Script on Opening

The only times in which speech is used within the opening to our film is at the very start, where he answers the phone and then on top of the tower where Kevin's boss hands over the money for taking out the hit. In the first instance, we saw keeping it short and sweet the best;

Kevin: [Answers Phone] Hello? Who is it?
Boss: [muffled voice, at the other end of the phone line] Meet me at the top of the tower at 8.
[Phone line goes flat]

We saw this as important, the boss' lack of an introduction highlights his importance and how well known he is to Kevin. In terms of the second occurence of speech, A juxtaposition between the distress Kevin was feeling in the hotel room scene and his confident attitude when talking to his Boss should be shown in order to portray his fragmented psychosis.

[Kevin is Looking out the window over the view of London. His Boss enters up the stairs behind him and Kevin turns around and acknowledges him with a nod. Neither character are fully visible]
Kevin: Boss, its done, There is no way he could have survived that.
Boss: Good. Ill be in touch. Until then, don't fuck up. [Hands package over to Kevin]

JL and JR

Shot List

Shot List

Shot Number	Shot Angle/Movement	Time	Notes
1)	Close up of The killer (Kevin) zooming in slowly on his face	4s	Character looks distressed, obvious that he is thinking about something
2)	Screen flashes to black then 1st person view of Kevin walking down a street – from his perspective	8-9s	Kevin is breathing heavily and looking from left to right, shiftily
3)	Another black flash on the screen and the scene jumps to a first person view of Kevin when he is killing the man (Tyrone)	6s	Kevin Lunges at Tyrone, because its first person there is a close up of Tyrone’s face
4)	During the flashback a phone ringing is heard	1s
5)	Close up of Kevin looking down at his phone and picking it up	2s	Does so hesitantly
6)	With his head in his hands, he answers. Shot of a close up of his face	6s	Muffled voice can be hear in the backgroubnd, from the other end of the phone. Kevin Says, collectively, “I’ll be there soon”
7)	Kevin gets up and walks out of frame	3s
8)	He then walk in to frame, opens the door and slams it shut behind him	3s
9)	Kevin, walking down the alley looks behind him (from a 1st person perspective) and looks at the ground	5s
10)	Black flash on screen and he sees the dead body, in the place that he killed Tyrone before from the same angle as the previous shots stopped	2s
11)	Another Black Flash and the scene cuts to the present day again with no body on the floor – again same angle as the previous two shots	2s
12)	He turns around and walks off to the other end of the alley	3s
13)	Mid Shot of Kevin walking out of the Alleyway, behind him a menacing figure appears out of the shadows and begins to follow him, Kevin walks across the line of the camera leaving the man behind him  in the centre of shot	6s	Person following him is Tyrone and wearing the same clothes as he was when he was killed
14)	Long shot of Kevin emerging from a side road, running across the road and arriving at location (2)	5s
15)	Matching action of Kevin entering the door	2s
16)	Pan of Kevin after he enters the room to him walking up a flight of stairs	4s	Nods at receptionist, shows a sense of familiarity – looks to be in a rush although
17)	At the top of one set of stairs, Kevin runs across the shot while going up and behind him Tyrone again comes in to shot and walks up the stairs behind him	7s	Dim lighting
18)	Arriving at the top of the tower, pan of Kevin walking to the night time view of London seen from the top of Location (3)	4s
19)	A sound behind him makes Kevin jump and turn around, camera follows his gaze and sees a man, dressed in an overcoat	4s	Man looks mysterious, seems to be holding something.
20)	180 rule while Kevin and the man exchange words – see notes	15s	Mysterious man – “You assure me it’s done?” Kevin – “Yes it’s done, I’m sure of it. There is no way he could have survived that”
21)	Close up of the mysterious man’s face. He nods in approval	3s
22)	Mid shot of the two, side on showing the man give Kevin a package. He then walks out of shot as Kevin puts the package in his inside pocket	6s
23)	Kevin turns back around to the view and looks out over London again.	4s
24)	A shot from over Kevin’s shoulder, showing behind him, Tyrone is approaching him slowly	3s	Tense music starts playing again
25)	There is a close up of Tyrone’s hand about to touch Kevin’s shoulder from behind him	5s	Tempo of music increases
26)	A loud sound makes Kevin turn around – shows from his perspective that nothing is there.	3s
27)	Quickly after he turns around the screen cuts to black and the titles come appear	3s + titles

Story Board

These are my half of the storyboard for the shots in the opening scene of the film that me and my partner are making soon. These are the shots that are going to be used in the opening. my partner has produced the first half of the shots on his story board.

