Mrs D

You have some good detail here and a clear sense of genre amongst your RMAs. My only concern is that you are selecting films with big budget production values and it is very difficult to compete with these. You might want to analyse another that is of a similar style but less crane shots and SFX etc.

Analysis of 3 more real media artefacts

1- Batman The Dark Knight


             

It cuts to a long shot, which acts as an establishing shot, of a large building and the camera begins to quickly track in towards the windows of the building. As it cuts to this shot we again hear the sound of a boom noise followed by a tone that continues over the sound of the ticking. These combined give the impression that whatever will happen in this scene could be associated with danger as the slowly rising tone creates tension among the spectator. We then get to see our first character of the film however, he is wearing a clown mask and holding some sort of gun. Clowns are one of the biggest fears in the world so this combined with the fact he is holding a gun tells us that he is both an antagonist and that he has been placed in the film specifically to create fear upon the audience. As the window smashes the ticking noise continues however, it is a modified version of it. One of the clowns shoot a grapple hook over to an opposite rooftop. The scene cuts to reveal a man standing with his back to the audience whilst the camera slowly tracks in to his back. He is holding a blue bag and a clown mask to tell the audience that this character is also one of the bad guys as it continues tracking in a car suddenly pulls up and allows him to get in. The tense tone stops completely and it cuts back to the people in the office building, allowing us to figure out that they are travelling in 2 groups. We see the other group of clowns in the car and hear our first line of dialogue. There are a total of 3 people wearing clown masks in the car. At no point during this part do we see any ones face. Although, the light outside is very bright the inside of the car is very dark to again tell the audience that the people in this car are the bad guys of the film. Then there is a parallel action as the other group of robbers on the roof continue their conversation about "The Joker" and helps us know a little bit more about this character. After one clown deals with the alarm the other clown shoots him. This is to tell us that these clowns are not to be trusted and are slowly killing each other to get a bigger share of the money. As he kills him and then runs downstairs the music plays what will later be known as The Joker's motif as it plays whenever he is on screen. One of the clowns opens the vault and after he is done gets shot by the other clown, again show the theme of betrayal. We then cut back to the main hall to reveal the mysterious clown who looks like he is now in charge of the whole operation as it seems he is now in control of the bank and hostages as it cuts the tense tone begins to rise up again. This scene is relevant to our film as again it is a fantasy film that is grounded in to reality. The characters of Batman and The Joker do not exist in real life but the setting and the way it is film makes us believe that the events of this film could happen even though it is a fantasy, this is what we aim to do with our film.


2- Inception

Inception starts with a extreme close up on the main characters face as he washes up ashore on a beach looking confused and tired. This confusing opening is common with thrillers as it creates many questions among the audience as to how the main character got on the beach and why he is there. A eyeline match is then used to show the main character looking towards 2 children who are playing on a beach, this is obviously the main character hallucinating however this adds to the feeling of the drama as already we are introduced to these children who are part of the main characters life however we are still left with many questions. The main character is then approached by a man who pokes him with the end of his gun the man then notices something on the main character and he uses the end of his gun to lift the back of his shirt and this reveals that he has a gun. This also confirms that the main character was hallucinating when he saw the two children and this means that the children are important to him and could quite possible be involved with him waking up on a beach with a gun. The main character is then dragged to a room by two other men and through a medium close up we can see that the room is surrounded by bodyguards working for the older man at the table. As the man is being dragged, we can see that the older man doesn’t think much of the main character. A close up is used to show the older man placing his hand on the gun and moving it to the small trinket while the main character eats soup at the other end of the table. A medium shot is used to show the older man picking up the trinket and spinning it across the table staring intently into it. This is very important to a thriller as the small object is now confirmed to be of large importance to more than one character and this feeling of mystery makes the opening very intriguing. The final scene to the opening is a close up of the older man watching the trinket spin, this final scene signifies how important the small trinket is but doesn’t specify why it is important and leaves the rest of the film to answer that question.




