Film Industry: Part 5

Choose an actress from the list. What would they bring to a role in a film?

- Anne Hathaway is a bankable actress, due in part to the variety of films that she has starred in, which spans many genres and audiences. Examples of this are 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'The Princess Diaries', 'The Devil Wears Prada', and 'Les Miserables'.

- Hathaway is also critically acclaimed, having won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

- She is also known for having a large acting range, having played characters such as Catwoman, The White Queen, and Fantine. All very different characters in terms of personality and storylines, demonstrating Hathaway's ability to adapt to different roles.

Think about films you have recently seen in the cinema. Which ones were recommended by word of mouth? Why did you go and see other films?

- I went to see 'Gravity' due to both word of mouth (ie friends saying it was very good) and also because of a review of it that I read in 'The Week', which gave it 4 stars (the most I have ever seen them give).

- I went to see 'Thor: The Dark World' based on my enjoyment of other Marvel films in the same or related franchises such as 'Avengers Assemble', 'Thor', and 'Iron Man'. Had I been uninterested in the story of Thor and Loki, I would likely have still gone to see the film, as it is part of the Avengers series and thus will be referenced in future releases either in passing or as a plot point.

Find out the budget and box office for the following films; 'The Blair Witch Project', 'Paranormal Activity', and 'Avatar'. Which of these has made the biggest profit?

- 'Blair Witch Project' had a $60 thousand budget, and made almost $15m at the box office in the UK.

- 'Paranormal Activity' had a budget of just $15 thousand and made almost $108m at the box office in the USA.

- 'Avatar' had a budget of $237m, and made over $760m at the box office in the US.

Find out the producers and budget for the following British films; 'Never Let Me Go', 'The King's Speech', and 'Skyfall'. How has film production changed in the UK since the 1990s?

- 'Never Let Me Go' had a $15m budget, and was produced by Film4, Fox Searchlight, and DNA Films.

- 'The King's Speech' had a budget of $15m also, and was produced by Momentum Pictures, The UK Film Council, and the Weinstein Company.

- 'Skyfall' had a $200m budget, and was produced by Eon Productions and Danjaq.

- The main changes in British film production since the 90s have been in budget, and calibre of production companies (from television companies like Film4 and BBC, to larger production companies based in foreign countries, notably the US). Financial backing remains less obtainable than in America, due to the lack of production companies that are not subsidiaries of American companies.

Can you think of any more recent film soundtracks that have proved popular with audiences? Why?

- 'The Hunger Games' and it's sequel have had successful soundtracks due to tie ins with successful artists such as The Civil Wars, Taylor Swift, and Jake Bugg. The addition of songs by these artists to compilation albums promotes the actual soundtrack and generates hype for the film.

- Musicals often have successful soundtracks, for obvious reasons. Examples of this are the soundtracks to 'The Muppets' and 'Les Miserables'.

- 'Skyfall' had an Oscar winning song by Adele that opens the film, which hit No.1 in the UK. This is a good example of a successful soundtrack in recent years, as it does not come from a musical, but is successful in it's own right rather than as a tie in from a compilation album.

How has Lionsgate attempted to survive in the cut throat world of film production?

Lionsgate bought Artisan, which gave them an excellent back catalogue of films like 'Resevoir Dogs', 'The Blair Witch Project', and 'Requiem for a Dream'. The company also built a reputation for releasing popular horror films that gained a number of sequels, such as the 'Saw' franchise, and this gave them the ability to diversify into more critically acclaimed films such as 'Crash' and 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'. Since building its diverse catalogue, Lionsgate has been able to release large budget, box office hits such as 'The Expendables' and 'Kick Ass', and to break into the TV industry, with hits including 'Mad Men'. The key aspect behind the success of the company is it's diversity, as it has both allowed expansion into new genres and audiences, and a powerful reputation due to a huge back catalogue of successful films. This diversity has been achieved through strategic acquisitions and shrewd choice of genre, which has been done with an expert hand throughout the company's lifetime.

Storyboard (WIP)

CM

Animatic

CM

Voiceover Draft

No one ever told me

How hard it would be to lose someone you love

But then again

They also didn’t mention the rush

Of taking the life of someone

You love

These thugs and criminals in the night,

The ones that took my family,

Theyre no different from anyone else

They are just as fragile

Die just as easily

The only difference is that no one cares

When they find a murdered murderer

I suppose then,

That if I die, they wont care

If some thief in the darkness stabs first and asks questions later

Itll just be another criminal gone

No one will shed a tear

Who would?

