Monday 31 October 2011

Audience Research Task

Audience research is very important to the people who are making films such as directors and filmmakers and the people who want to advertise the films in a way that they know who their audience is and what to show in their trailers in order for their target audience to become interested in the film. It is very important to find out what genre of film people would want to watch so you can find out the most wanted genre an audience would like to watch and make a profit by making a good film that a target audience would like to watch. It is important for filmmakers to find out what they need in their films to attract people of different demographics such as making a film with a female lead character in an action film even though men are usually lead roles for their masculinity and this is in order to attract more women to their films and as not to stereotype women in film as being sidekicks or a ' damsel in distress ' or releasing a family film during the summer in order to attract families as the holidays is when they mostly watch films especially in the summer as these are called summer blockbusters as they make a lot of money from families watching them. Filmmakers also now try not to stereotype in their films like they used to such as an american action film would always have an american hero saving the world from the evil soviet russian or the chinese and stereotyping them as always being bad and themselves as the good guys but now you see americans as the bad guys and also villians now usually have more depth and a past story in order for the audience to associate more with that character and to relate to them.

There are three main theories that we use in film :
Hyperdermic needle is the theory which suggest that media can manipulate people and their influences. This is by filmakers trying to make their films believable on the audience such as the blair witch project which was shot in documentary form as the directors wanted to make the audience believe that it was based on a true story as it says at the beginning that three student filmakers went missing and now footage has been found of what happened  to them. This makes the audience tense and believe that there is a killer out in the woods and the legend of the blair witch exists.

Two step flow is how the film is spread through more traditional means such as word of mouth and is a way of advertising such as a person will watch a film and if they like it then they will tell their friends and recommend the film and so they will tell their friends and the cycle will continue such as the blair witch was spread mainly through word of mouth due to it being a low-budget film.

Reception analysis is how each person of the audience will view a film and view it differently from another person as they will view the film and find their own meaning for it. A good film will be where certain things in the film will have different meanings such as in Donnie Darko most people would have a different view as if the main character is actually seeing a man in a bunny suit and travelling in time or if he is just schizophrenic and this is how people view a film differently from each other.

Filmography : This is all the information about a film such as the title, when released and the genre.

Bibliography : This gives you all the information of a book such as the title and when it was published and who the author is and what it is about ( blurb )

Friday 14 October 2011

film treatment

The main theme of our film opening is that there will be a group of bullies who bully a shy outcast individual who is the victim of these bullies’ sick antics and decides upon himself to commit suicide. But due to his guilt and hatred for what the bullies have done to him, he comes back to life and makes it his goal to get revenge on those who used to torment him and goes to the extreme as he decides to kill them all.
The main character is Kallam is very believable as he is a class geek who keeps his head in his books and is very shy around the rest of the people in the class who also dislike him for his awkwardness and unsociable characteristics
Kallams main goals were trying to succeed in his exams but after rising from the dead his main goal is getting revenge on those who tormented him. Kashif, Ehsham and Farhan are the bullies who have made his life hell but regret and realise what they have done to Kallams family and feel sorry for pushing him to suicide and their main goals and aims are to stop Kallam and beg for his forgiveness and hope they are forgiven but mainly to stop him from killing them. The bullies are in the way of stopping Kallam from succeeding in killing him as they try everything in power to stop him.
At stake is the bullies lives and their families feeling the same way as they made Kallams family feel and they try all their best to stop him.
The film takes place in a school and in a graveyard where we take Kallam to make him scared and in the school where we see him at the hands of his tormentors as he gets bullied and hated by his classroom and on Sheldon heath road.
We have created 4 interesting characters:
·         Ehsham who is one of the intimidating bullies who overshadows Kallam in size and is physically intimidating.

·         Kashif who follows the other bullies and hides behind them whilst bullying Kallam, he bullies kallam in order to gain respect from the other two bullies.

