Task 2 -Software skills development

Task 2 – software skills development

This is a jpeg photo and has a total size of 1.03 MB. Its dimensions are 3508 x 2480 pixels. For this picture i used the crop tool for the letter in the soldiers hand. I also used the quick selection tool for the faded solider in the picture which was holding a rifle which I rubbed out. I used the text tool to write the title and tag line for the poster and I colour the title red to make it stand out.

This poster was originally as a prop for our film which I designed; using two spitfires in the background with the faded colour is in keeping with the time of the film because these planes were iconic. Also this includes a character from the film that we took a picture of and put at the bottom of the picture. The writing also stands out and when I used the texts I chose the texts to be in certain colours in this case the colours of Britain and when I coloured the words I used the fill tool. I also duplicated the layer of the planes to make two planes and then I used the move tool to make it smaller.

Task 4 Me and My films

Task 4 – Me and My movies

Relationship between audiences and films

The genre that I have picked to do in this blog is comedy. The reason that I have picked comedy is because comedy sticks in the mind and has a way of sticking in the audiences mind. The reason I have chosen comedy films is that they are always a good watch because they are uplifting and the fact that you laugh can put you into the active watching group.

Comedies also have a wide variety of different sub genres on the both television and film. The most popular on film is Romantic Comedies (Rom-Com) with its best titles including ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘the wedding singer’. On TV, the most popular genre is Situation comedies (Sit-Com) which include shows such as ‘Friends’, ‘Scrubs’ and ‘The big bang theory’.

Comedy has always been a difficult thing to make and to do. Certain types of comedy will obviously not work with certain people making it very hard to make a comedy for everyone. There are two different kinds of comedy in physical and verbal and the best comedies are the ones that can put both of those together.

Of course, several actors have made a name for themselves while doing comedy films with actors such as Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Melissa McCarthy. These actors repeatedly star in comedies so when I see their names on a poster or on a DVD cover I see them as a great advert for laughter. I can probably see a film poster or look at the description of a film and it may make a film look like a disaster but when I see a name like Will Ferrell or Eddie Murphy it puts a bit of faith in me and I may change my mind on going to see it.

 

Many films use social networking to get in a bigger audience and comedy films are no exception to this ritual. The websites that are commonly used are websites such as twitter, Facebook and YouTube as these websites will reach almost half of the world’s population. Comedies such as ‘Bad neighbours’ and ‘Frank’ have both got Facebook pages and Twitter pages which allows the film to advertise straight to people and that will bring in more profit to the company.

Facebook pages for the films:

Frank: https://www.facebook.com/FrankFilm

Bad neighbours: https://www.facebook.com/badneighboursmovieuk

 

Active Spectatorship and passive spectatorship are both common in comedies. Active Spectatorship is seen when films go to film festivals such as the Texas film festival and the Vancouver film festival. The festivals are used to give audiences a chance to view a film before its release this can help with the research for the film and it can help spread a good word of mouth for the film (if its good) and be good should the audience decide to review the film. Comedy films also use active spectatorship when the viewing audience watches a film because you are an active spectator with in a comedy film when you laugh at the comedy in the film but you can also do this when the film is in the background (Unless physical comedy is involved).

Films affect audiences in different ways and some films make audiences think in different ways and some films even make audiences act differently in their own personality. Also audiences also have an effect on the way that a film is seen and the way the film is met by the general public. Comedy films are mainly watched for pleasure and general enjoyment there has been suggest four reasons why people watch films and they were put forward by Blumler and Katz who suggested the Uses and Gratifications theory which suggests these four reasons are; diversion, personal relationships, personal identity, surveillance.

Diversion is probably the most common reason people choose to watch films. Many viewers will watch a film just to get away from the problems and reality of their own lives. Comedy films make people laugh which takes away the problems mainly because you’re laughing at other people’s problems.

Personal relationship is a style of pleasure was some people may use films as a substitute for personal relationships. E.g. A viewer choosing to go and see a romantic comedy because they are single and like the idea of a relationship or finding a happy relationship is played out in the film.

Surveillance is another pleasure of film watching that means finding films that might contain information that is useful for living. While this could be considered escapism from own life in Britain, they could also contain information that is useful in life.

Personal Identity and the Frameworks of Interpretation are linked in closely with active spectatorship. Active spectatorship suggests that the audience is made up of individuals who all read and interpret films differently from each other. Age, class, ethnicity, education and past experiences all have some bearing on the way one reads and interprets a film.

Media literacy really affects how people see a film and also how people view a film. A viewer who is more media literate may be aware of how the text is positioning them and may therefore be less suggestible to the messages of the film. Some will not enjoy fantasy films as much because they are overly aware of how the special effects are created and this ruins the magic for them. Comedy films can be ruined this way when some character tries to ‘push’ a joke or when a joke doesn’t come off. Film boffins may enjoy films done by Quintin Tarantino because he uses a lot of references to old films.