Because that’s all ive become

Just one of them

Im no better than a common mugger, or your run of the mill drug lord

We’re all the same

Men in the shadows

There because we’re ashamed

Of what we’ve become

Still,

It feels good, this.

Revenge.

CM

Film Industry: Part 4

What are the main genres produced by the UK film industry in the last 25 years? Try and think of some recent examples from the last few years. Who do you think goes to see these types of films?

- Gritty social realist dramas (Fish Tank, Kidulthood, This is England)
- Romantic comedies (Notting Hill, Bridget Jones' Diary, Chalet Girl)
- Costume dramas (Sense and Sensibility, Jane Eyre)
- All have very different audiences, the industry has more recently been trying to capture the youth market more.

DNA Films last two productions were Dredd 3D and Never Let Me Go. What kind of films are they? How are they different from earlier films? Have they been successful at the box office?

- Dredd 3D is a heavily action based film that did very badly at the box office, making 13m (of a budget of 50m). It contains elements of action, sci-fi, and crime genres.

- Never Let Me Go is a very different film from Dredd 3D, although it did similarly badly at the box office, making 1.5m of a 15m budget. There are sci-fi elements in the film, but it is far more character based than Dredd 3D, and thus has elements of romance and drama as well.

- Earlier films such as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave are aimed at a different audience, and are far less mainstream films. This sort of film did far better at the box office than DNA's attempts to break into the mainstream.

Summarize in your own words what kind of films Momentum Pictures look to distribute and why.

- Momentum Pictures appears to be interested in distributing more mainstream, marketable films. The UK has a large horror market and both Insidious: Chapter Two and The Woman in Black (two of the most successful horror films of the last few years) were distributed by Momentum Pictures.

- British films such as Welcome to the Punch and The King's Speech have also been distributed by Momentum,which makes them a powerful figure in the UK film industry.

- Although diverse, the films that Momentum tend to distribute have all been fairly mainstream titles, including a multitude of some of the more successful British films of recent years.

Influence - Drive

I recently watched 'Drive' again for the second time and after studying Media Studies for a term, I realised just how good the opening sequence is. Charlie and I want to create a Film Noir style opening sequence but with a modern twist and 'Drive', definitely does this. The moment when Ryan Gosling, who plays the driver, walks into the motel room, you get an incredibly interesting, yet eerie, chiaroscuro effect on his face. I definitely want to try and create this in our opening sequence as it has clearly stuck with me and would hopefully create the same effect upon our audience, who sadly to say, will be considerably less than Gosling's, but we can always hope. There are many clever uses of shadows in this opening sequence but this one shot, as previously mentioned, stuck with me.



Drive Opening Credits with Kavinsky (Nightcall)   - Click on this

M.T

Film Noir Influence: Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity 

• Low key lighting is used throughout the opening sequence to create tension and to focus the audience attention to a specific character or figure. 
• Shadows are used throughout the opening sequence as in all Film Noir films.
• The Shadows are used to create that sense of suspense and fear that something bad has or is going to happen.  
• The main character in the opening sequence, Fred MacMurray, is dressed in your typical film noir style costume of a suit and panama hat, that was common of the time (1944).
• Fades are used throughout the opening scene to suggest that time is passing.
• There is ambient noise in the opening to create tension and the keep the audience wondering why the man has been shot. 
• Orchestral soundtrack plays throughout the whole opening scene - suspense is created as it builds.
• flashback - often used in Film Noir and makes narration seem acceptable (very effective effect). 
• lack of colour in the opening scene sets up the genre and creates an enigma (Walter Neff).
• the opening is played as though it is in the past and setting up the rest of the film, which will explain why the enigma character got there. Our film is quite similar to this and this is why we have been increasingly influenced by it. 
• Double Indemnity, has been commonly described as one of the best Film Noir films of all time. We have undoubtedly used ideas from it in our opening sequence to add that sense of original Film Noir style but with a modern twist. 

(this is the trailer and not the opening sequence)

Film noir (black film) has often been described as a genre to represent many Hollywood Crime Dramas, especially in the 1940's to 50's. The Film noir genre has undoubtedly influenced many movies across every decade. Many directors in our modern film market use Film noir influences in their films to create specific effects but the genre has certainly dropped off since there 40's and 50's standards. Film noir is often associated with its low key lighting and black and white picture that creates a wide range of chiaroscuro and silhouette effects and this style originally derived in German Expressionist cinematography. We want to bring back the suspenseful atmosphere that many noir films created in our opening sequence and by studying the genre in more detail we have certainly helped with our understanding of the subject.