3- Bad Boys 2

In the opening to bad boys 2, we are introduced to a monotone diagetic tune,suggesting that the opening scene is very ominous. The camera cuts to a low angleshot with information telling the audience where we are. We see ecstasy being manufactured, suggesting that the film is based around shipments of drugs. The camera cuts to a mid shot of of a large amount of ecstasy being transported in a lab,essentially acknowledging the way they ship drugs, which is also dramatic irony asthe police officers do not exactly know where the drugs are going. These camerashots are all fast paced to emphasise the action in the shot. Throughout the scene,credits are shown of the characters, directors and so on, which is an affective way of representing it as it does not take up too much time at the start. The camera cuts to atracking shot of coffins being loaded onto a huge ship with the same diagetic monotone tune playing, emphasising and reflecting the quick camera cuts. We now cut to a long shot of Miami coast, stretching all the way to the main city, which is another great cut to present the credits. The sound picks up pace, suggesting that the shipments have been done, as the camera cuts to a close up shot of a man on the phone, who could potentially be the drug industry owner. The camera cuts to a birdseye view shot of a boat travelling to pick up the shipment. This shot is taken at night, suggesting that the events taking place are of a ominous nature. The camera cuts to a mid-shot of the coffins underwater, showing the audience how the drugs are transported. There are constant changes in locations which are written along with the credits. The opening to Bad Boys 2 is very suggestive and underlines the crime that the police will have to face. In the opening scene, there are a lot of fas tpaced action shots, reflecting the idea that this is an action/thriller genre movie.



Everyting I Know About the film industry + Prelim task

In the film industry there are six different parts: Development, Production, Facilities, Distribution, Exhibition and Export. Of the company’s existing today, we can say approximately 43% are production, 13% are distribution and the remaining 44% are exhibition companies. Due to the amount of films that are being made every year an extreme amount of money is being spent, as £747 million pounds were spent of the production of films.  Of the three tasks, production is first: You have to make a film in order to distribute and exhibit it. At first, the inventors financed and showed their own films, even renting their own halls so less money was spent and more on the distribution and exhibition.
 The distribution part comes after the production as this is the part which moves the film from the film makers into the theatres/cinema. This task may be done in a variety of ways; for example, with a theatrical release, a home entertainment release (in which the movie is made available on DVD-video or Blu-ray Disc) or a television program for broadcast. Distribution is the highly competitive business of launching and keeping your films in the market place. 
The exhibition part of the film industry is where the cinema’s by the films the want to be shown to the public and if it’s a success with the public then the film makers make some money. Some of the well-known and major exhibition companies are Cineworld, art houses such as Cambridge picture house, Odeon and empire. Art houses are usually distributed inside towns and cities in smaller more areas. Larger companies such as Cineworld are found on industrial areas such as London Manchester Edinburgh (major cities in the U.K and Ireland) and usually grouped with fast food restaurants. They are more commercial and usually charge a lot more for tickets.
 At the Cambridge picture house you can be expected to pay £5.20 but at a more commercial screening you can pay anything between £6.00 and £6.50. The films shown vary as well, not only are new releases shown in an art house theatre but also foreign language films, or films from amateur film makers. The experience is also greatly different. The screening area is smaller and more intimate rather than the cooped up seating found in an Odeon cinema. 

     Favourite night to visit the cinema

·         Saturday is the most popular night, 24.1% of box office

·         Sunday 17.6%

·         Friday 16.4%

·         Wednesday 13.5%

·         Monday, Tuesday, Thursday about 9.4%

    Favourite Genre

·         Action 34.5%

·         Comedy 17.5%

·         Drama 14.2%

·         Animation 12.2%

·         Horror 4.4%

·         Rom Com 1%

·         Over 300million spent on P&A prints and advertising by film distributors.

Action is the most popular genre making up 34.5% of all films. One of the reasons why action is the most popular genres is that action films cost so much more the make than any other genre as the codes and conventions of an action film is their needs to be a fast car chase and their needs to be some sort of explosion which both will cost a lot of money.

 This picture shows the top films made and the up at the top of the list their are five or six action films which also had the highest grossing total.
Nowadays when the film companies have finished making their films they send the films online to the cinema companies so they can be exhibited. Even though this is good process people can take these films of the web and illegally download and watch these films before they make it to the cinema this process is called movie privacy which is illegal.