·         Farhan who is small but vicious in his relentless bullying and even Ehsham is scared of Farhan, for what he lacks in size he makes up in aggression
      Kallam, who is the main character and is the victim of the bullying. he is socially awkward and prefers to stick his head into books rather than socialise, which makes him an easy target for the bullies

Thursday 13 October 2011

Genre research

What is genre ?

Genre is a category which you categorise films and other pieces of literature or music. For example movies would be put into certain genres for what they depict in their films such as a film about monsters and murder would be in the genre of horror. There are various genres but the main and popular ones are usually action, horror, comedy, romance or sci-fi. Sometimes there are sub-genres where two genres come together in a film such as the action-adventure genre which is very popular.

Advantages

There are many advantages to having films be categorised into genres. One of these advantages of categorising films into genres is for film goers and the audience to know what they can expect for a certain film when going to see it so they wont be disappointed as what to expect from a certain film. Filmmakers also benefit from categorising films into genres in order to attract a certain audience to their films as some film goers prefer a certain genre over the other so categorising a film into the horror genre will attract an audience who like that particular genre. Genres can be used to work out myths and fears and also if there was no genre there would only be one type of film coming out all the time and the audience would be bored of this so different genres can provide fresh material. Also genre can be seen as a reassurance in a dangerous world as movie goers can feel happiness from a certain genre such as comedy which can lift up their spirits on days they are feeling down

Disadvantages


There are also disadvantages to having genres. One of these is that we should be understanding of how a film is functioned in relation to genre rather than being defined by a certain genre. We should also note that a genre will only function depending on the audiences understanding of such genre.

The genre of the film my group have chosen will be a sub-genre of horror/thriller which will contain the conventions of gore, voilence, blood, mystery, death and action.

The origins of the horror genre start of in the late 1890's when in 1896 there were many short silent films being produced and one of these is a three minute long french film entitled 'la manoir du diable' ( the manor of the devil ) which is also credited as the first vampire film. After this more and more horror films were being made due to thier increasing popularity due to audiences liking to be shocked. Some notable horror films were frankenstein and bram stokers dracula which are both credited as classics. Horror films used to be about monsters and would rely on tension and suspense to scare an audience but now more and more horror films use gore and voilence to reach the same goals seen with the zombie films being released in the 1960's -1980's. Now horror films usually focus on a murderer who goes around the film killing people and uses the gore as the main attraction for audiences.


Some good examples of the horror genre would be director George Romero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero He is credited as '' the godfather of zombies '' and is noted for his films about zombie apocalypses such as ' dawn of the dead '  ' night of the living dead ' and ' day of the dead '. Due to these films he has created his own sub-genre of zombie horror films and has also improved gore in horror films due to his zombies and George is so well known he is even a character in a zombies add on to the game series called call of duty which shows his effort into the horror genre has been recognised.

Another good example of the horror genre would be Signourey Weaver. She is a famous actor who is known for being in one of the greatest horror films of all time called 'Alien'. At the time main characters in horror or action films would be men but instead it was a women who was the hero of the film who combatted alien creatures in a futuristic space setting.


One particular film of the horror genre that i think is a good example of the horror genre is the blair witch project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D51QgOHrCj0.
The Blair witch project is about three students filming a documentary in the woods about a famous myth of a serial killer. During their filming they realise they are lost and being stalked by the same killer they are documenting their film about. The Blair witch project is a good film of the horror genre due to its realism and making the audience believe that this happened and is a true story when it is not. The actors in the film are not famous and genuinely come across as students who get lost in the woods. The suspense from the film starts at the beginning where it says that 3 students went missing in the woods and that their bodies have not been found but only a camcorder which shows the last remaining footage of their whereabouts which sets the mood for the rest of the film. The film is shot using handheld cameras which effects it making it more realistic as the camera shakes when the characters are running through the woods whilst being chased which gives you a feel of the atmosphere and makes you feel involved in the tension of the film as you see everything from their point of view. This makes the movie even more suspenseful and keeps you on edge but the scariest thing about the film is that you never see the killer, only hear him. Not seeing the killer in the film but knowing that he is there is what makes the Blair witch project so scary and makes it one of the best films as you hear that he is chasing you and combined with the shaky cam makes an experience like no other.