MT

Film Noir Influence: The Maltese Falcon

Maltese Falcon

• Starts with establishing shots of San Francisco - similar to the kind of thing Charlie and I want to do in our opening sequence. 
• Loud orchestral music during establishing shots and then switch to more mysterious style noir music - pan of Bogart spinning around on his chair (tension created by music change).
• Close up of Bogart's face - we know he is the protagonist in the story and feel an instant connection towards him (mystery is still created).
• Depth of Field shot - we want to use a wide range of camera techniques in our opening (also adds suspense). 
• Use of shadows on the wall create a sense of mystery - Despite the use of shadows, Charlie and I want to have a darker feel than this opening and so will use more shadows. 
• Slight music change when lady walks in and Bogart stands up - creates tension as we don't know who she is and what has happened. 
• Classic film noir - sets up story before the film has truly begun. We want to produce a similar thing in our film as we are suggesting that it is a 'revenge story' but not revealing why to the audience and therefore adding the modern twist to the classic film noir style. 
• This opening sequence does employ far more 'conversation' than Charlie and I want to include but is nonetheless an important influence, especially when deciding what kind of film we were going to do. 

(this is the trailer, not what I analysed)

MT

Film Noir Influence: The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep - Opening sequence

• Opening credits - man and women silhouette in the background - create suspense as we don't know who they are.
• Orchestral music throughout opening credits - establishing the film (excellent when fades to mysterious music) - We want to create this effect whereby we have Film noir style music playing throughout opening credits and then a quick switch to mysterious music down the alleyway. 
• Instantly see a man open the door and hear a voice - we don't see the man speaking outside the door, which creates tension and suspense - we ask questions like, "who is he", "why has he come" etc. 
• Man walks threw the door (Humphrey Bogart) - stereotypical film noir, suit and hat. 
• ambient music keeps the scene flowing but also creates tension as we don't no why 'General Stern' wants to see him - We want to create a similar effect in our opening sequence (mystery to start with until voice over reveals more) 
• Pan to establishing shot of room that 'General Stern' is in - establishes scene and genre of film (crime)
• The Big Sleep is another classic Film noir and although I have analysed the opening the sequence here, the whole film highlights a lot of great noir style techniques that we want to include in our film. Many of Bogart's films have influenced us and he was ultimately the man who got me interested in Film noir in the first place.
• Other examples of Bogart's Film Noir's - 'The treasure of the Sierra Madre' and 'The Maltese Falcon' 

(This is the trailer, not what I analysed)

MT

Voice Overs

In our opening we are intending on using a voice over in order to convey some of the narrative, as the plain images are based mainly on giving atmosphere, tension, and presenting visual mood. In order to do this we have to ascertain the style of voice we want to use, find influences for inspiration, and cast a voice over.

One good example of the use of voice over in an opening is 'No Country for Old Men'. The use of still dramatic imagery means that nothing detracts from the audience's listening to Tommy Lee Jones' performance. In terms of style this voice over is more anecdotal than we would like for ours, and perhaps too colloquial.



'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' opens with a similarly anecdotal narration, although this time it correlates with the events on screen. This is done for comical effect, but could also work to give a fight/murder scene a sinister edge, such as in 'A Clockwork Orange', making the events onscreen seem premeditated yet everyday. Neither of these approaches necessarily fit our film, as the protagonist/narrator is not a socio/psychopathic murder, nor is the film a comedy, although the immediacy that these examples provide would be an interesting effect to capture for our film.



The voice over in 'Sunset Boulevard' uses a style that is more associated with Film Noir, in which the narrator appears to be presenting the story to the audience, as though telling a story, but with the means to show his story as he pleases. This is a good style as it allows the narrative to be shown on screen, but developed by the voice over in a manner that would have taken up more screen time to achieve without the voice over. This is an effect that would be nice for us to achieve in our film.

Audience Survey Conclusions

From our quantitative research we can conclude that our aim is to target the 25-30, predominantly male, market, with a film that engages an active cognitive audience. We would like to make a film which engages the audience with problems and new ideas, and encourages an active audience to think through the film (as in the uses and gratifications model). This is the sort of audience that might be in our target demographic. The male market especially may be looking for diversion rather than escapism in a film, and may wish to take an active role rather than sitting passively to relieve tension. Our survey has shown that the audience craves suspense, pretty much across all demographics of 15+. Despite the fact that we are targeting a specific group and audience, we believe that our film can appeal to a wider audience, of both genders 15+, especially 35+ audiences.