This is the video and motion for the shots and how the film will look using the sounds, music and talking to piece together how the film will look.

Distribution in the Film Industry

Media Booklet 6

Did millions of people go to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in the first week of release because it is such a great film, or because it was well marketed? Or both?

 I think that it was both the marketing and distribution and the fact that the first Pirates of the Caribbean was so good. Because the first Pirates of the Caribbean was reviewed well, that was a major factor towards the big interest and audience that the second film had. People would have seen the trailer for the second Pirates of the Caribbean film and posters on busses or around everyday areas and so this would have been a factor towards the audience of the second film. Trailers have a big impact on the look of the film and audience as I go to watch films that appeal to me through trailers and if they were part of sequels which were good previously in the series. This shows that marketing is also a major factor towards the audience of the film and how much the film would make at the box office.

Production in the Film Industry

Media Booklet 5

Chose an Actress from the list above. What would they bring to a role in a film?

 Angelina Jolie:

She is a famous actress and very famous for the roles that she plays in action films such as ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’.

She is a classy female actor and attracts the males for her famous looks but also for the idea of a good looking woman in action playing role.

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

 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I saw this film via friends recommendation and so we went to see this film and it was fantastic, definitely a film that I will recommend to others. The First Hunger Games film was brilliant as well and the second one did play up to expectations.

Insidious Chapter 2

I went to see this film because I had seen the first one and I have a sweet spot for the Horror Genre. This film was good and led into a third film in which will be being made which I will go and see also.

Find out the Budget and box Office of the following films; The Blair Witch project, Paranormal Activity and Avatar. Which of them has made the biggest profit?

 The budget for ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was only $22,500 and made $248,639,099 at the Box Office.

The Budget for ‘Paranormal activity’ was only $15,000 but was adjusted by inflation to $16,887 and then made $193,355,800 at the Box Office and was adjusted by inflation to $210,391,025.

The Budget for Avatar was $237 Million with an added $9 Million for Pre-Release. This film made an incredible $2,782,275,172 at the Box Office.

Find out the Producers and Budgets of the following British Films; Never let Me Go, The King’s Speech and Skyfall. Has film production changed in the UK since the 1990’s?

 Never Let Me Go had a budget of $15 Million and was produced by DNA films, Film4 and Fox searchlight pictures. 

The King’s Speech had a budget of $15 Million and was produced by The UK film council, Momentum Pictures, Weinstein Company.

Skyfall had a budget of $150-200 Million and was produced by Eon Productions and Danjaq.

The Budgets for the films that are produced in this day and age compared to back in the 1990’s are significantly bigger. This shows the size of the films and also the companies surrounding the making of the films. The Audience for films is much bigger as more money is being brought into the Film Industry through the Box Office.

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

Films with singing such as the American films of High School Musical and Camp Rock which were based around music and so the soundtracks would have been popular with the audiences who went to see these films.

The James Bond film soundtracks would have been popular in the same way as the star wars films and Star Trek soundtracks were very popular. These are very cinematic soundtracks with big orchestras and big sounding sounds to enhance the experience of the films.

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

 Lionsgate are an up and coming film Production Company who are famous for their production of horror films and were made very popular through the series of Saw films which grew ever popular as they went on. The Saw franchise was probably the biggest Horror movie series in which had the biggest success. Lionsgate have also produced films such as ‘The Expendables’ which was quite popular for the big actors played in this film. Lionsgate has also produced The Hunger Games latest film of ‘Catching Fire’. Lionsgate is a company growing ever bigger as they begin to produce the bigger films with the biggest audiences.

A History of British Film since 1984

A History of British film since 1984-Booklet 4

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

The costume drama/heritage film rose to, ‘great prominence during the 1980’s’ (a room with a view etc.) – Four weddings and a funeral. Gainsborough melodramas have been around since early 40’s. British social realist cinema seem to withstand Thatcherism (harsh economy). Moved away recently from ‘portraying Victorian and Edwardian aristocracy at home and abroad’.. Comedy has always been a favourite genre but not as much as recent times – Notting Hill, Bridget Jones Diary and Love Actually all made great success in Britain and across the world.

DNA Films last two productions were Dredd 3D (2012) and Never Let Me Go (2010). What kind of films are they? How are they different from earlier films? Have they been successful at the box office?