Bibligrophy : 
Author : Bram Stoker   Title : Dracula


Filmogrophy : 
Year : 1999  film :  The Blair witch project  Director : Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez

Monday 3 October 2011

Film Opening Analysis

I will analyse three different film openings from three different genres.




This film opening is from the film iron man
Film release: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth paltrow
http://www.imdb.co.uk/tt0371746/

The genre of this film is action and the genre conventions i would expect from the action genre are lots of gunfights, car-chases, explosions and more action based rather than dialogue or story driven which means it focuses on entertaining audiences with explosions and gun fights rather than the plot or dialogue the of the characters.

The technical codes of the iron man sequence are all computer generated (CGI)  as it shows a type of blueprint of a robotic suit being made which shows that the film will have advanced technology and might possibly even be set in the future as technology such as a robotic suit doesn't exist in todays world.

The key signifiers of the iron man opening sequence is the blue light which is frequently shown through the sequence and this could signify the light as a source of energy, the light that is shown on the heart of the robotic suit and may also signify good as light is shown as representing good and darkness represents evil and this tells me as he has light at his heart, it means he is good-hearted. 

Also the red is a signifier as its shown throughout the sequence and this could signify that there will be blood in the film as red symbolises blood. Another key signifier is the light on his hand which could signify that he has an array of weapons at his disposal due to the advanced technology which could feature in the film.

The sequence tells us about the content of the movie and that it will have cool technology and special effects in the film which tells us that there will be loads of fights done in cgi including the explosions.
The audience being targeted is children as the opening title sequence is done in cartoonish animations in order to attract the attention of children and keep them interested plus the idea of robotic suits will have them engaged as kids are interested in robots.

The second film i will be analysing is called the incredibles.
Film release: 2004
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L Jackson

The genre of this film is an action-adventure animated film as it is all done in animation and in the opening sequence is punching in the opening sequence and explosions and this will be a superhero film as they are wearing masks and costumes with the letter ' I ' on it to symbolise they are on the same team and are called the incredibles. The technical codes of the incredibles is that it is animated which means the whole film is done on computer.



The key signifier is the black masks on and the identical red costumes with the ' I ' which signifies that they are superheroes as the matching costumes symbolises they have connection with each other and also it shows the characters possessing unique superpowers such as the baby setting on fire.
The sequence would make you suspect that there is a family aspect to the film as the team consists of a male and female along with children including a baby which shows they may be a family.
The target audience could be kids and would attract to families as the main characters could all be a family.
It also shows signifiers of an action-adventure film as it shows a map of an island which could be the setting for the film or the place where they could be looking for a certain object which adds to the adventure genre.

The third and final title sequence i will be analysing is from the film Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark. The genre of the raiders of the lost ark is the action-adventure film genre. The conventions i would expect from the action-adventure genre are that of loads of explosions and gunfights and car chases and loads of set pieces which are fast and exciting in order to engage the audience. I would also expect exotic locations and i can tell this from the title sequence that one of the locations in the film will be Egypt as there are hieroglyphics written on the wall before they are turned into English writing.


 From this title sequence i can see that the main setting in this film will be Egypt. The key signifier is the writing being changed by being smashed against the wall and they turn into English which suggests its forced. Also it seems the movie will be set in the past as it shows the wall as being old. The name of the film also sounds exotic and mysterious as it says raiders which  are people who raid certain places such as homes or graves and the lost ark is also a religious artifact from in the bible which was a ark which possessed untold powers and contained the 10 commandments. From this i can tell that the plot of the film will be people trying to raid/steal this artifact called the ark of the covenant. This suggests there will be both good and evil people chasing the ark.