MT & CM

Shot List

Film Industry: Part 3

Why do you think 3D takings went down when the number and variety of 3D films increased in 2011?

Although 3D was used in many films throughout the year, a lot of the more successful films were only released in 2D, such as The Inbetweeners Movie, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The King's Speech. This may have meant that rather than go to see more expensive 3D films, cinema goers opted for the 2D films that had received reviews that were just as good, if not better, than their 3D counterparts. The large number of 3D films released also may have something to do with this, as it can be said that the novelty of a 'gimmicky' feature such as 3D wears off after one has seen a few films with it.

Where do you think these films end up being shown?

It is likely that films such as these will be shown at small film festivals and arthouse cinemas, followed by a fairly small scale DVD release.

Why do you think there are more people going to the cinema mid-week? Who are more likely to attend the cinema outside of opening weekends?

The primary 16-24 market is less able to go to the cinema in the working week, as many have education or a job. This makes mid-week cinema viewing seem more accessable and less crowded to older consumers, and less intimidating to parents who might want to take their children to the cinema. This means that those who are free mid-week are more likely to go then than at the weekends, due to the concentration of teenagers and young adults that attend at that time.

Why do you think there had been a decline in DVD sales in the last few years?

The last few years have seen the rise of online consumption of film, both through legitimate (LoveFilm, Netflix, etc) and illegal (download, streaming, etc) means. This leads to lower DVD sales, due to the ease of use and relative affordability of online viewing. The increase in the quality and size of computer screens will also have had an effect on how many films are watched online, and thus how many are bought in DVD form.

Summarise what has remained the same about the UK film market over the last 10 years and what has changed dramatically.

- There have been more films shown, albeit by a small margin. This means that although admissions have increased, it has been a very vague attempt at an increase, and there is not a huge amount of significant change for this period.
- Broadband speed and the numbers of devices that can be used to access films have both increased, which means that more people are accessing films both online and using smartphones or tablets. This has obviously dramatically changed the way in which films are consumed.

How does film production in the UK seem to be very different from the Hollywood model of large, powerful studios?

- The British film industry does not have the same sort of financial backing that Hollywood does, which makes film production far more difficult at every stage.
- Television companies such as Film4 or the BBC are very important in terms of funding for British films, as they are some of the few British companies that will back an otherwise independent British film. This can often mean a small screen release for new, small films.
- Many other UK production and distribution companies are American or American subsidiaries, which gives Hollywood a profound influence on British film.

What is the benefit to a film producer of their film being branded as British?

- Britain is well respected in the film industry for producing great films, actors, directors, and other large figures in the industry.
- Britain is fairly marketable at the moment, with films like Skyfall being set in London, and the recent popularity of actors such as Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch. This makes utilizing Britain an appealing prospect to large production companies.
- Hollywood is able to dominate the UK film market by funding British films with subsidiaries, which means that a large portion of the box office profits end up with Hollywood anyway.

How many of these could be considered British films? How many are co-productions where most of the money leaves the country? What does this say about the scale of the UK film industry?

- The only exclusively British films on the list are The King's Speech, The Inbetweeners Movie, Horrid Henry, and Jane Eyre.
- Films such as Johnny English Reborn, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows could all be considered British due to subject matter and actors such as Rowan Atkinson, Jude Law, Gary Oldman, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
- The vast majority of the films on the list have American input, which indicates a strong Hollywood influence over the British film industry, and that the UK film industry would be significantly less effective without the input of Hollywood.

Which of My Week with Marilyn and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas do you think is a BBC co-production and why?

They both are, but my expectation would be that My Week with Marilyn would be the BBC co-production, due to the presence of many prominent British actors such as Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, and Eddie Redmayne, and a British director; Simon Curtis.

Why do you think the Coalition government decided to close down the UKFC?

- The UKFC had not had a fantastic record in terms of spending, with £160 million being put into 900 productions, many of which were very unsuccessful.
- The Council had a bad reputation, especially for cronyism and arrogance, which made it an unfortunate organisation for the government to have ties with.
- Cameron's plans involve investing in mainstream film, in order to maximize profitability and make the UK film industry more lucrative. This was not the view of the UKFC, which poured a lot of money into independent and arthouse films, which are considerably less profitable.