Dredd 3D, Action and Sci-Fi. It is a film set in the future, with a lot of action but not a huge amount of substance in terms of storyline. This film was very unsuccessful at the box office, making only 13 million from a 50 million budget. Never let me go, Romance and Sci-Fi. Similar in terms of the fact that it is set in the future but much more heart breaking than the aforementioned. It is a romance story, so completely different to Dredd 3D. This film, however, was not very successful at the Box Office, taking only 1.5 million in UK box office. (15million budget)

Summarise in your own words what kind of films Momentum Pictures look to distribute and why?

Momentum Pictures have distributed recently Insidious Chapter 2 and Woman in Black which were both Horror films in which did well in the cinemas and the Horror genre is very popular in the UK and around the world. Momentum pictures seem to have distributed some of the biggest films in the UK film industry such as The King's Speech and The Woman in Black. These were both big films with well known british actors in which both did very well in money terms.

The British Film Industry

The British Film Industry-Booklet 3

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

The 3D film experience is an experience for most people but as it is becoming a normal way of viewing films and so the number of people going to watch 3D films would have dropped.

Where do you think these films end up being shown?

Picture house cinemas and small cinemas around the UK.

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?

There are more people going to the cinema mid-week as there are deals such as the Orange Wednesday 2 for 1 deal. This encourages more people to see films mid-week so that they can get money off and still see the latest films. People go to the cinema to watch the latest films outside of opening weekends as the opening weekends will be when the cinemas are most packed for the latest films and so the cinema is more quiet mid-week after opening showing.

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

This is because films are now being consumed over the internet and streaming. You can also rent or buy the films to download via various sites such as the Apple Store, Play Store, Youtube. Piracy and Illegal streaming is also reasons why DVD sales have dropped.

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

There have been far more Multiplex cinemas opened in the last Ten years, meaning more places to go and watch films on the big screen. However there have been a large amount of screens around the UK in the last decade. The number of movies shown in 2002 (369) has increased at a fairly slow rate to 558 in 2011 – more films shown. Many more digital screens have been made. Unlike in 2002 when only four screen were digital.Smartphone and tablet ownership is on the rise – more places to watch movies other than on the television or in the cinema. Broadband speed increase – easier to watch films on tablets and Smartphone’s.

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

Many UK film production companies are actually subsidiaries of American film companies. Warner Bro’s is a subsidiary of the American Company, Time Warner. BBC and Film 4 films are an important source of funding for the British Cinema companies – they invest into films that eventually make it onto the big screen. Doesn’t have the financial backing that the US film industry has.

What is the benefit to a film producer of their ilm being branded as british? What is it about 'Britishness' that is attractive to investors from outside the UK? What is it about 'Britishness' that makes it easy for Hollywood films to dominate our film market?

Britain produces many good Actors and Directors and we are a respected country in the film industry. Britain could be seen as an untapped film department as London for example has rarely been used in films apart from recently. Many people in Britain go to the cinema every year and so film companies outside Britain see this as a chance to get their name recognised. British films may be owned or funded by the Hollywood companies and so do not have the size to produce bigger films than Hollywood.

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

The films that can be considered as being truly British are 'The King’s Speech' and 'The Inbetweeners'. 16 of the top 20 UK films released in 2011 are co-productions that involve other countries, such as USA and Germany. Other countries dominate the UK film industry, especially America who is involved in almost every film apart from the films listed above.

Which one of these two films recently released in the UK do you think is a BBC co-production and why?

My week with Marilyn because it seems to be sort of like a documentary with a true story of a known character whereas The boy in the striped pyjamas is a story in history and although based on the true events of concentration camps it is a film with made up characters.

The Film Industry

Media Booklet 2

In the UK film market, an increase in the number of screens available to show films has not led to an increase in the number of films being shown. Why?

This is because not many films have big audiences and do not make a huge impact to the industry and do not have a wide range of interest. The growing number of screens means that the bigger films that do have a bigger audience and more people want to watch it can have more screens showing the same film and different times shown to facilitate to different people. This is why the growing number of screens does not mean that more films are being shown. 

In your opinion what might account for the fact that cinema attendances have fluctuated between 139 million and 176 million between 1999 and 2008?

The main fluctuation from 139 million attendances in 1999 and in 2002 the attendances rose to 176 million. This in my own opinion was because the style of films and the budget that would have been allocated to the films that were given cinema release.  Below are the top 5 profit making films in the year of the highest attendance for cinema.

