Initial IdeasThe genre we have decided on is crime drama, we will show this theme by using an engaging narrative, there should be a resolution of a mystery a question of mortality and should include debates about who is in the right and wrong. In terms of characteristics, there should be teamwork and pleasure in success, conflict between different modes of policing/ or figuring out what's happened. Crime dramas tend to be male orientated, however we may try to challenge this stereotype. Corruption and betrayal are recurring themes of crime dramas. We plan to show genre in our promotional package using connotations such as the police force, weapons and mysterious storylines which makes the audience want to know 'who done it', however we feel more research needs to be done to discover more about this genre.
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We made our initial ideas in our group of three. We chose some genres first then worked out possible narratives and then character types.
Below are some of our notes that we used to help develop our ideas. We have based our ideas around Propp's narrative theory and have used some of his eight character types., we have done this to ensure that our film trailer is conventional and is appropriate to the basic rules of film. We will ensure that our trailer and film idea will pass the Bechdel test, as I feel it is important to not have sexist aspects in our film. We will ensure we include two women talking to each other about something other than men. We are considering merging the first two ideas together as we feel it would be more successful than just one on its own. However, the genre will need to be decided due to them both being different. genres. |
Film poster reconstruction
Feedback
I did a presentation to my media class showing them my poster and magazine cover where it was at that time. I needed the feedback so I could learn about what I needed to know to improve in future projects. I created a presentation which I showed to the class. After reflecting on this research, I feel that I have missed out some lighting techniques which I could have used to improve the overall aesthetics of my poster.
After this task, I feel my skills have improved considerably on using Photoshop. I now know how to cut a background out of an image, make my own brush pattern, use different lighting settings and change colour balances/contrasts etc. This is benefit me in future projects as I will be able to work quicker and make successful projects.
Masthead research
After discussing which masthead name we thought would be most appropriate, we decided to take forward 'Film Premier' and 'Montage'. We wanted the typography to be bold and to look professional for our magazine cover. We searched dafont.com for a suitable typography and edited the colours and positioning of some of the letters on some of the mastheads.
Even though 'Film Premier' is appropriate for a film magazine, these masthead are quite basic, they will portray our magazine cover to be serious and quite plain. We want our magazine to draw attention to itself. I feel we will need a more exciting name and font which will make our magazine cover more appealing for our target audience. Due to our films general controversy we feel that this magazine title would not be appropriate and would not draw enough attention to the film.
Audience feedbackWe asked the same group that we used for the audience feedback on the crime genre about these masthead selections. They agreed with our group and said that Montage is more appropriate for a teen audience as well as the typography that we have used. As a group, we discussed the Empire masthead, and said the Montage typography we selected is therefore similar to existing products making it more conventional for a magazine. They said the colour scheme used for magazines is often reds, blues and blacks. Which sticks with the rule-of-three. These are the colours we intend to use for our magazine cover as we feel these will draw attention to the magazine in a shop. We also spoke about the positioning of mastheads in magazines. It was agreed they are always within the top third as this is what is seen in a selection of magazines in a shop.
Our mock up film posterThis is our mock up of a film poster, we feel that the brick wall will look effective for our crime genre as it implies a gritty location which suggests crime in the area. The graffiti on the wall also implies a sense of anti-social behaviour. This, again will appeal to a teenage audience as this may possibly be something they can relate to.
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As a group, we have decided that Montage is more appropriate for our magazine name. It makes the magazine sound exciting and that there will be a lot of information involved in the text. The word 'Montage' sounds much more modern than 'Film Premier' which is important for our target audience.
Props List |
Forensic Films- Our production company
As a group, we have developed our own production company called Forensic Films. This is very relevant to our crime genre, we feel if this is shown at the start of our trailer it will add to the relevance of the crime genre- as we feel this can be difficult to convey at times. We chose the name 'Fornesic Flims' as it implies the company just works with murder based films- which is relevant to our genre of film. We felt the alliteration of the name was also effective and sounded realistic. We will add effects to the image with the micro glass so that is moves around the text to add a professional and quirky effect. This type of production company would produce films such as Down Terrace 2009 and Kill List. I feel these would be appropriate as they are directed by the same person (Ben Wheatly) which arises institutional appeal as well as creating a bond with directors. This is what our film and us as directors would plan to do.
Group planning focus group
After a lot of discussion about the specifics of our film trailer, we decided to filter it all down into one mind map which we will now use to produce a storyboard and script and to plan our filming schedule.
We thought this was important to film especially so we could re-watch it to keep it clear in our minds what we want to create and how we plan to do this. |
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Development of initial ideas
Possible Names- We had two main possibilities for the name. "Here lies the truth" and "Distortion" we asked our focus group of peers which one they felt would be most appropriate and as a whole they said "Disruption" as it is short and sweet and it implies the genre of crime well. We felt "Here lies the truth" sounds more like a horror film than a crime.
Narrative- We have chosen to merge our original two ideas together. This includes a male protagonist working against the police to prove his innocence- whilst suffering from shot term amnesia due to a blow to the head on his 18th birthday party. There will be everyone against Max (protagonist) except for the audience.
Actors involved- We will be using teenage actors. These are the most accessible to us and we feel due to us having a teenage audience, they will be the most relatable for our audience. The issues that will be going on around the main drama will be things that they can relate to and they will find it interesting.