Do you think the UK film industry needs a body like the UKFC/BFI? Why?

A body such as these is very important to the industry, as it will provide much needed funding for smaller British films. The system has it's flaws, as some may argue that funding arthouse films is a waste of money, but in a creative field such as this, the morality of cutting funding to specific films comes into question. Essentially, a UKFC or BFI like body is extremely important to have, provided that it is handled with care and that there is no cronyism, arrogance or waste involved.

Survey Findings

In order to better understand the audience we are targeting with our thriller, we carried out a survey, which will help us with targeting and thus tone, casting, and pace, when filming our opening.

In terms of accessing film, the most prevalent method for 16-24 year olds was watching films online (legitimately or otherwise), whereas older audiences, especially the 36-50 age range, tend to frequent the cinema as a primary method of seeing films. A surprising number of these elected to go to Art house cinemas rather than Multiplexes, which suggests that if targeting this group we ought to go for a more Art house tone, which is useful given our lack of budget.

This graph is the result of the survey asking people to rate films out of 10. In theory, the highest possible score is 30 due to the average being taken from each age group. This means that some films such as Notebook and Insidious have lower scores due to certain age groups not having seen them. However this graph is very useful for seeing which films are popular based on both viewership and quality. Unsurprisingly the three highest rated films are Skyfall, Lord of the Rings, and Forrest Gump. Some of the more useful results relate to the popularity of big budget action films such as Transformers and Terminator with younger audiences rather than any 24+ audience. Films that did well with older audiences included The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, 39 Steps, and Silence of the Lambs. This is useful to us as it indicates that a more psychological and suspenseful thriller would be more effective in targeting our audience.

Among 0-24 year olds, the general consensus for favourite film genre was Action, Comedy, or Thriller. Action and, especially, Thriller became more prominent as the age of the subject increased, especially among male subjects, which indicates that an older audience is actually a more effective audience for us to target, given that we are making a thriller. Also relevant to this is preferred features of thrillers, which for the younger audience tended to be fast pace and action, whereas for older audiences tension and suspense were more prevalent.

So if we are targeting any older audience, 25+, specifically male, we ought to ascertain the preferred actors and films of this group. According to the survey these include Robert de Niro, Leonardo di Caprio, Jodie Foster, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, 'Catch Me If You Can', 'Silence of the Lambs', 'The Shining', and 'The Godfather'. Evidently the film needs strong characters and a good deal of suspense in order to appeal to this audience.

CM

Narrative

• Panning shot of London Skyline
• Close up of Buildings in London
• Title credits appear on building and during panning shot of skyline. 
• cut to long shot of antagonist walking down the alleyway
• shot behind the protagonist following antagonist
• shadows to create eerie atmosphere (hat and long trench coat) (film noir style)
• cut to car park
• long shot of another antagonist walking towards his car
• hearing footsteps
• shadows hopefully used again
• close up of antagonist face as he turns around
• quick shots of dead antagonists
• Protag walking away, slow zoom towards bloody knife with kettle noise increasing
• shot of kettle boiling in small kitchen
• protag cleaning knife
• phone rings, protag picks up and says, "its done"
• Cut to black 

  M.T & C. M   

Audience Research Survey

1.    How old are you?

0-15         16-24         25-35         36 – 50        51 –

2.    Gender?

Male          Female

3.    How do you usually watch films

Cinema –

DVD’s  -

Online -

Other –

4.    Rate these films out of 10 (if you’ve seen them)?

Notebook -      /10

Transformers -     /10

Forest Gump -       /10

Shawshank Redemption -     /10

The Shining -       /10

Lord of the Rings -      /10

Insidious -        /10

5.    Rate these thriller films out of 10 (if you’ve seen them)?

39 steps -      /10

Silence of the Lambs -      /10

Die Hard -        /10

Terminator -        /10

Se7en -      /10

Drive -       /10

Looper -       /10

Skyfall -        /10

Bourne Identity -       /10

6.    What film did you last see?

7.    What film did you last see in the cinema?

8.    What are your favourite sorts of film genre (circle your answer)?

Thriller

Western

Film Noir

Action

Romance

Comedy

Other

9.    What do you like about thrillers (circle your answer)?

Suspense

Tension

Fast Paced Action

Other

10. What kind of cinema do you tend to go to (circle your answer)?

Art House

Multiplex

Imax

11. Name your favourite Actor/Actress?

Thankyou!


M.T