1			The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	$91,914,687	12/18
2			Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	$88,104,108	11/15
3			Die Another Day	$59,182,873	11/22
4			Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones	$58,762,764	5/16
5			Spider-Man	$45,780,340	6/14

In 2011, UK film distributers invested £330 million in advertising their new releases and on 33mm film prints. If around 450 new films receive a theatrical release in the UK every year. How much, on average, do distributers spend distributing a film in the UK?

0.7 Million

This spending stirred up enormous demand-171.5 million cinema tickets were bought UK in 2011. This is great news for cinemas- what’s the downside of all this excitement generated and consumer demand for film producers in the UK?

For smaller companies, producers have a much bigger problem in balancing advertising and making profits than bigger companies. When distributing films, companies have to pay for each separate print of the film for each cinema. This means that bigger companies can pay for a lot more prints to be produced and so therefore a lot more can be produced and yet they can still make back their profit through audiences. This means that for the smaller companies to have a greater demand in films, they will not be able to distribute the film on a greater scale.

In 2004 the average cost of releasing a US film domestically was $39m, in addition to the average production cost of $63.8m, making an overall average production/distribution cost per film of $102.8m. What effect might this have on Hollywood production and distribution if these increases have continued?

It could cause the Hollywood production and distribution to decrease because of too high a profit, which would result in less Hollywood films being made.

Why are more ‘middle aged’ people going to the cinema in 2011? Who, in your opinion, are the current most bankable leading actors for the ‘youth’ market in the UK?

More ‘middle aged’ people are going to the cinema to watch films because actors are around the same age and the older aged cast attracts the older audience.

How many of the top 10 films in the US last year made two-and-a-half times their budget?

‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1’

‘The Hangover Part 11’

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’

‘Cars 2’

‘Thor’

Only 5 of the top 10 films in 2011 made two and a half times their budget.

Jerry Bruckheimer is still producing films today- find some of the recent films he’s produced and look at the trailers. Is he still a ‘high concept’ producer? Michael Bay has taken over his mantle as the go-to man for the ‘event’ movie. Watch some of the trailers of his recent films- does he deserve his reputation for the films that are high on effects and low on narrative?

His most famous, recent releases such as 'Pirates of the Caribbean' (all of them) and both 'National Treasure' films obviously show 'the look' and 'the hook' as both have very Hollywood style plots of action and romance and also have that specific Hollywood, glossy and sharp cutting of shots. 

I think that Bay does deserve the reputation that he has. His most recent and probably most famous releases are all of the 'Transformer' films and 'I am Number Four'.' From the trailers of these films, none of them seem to have a strong story line other than that they are obviously action films. However, in all of these films, they seem to use loads of effects to show the fast paced action in the film.

Find some recent ‘Indiewood’ type films- ones associated with a certain ‘Art house’ feel yet connected to a big Hollywood studio- that these companies have produced. Who are their films aimed at?

Sony Pictures classics have produced films like, ‘The Patience Stone’, which is aimed towards adults who are interested in over-seas.

Focus Features have produced films where they are aimed at young adults who enjoy romance/comedy films.

Fox Searchlight creates films which are aimed towards the middle aged audience. They have also produced, “under the same moon”, which again is aimed at your more mature audience.

To what extent does Hollywood dominate the UK film landscape? And how has it managed to retain its stranglehold?

Hollywood does dominate the UK film industry to a large extent. It seems that high budget Hollywood blockbusters acquire the biggest audience for cinema viewing in the UK.  Also, they are generally the types of films that end up in major cinemas. This results in them being shown widely to the UK’s cinema audiences. Although there is a large market for indie looking films, there is also the ‘indiewood’ genre, which is Hollywood making indie-like film. This is an example of just how much Hollywood has taken over the film industry. Hollywood has managed to retain its audience and interest, because of how popular it is. The popularity automatically means the Hollywood films make more money, which results in more and more films can be afforded to be made, produced and distributed.

General Introduction to the Film Industry

Media Booklet 1

Why is Convergence both a blessing and a curse for the UK Film Industry?

Convergence works when two types of technology or fields come together to support each other such as a camera on a Smartphone. Convergence is good for the UK Film Industry as it creates lots of opportunities for the film industry to branch out and expand its market and reach to many more people. Ways in which this is done to interest people to buy DVD’s or go to the Cinema are The internet and Advertising and Radio or even Posters.

Convergence is also a curse for the UK Film Industry because people use the convergence of film and internet to stream illegally films in which people would normally have to pay for, for free. This creates a loss for money in which the film industry could be making if people were watching the films the way that industry displays them.