Settings- We will use a medical room for our hospital and get an establishing shot of the outside of a hospital (Samuel Johnsons in Lichfield). We will use someone's house for a party scene, as well as the outside of a club to make the actors look as if they are going in the club. This is represent the teenagers to be fun-loving and free. This should also be represented with the music that we use.
Props- We will need to dress up mise-en-scene to make the clips as realistic and effective as possible. It is important that we use the correct lighting, props, costumes and actors. These will be things we consider throughout the production of all three products.
Narrative- We have chosen to merge our original two ideas together. This includes a male protagonist working against the police to prove his innocence- whilst suffering from shot term amnesia due to a blow to the head on his 18th birthday party. There will be everyone against Max (protagonist) except for the audience.
Actors involved- We will be using teenage actors. These are the most accessible to us and we feel due to us having a teenage audience, they will be the most relatable for our audience. The issues that will be going on around the main drama will be things that they can relate to and they will find it interesting.
Settings- We will use a medical room for our hospital and get an establishing shot of the outside of a hospital (Samuel Johnsons in Lichfield). We will use someone's house for a party scene, as well as the outside of a club to make the actors look as if they are going in the club. This is represent the teenagers to be fun-loving and free. This should also be represented with the music that we use.
Props- We will need to dress up mise-en-scene to make the clips as realistic and effective as possible. It is important that we use the correct lighting, props, costumes and actors. These will be things we consider throughout the production of all three products.
Pitching of ideas to our audience
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This video to the left shows us pitching our film ideas to another media group who is also within our target audience as they are teenagers and are into watching independent films.
To stick to the crime genre, we aimed to show the possible ideas as a mind map on a whiteboard to rein act a board room meeting in a police station with a 'who done it' type conversation. We used the lines coming from different images to represent the different possible solutions, similar to the board game Cludo. Due to there being possible locations, people, weapons etc. We found that from this task we have learnt a lot about what outsiders from our group think about our general ideas of our film. We feel this was a beneficial task to do. |
Synopsis
This is our first draft of our synopsis for our film.
We have stuck to the conventional storyline of a crime film as we thought this was important to our genre.. This was our first draft which we changed in the planning process. We decided as a group that we should have a clearer genre of crime and we could do that by altering parts of the plot.
In brief, our new storyline is going to be the same protagonist (Max Barker) being accused of kidnapping/murdering his girlfriend Lily. However, after receiving a serious blow to the head, he is now suffering from amnesia- meaning he doesn't recall the important events of the night. Making his alibi a little vague. .The film will convey his journey to proving his innocence and getting the bottom of what has happened.. The film will aim to allow the audience to be the detectives to solve the mystery- is Max really responsible for Lily's disappearance?
In our trailer we aim to convey flashbacks of the night that Lily disappeared which was Max's birthday. We will show some events of the pre-drinks of the night out as well as the crime of Max being hit over the head.
We feel that this plot is more conventional to crime and will be more interesting for the audience rather than just a insignificant person being murdered in the trailer.
We have stuck to the conventional storyline of a crime film as we thought this was important to our genre.. This was our first draft which we changed in the planning process. We decided as a group that we should have a clearer genre of crime and we could do that by altering parts of the plot.
In brief, our new storyline is going to be the same protagonist (Max Barker) being accused of kidnapping/murdering his girlfriend Lily. However, after receiving a serious blow to the head, he is now suffering from amnesia- meaning he doesn't recall the important events of the night. Making his alibi a little vague. .The film will convey his journey to proving his innocence and getting the bottom of what has happened.. The film will aim to allow the audience to be the detectives to solve the mystery- is Max really responsible for Lily's disappearance?
In our trailer we aim to convey flashbacks of the night that Lily disappeared which was Max's birthday. We will show some events of the pre-drinks of the night out as well as the crime of Max being hit over the head.
We feel that this plot is more conventional to crime and will be more interesting for the audience rather than just a insignificant person being murdered in the trailer.
Original Script |
Developed script |
Original storyboard
Developed Storyboard
After starting to film the above plan of the trailer, we decided to change the narrative slightly to be more interesting. We therefore have developed the script and storyboard to fit the new ideas we had made as a group. We felt the old narrative was lacking real interest and didn't seem to be as full with crime as we had once hoped. We felt that by adding a missing person into the narrative- it would immediately become more appealing.
...more developments!
We have developed the narrative for the trailer which therefore meant we needed to change more details so that the products still looked effective.
Name- We have changed the name of the trailer and promotional package to "Corruption". We chose this name as we felt it is relevant to the crime genre and implies a sense of danger and lies involved in the narrative. We also felt this was snappy and appealing for our target audience.
Name- We have changed the name of the trailer and promotional package to "Corruption". We chose this name as we felt it is relevant to the crime genre and implies a sense of danger and lies involved in the narrative. We also felt this was snappy and appealing for our target audience.
Costume plan
Location images
Shooting Schedule
Editing Schedule
Health and Safety Considerations
It is important for us to consider the health and safety issues whilst filming so that when we are filming everything is already planned to ensure we all remain safe throughout the production of our promotional package.
Interim Showcase for teachers and peers
This is our first cut of Corruption. We showed this to our peers in our media class as well as our two media teachers and an editing specialist called Ben. We did this task to collect some opinions on what we had so far. As you can see in this draft we had some problems with iMovie software when editing, it was changing parts of our clips to green and merging others together. This was a big issue with the production of our trailer especially. The clip which 'glitches' means that two shots are not shown in this cut of the trailer. Hopefully we will be able to overcome this problem for the final cut of our trailer.