The most pirated films downloaded this year are:

Project X, 8.72 million downloads

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, 8.5 million downloads

The Dark Knight rises: 8.23 million downloads

These figures show just how many people have illegally downloaded movies without paying for them. Cinema going is a shared experience with an average 3 people per party. If 3 people were watching these films when they were downloaded the figures could even be represented at 3 times as much. This is costing the film industry millions and millions of pounds. However, 60% of 16-30 year olds believe that film content should be free when accessed online. Also, only 14% of retail buyers bought a film they had previously seen at the cinema.

There are many different advertising techniques that the film industry can use. Industries release different versions of Trailers. For example, there will be a teaser trailer released first and then closer to the date of release there will be a more detailed version that the company use in their adverts. Companies also make featurettes which can be interviews with directors, editors of areas such as special effects or even members of the cast. They also produce print work such as billboards and posters. Blockbuster movies also sometimes host festivals during pre-release about films or have red carpet premiers which they can make money from through advertising and TV/Online sponsorship. Furthermore, during pre-release, companies also take their advertising to niche audiences. For example, superhero movies are often advertised at events such as comic con and this is a direct way for the producers to communicate with their target audience. Industries can post information about all of these items listed above on their social networking pages which creates a buzz around the film.

 A different way companies can advertise is through synergy. This is where two or more different types of media come together. For example, film and music quite often work on projects with each other, especially on movie soundtracks. A great example of this was James Bonds' 'Skyfall'. The track was sung by Adele and it managed to reach the top of the iTunes download chart. The film was produced by Sony and Adele is signed to Sony Music.

An independent film is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major film studios. Independent films are sometimes distinct by their content and style and the way in which the filmmakers' personal artistic vision is realized. Usually, but not always, independent films are made with considerably lower film budgets than major studio films. Some example independent films are:

Hunger games Catching fire

12 Years a slave

Taken 2

End of the watch

Tarzan

This shows that not all independent films are low budget and actually Hunger games was at the top of the most grossing films made this year.

Hollywood was once the place were every movie was made but now due to new companies like marvel and Disney Hollywood has only had a few movies and due to web 2.0 it say that Hollywood have ran out of ideas for films and that they are just making re-makes of films with the new media technology available

Codes and Coventions of a short film + Example of a film opening

Codes and Conventions

•  Capture the audience’s attention.

• Needs to start to reveal a character and the storyline.

• Key credits such as Production Company and Director.

• Key event needs to be shown.

•  It’s mostly made of non-diegetic sounds.

•  Not that much needs to happen as it will look too much like a short film or a trailer.

• Set up the genre.

•  Set the location of the film.

•  Simple is key and effective.

•  A Flashback is a scene that takes the narrative back in time usually to a key event sometimes for a couple of minutes or the whole movie.

• Fight or shoot out.

• Some narration.

•  In an action movie may have a chase scene.

• In comedy films there may have some animation to portray the beginning of the film in a creative way.

This an example opening to a film which matches the genre of the film that I want to make. The film is James Bond Quantum of Solace. The opening of this film is very action packed and sets the film very well. The opening starts with an establishing shot filmed from a helicopter, and is a high angle long shot getting closer to a rode on the side of a mountain. When the rode is reached the opening action sequence of the film (a car chase) is in action. This car chase involves crashes and gunshots, which are conventions associated with action films. Their is also a good use of dramatic music as the music suits the film very well and also makes the scene more dramatic and tense. The cuts in this scene are very quick which works well with the genre of the film which is action. This clip meets all the codes and conventions which make a successful opening film scene as this clip sets up the genre very well as it does this with the car chase its self and the use of weapons also shows the genre. This clip also captures the audience attention, and the clip is mostly made from non-diegetic sounds. I will try and use most of these points as the genre of the film opening that I want to make is action and from all the opening scenes I have seen have been action films and all these clips have used all these points which makes the scene work very well with the genre.

Bullet point list of technical skills i have developed during the making of my swede.

Blogging task

• We learnt how to upload and edit our swede on final cut pro.
•  We learnt how to create our movie posters using Serif PhotoPlus X5.



• We learnt how to use prezi to show what we learnt during the making of our swedes.
•   We learnt how to use a digital hand-held camera to capture our swedes.
•  We learnt how to upload our swedes on to blogger and other social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube.
•  We learnt how to make music for our swedes on Garage Band.
•  I learnt how to put together an animatronics storyboard on serif movie planner.
•  We learnt about different camera angles and shots and learnt how to incorporate them into your swedes.