How has the internet allowed filmmakers to find and attract audiences in different ways?

The internet allows filmmakers to branch out and attract a bigger audience as the internet is a wide and vastly growing audience. Many ways in which filmmakers reach theses audiences are from video sites displaying advertising for different films and merchandise or trailers being displayed before videos are going to be played that people are going to watch. Pictures and now moving pictures with animations are now a growing way in which films are reached to other audiences which is a big field which is linked with social network sites, this is done by people liking and sharing pictures from a film or merchandise that will be sold or be soon put on in the cinema.

Summarise how you think sites like YouTube, Spotify and Facebook are good for film audiences. What do they let us do, that we couldn’t before?

YouTube allows trailers and adverts to be played before videos that people are watching and also theses single videos of the trailers can be found to watch as many times as people want to on the website itself. These trailers give a short insight into what the film is going to be like so interesting the audience.

Spotify now has adverts on the playlists that you cannot skip in which filmmakers have placed audio adverts to also interest people. There are also picture adverts around the pages on the site of Spotify whilst people navigate around the programme.

Facebook allows Filmmakers to branch out widely to different audiences as adverts can be shown on the pages of Facebook. A convergence of Facebook and YouTube means that you can share YouTube clips straight to Facebook for your friends to look at and watch. This means that the video is shared around and can be seen by lots of people creating a growing audience and creating interest for films.

Style and Tone - Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. The film is based on Dennis Lehan's 2003 novel of the same name. Production started in March 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility on 'Shutter Island'. 

The film sets in 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston`s Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He`s been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders whether he hasn`t been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy`s shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals ``escape`` in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

Positively reviewed by film critics, the film grossed over $128 million in its cinema release, as well as an additional $166 million internationally.



This film dips very much into the Psychological Thriller genre. This is the genre for me and my partners film opening in which we will be filming soon. This is a film with big actors in it such as Leonardo DiCaprio. The Facial expressions that Leonardo DiCaprio makes in the film are how i want my character to look like in the film when he seems to be loosing his mind.

JR

Audience Conclusion

Audience Conclusion

From the multiple surveys we did, combined with the vox pop's and interviews we have decideed that our film should be catered more towards the 16-24 age group, as we first decided. The majority of people here preferred action sequences in suspenseful thrillers, which doesnt require much character development and can easily be marketed as a mainstream film. Also, when interviewed we likened our film's atmosphere to that of Kidulthood, and Se7en. Many of this age group, of those who had seen both films, thought that this was something that they would love to go and see. This will be our main target audience, but there is also room for a niche audience of the 41-47 category. We found that on the whole, thrillers stood out to this audience much more than the typical comedy or drama film, but not as much as it did with the 16-24 year olds. This means that the film we are planning on producing actually has a large range in which we can produce to and isn't narrowed down by it only being applicable to one set of people. Also, with the elder age group they tend to go to the cinema more than the younger, or that their children are actually in the age group that are our target audience. Not saying this is a family film, but both parents and children would be interested in seeing this and this would actually create a bigger market for the film.

JL

Audience Research Interview

Interview with my sister who is 18 years of age. This interview is to understand what kind of people would watch my film and who we should aim our film at.

This video seems to be behind on the Visuals and ahead on the audio, i don't know why?

Questionare Summary

These are some screen shots of the findings from the Media blog which was posted online.

These are the finding from the question asked which was 'What is your gender?'. The graph shows that mostly people who completed the survey were Female.

The main age for people who took the survey was between 30-50. This is not the target audience for the film that i am making but this could show if people of this age group would still see the film and what films they like in general.

Comedy was the favourite genre overall of films for the people who completed the survey but following behind was the Thriller Genre.

Above are the comments on the reasons why their chosen favourite genre appealed to them. The responses showed how the genres made them feel as an audience and how this helped interest the audience.


People said that mostly the storyline is what attracts them to watch films, this is closely followed by friends recommendation and Actors.

The table below shows the results of which films people would rank the highest out of the films which were displayed on the survey. I tried to vary the genres of the films but some people had not seen some of the films on the list so this question was hard to get a true response for the rankings.

This shows that going to the cinema for most people is an occasion and experience as many people said in the survey that they go to the cinema less than once a month. People also said that they watch films at least once a week which shows that there are many ways in which to consume films other than going to the cinema.
The findings for these questions will help me and my partner to understand which audience to aim our film at and how to make it more interesting for the audience to branch out and gain a better interest.

JR