narrative featuring famous actors and a good vs. evil concept.

       Michael Bay does deserve the reputation for making films that are high on effects and low on narrative. For example, he began shooting the film Transformers before a script was even finalised; the following films in the franchise were equally poor on an effective plot and a separate film, I am Number 4 seemed equally weak in narrative and relied on expensive action sequences to draw in an audience.

9.     A) Fox Searchlight: ‘Martha Marcy Mae Marlene’ is an indiewood type thriller with Elizabeth Olsen, who is generally attached to indie films. The audience is most likely people over 15 as it has a certification of 15 and the plot has mature elements to it that would be unsuitable for a younger audience to relate to.

B) Sony Pictures Classics: ‘A Separation’ and ‘Amour’ are two indie films associated with this studio. Their audience would mostly be international as they are both foreign language films, and probably and older audience as they would most likely to pay to see a foreign films, unlike most youth audiences which seem to prefer English-language films i.e. Twilight

C) Focus Features: ‘Hanna’ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ are both indie films connected to this indiewood studio. Their audience would mostly be younger people under 25 because both films feature young teen or pre-teen protagonists that would be easy for a youth audience to relate to, and possible inaccessible for an older audience above 50

10.            Hollywood does generally dominate the UK film landscape due to the priority for wide distribution instead of an increase in UK based, independent films. This is because it is generally more profitable for Hollywood and UK companies to distribute large Hollywood Blockbusters such as the ‘Twilight’ franchise, which are guaranteed to make more money than a UK independent film such as ‘Shifty’. Therefore the independent UK films receive less distribution and promotion, causing Hollywood to dominate the UK film landscape.

       A way Hollywood retains a stranglehold on UK cinema is through releasing High Concept films. These films rely on big-budget action sequences and the ‘look, the hook and the book’ features to draw in large audiences. They do not need to have an intricate or involved plot as long as they can back up these features with well-known actors who will also bring their own fan base into the audience. These films dominate UK cinema, as they are usually the tops grossing films of the year both domestically and in international markets, seen, as 9/10 of the top grossing films of all time are predominantly American productions. This shows how Hollywood still retains control over the UK cinema as they rely on these blockbuster films to bring an audience to the cinema.