Intertextuality is commonly seen in the spoofs of films. Films such as ‘scary movie’ and ‘disaster movie’ are both spoofs. Scary movie is a spoof of scream and disaster movie is the spoof of 300. Spoofs deliberately reference other films to parody them and make viewers who are aware of the film being referenced, laugh at the imitation. Any time a star such as Adam Sandler is cast for example, the viewer is likely to be reminded of previous Adam Sandler films. This can be used to sell a film or it can be used to subvert expectations.

Some argue that films can have serious and damaging effects on viewers. With films now being such a big part in children growing up its important that the films children are seeing are appropriate to their age. Children could be affected if they see too much violence on screen, perhaps they will not feel as strongly about it when they see it in real life but this also means the children may act what they see on screen and this could make them dangerous human beings that do not empathise with people in pain and therefore they would be capable of being more violent in real life.

Films have an effect on audiences but also audiences can have an effect on films. With fandom it can go both ways. Fans are people who love a particular film, genre, character or star and they share camaraderie with other fans. Comedy has no fandom at all with comedy just being a part of general life.

Comedies often have many of the best jokes in the trailers of the films and these jokes will not be as funny when they are in the final film if you have seen the trailer a few times. For some people (Not me) Comedies are a onetime watch. This means that when you have seen all the jokes from the first time that you watch the film you can’t watch it again because you know the joke for other it is also the same for live comedy shows.

Comedy films tend to be big Hollywood blockbuster films which mean that in the end of the film it all works out for the lead character who will come out on top with the prize of sorts for example in the film ‘Grown ups’ the lead character sees that friends and family are more important than money and that you can’t buy friends.

Task 1 - Investigating graphics file formats and applications

In this blog I will describe to young budding film makers how to produce a quad poster for a film to be advertised in the UK and also I will describe how to make DVD cover for a DVD case. These two pieces of artwork will be used to show off your film even more. I will also talk about the different formats and applications used.

The ranges of common formats are programs like Raster, Vector, and Metafiles. I have explained each of the following below:

Raster Graphics - In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a dot matrix data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of colour, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium. Examples of raster based programs are Sodipodi, Tgif, conceptdraw and Adobe Photoshop.

Vector Graphics - Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics.

Metafiles - A piece of graphical information stored in a format that can be exchanged between different systems or software.

File extensions – File extensions are files of which work can be saved for example a common file for a photo is JPEG which when extended is a JIF. JPEG's are common because of the way that they compress images and thats why they are found on clip art on word.

File Extension	Stands for….	Common Usage
.jpeg	Joint Photographic Experts Group	JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital photography.
.tiff	TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format	A format for various imaging applications, including those that scan and fax.
.png	PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics	It is a format for encoding a picture pixel by pixel for the purpose of sending it over the World Wide Web.
.gif	Graphics Interchange Format, Graphic Image File, Group Interchange Format or Giant Interchange Format.	It is used to display images that may have multiple formats and to store data for games and animations.
.bmp	Also known as bitmap image file or device independent bitmap file.	is a raster graphics image file format used to store bitmap digital images, independently of the display device, especially on Microsoft Windows
.RAW		RAW files are not usable until they have been converted to a format such as Jpeg or Tiff in a software program.
.psd	Stands for Adobe Photoshop Document.	This is the file extension used with this program.
.ai	Adobe Illustrator	vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems

 

Forms of applications:

Examples of Vector based programs are Sodipodi, Tgif, conceptdraw and Zcubes. These are all with big price tags for example the sodipodi and zcubes will cost £999 and the conceptdraw would cost £300. The price of these applications should be a show of how good they are.

Examples of Raster based programs are Paint, Fatpaint, GIMP, and Adobe Photoshop. 3 of these apps are free with only adobe photoshop costing £60 but adobe is the best program to use and is known for its use in schools, colleges and universities because of its easy nature.

Unit 26 - Remaking Films task 2

Unit 26: Film Studies

Task 2

The film that I have chosen is ‘The Italian Job’. The film was first made in 1969 and featured an all-star cast of Michael Caine, Benny Hill and Noel Coward and many more. The new cast consisted of actors such as Mark Walberg, Jason Statham and Donald Sutherland and many more.

 

Remaking a film is a big risk, a film such as the Italian Job was a dangerous pick from the producers, and it was important that they got it right. The films budget differed in the amount but when you watched the film, you realise that the money difference meant little. The remake cost a huge 60 million dollars and the old film cost around 3 million dollars (before inflation).

The films were both produced and distributed by Paramount pictures. The films are well known for the car chases, the actual plot and use of the mini coopers. The plot is a unique idea that had never been done before and apart from the remake.

The plot was the same in both films but there was an added back-story as they usually go for with the remake with the makers just aiming to go for a re release with different actors, which could also show which for a Hollywood film it looked like quite a cheap remake. Both films were both made in the same place in the south of France and in northern Italy.

The Italian job (1969) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064505/ 

The Italian job (2003) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317740/?ref_=rvi_tt

When you look at the two trailers you defiantly see the difference in the effects used by the film editors and the directors. In the trailer for the first film we see the typical before computer graphics could be added to films. The films are very similar in the trailers and the plot is very well explained in the remake which took away from the guess work of the first film which is helpful to some but some fans may not like the simple film that the sequel is and they will feel it makes the film less unique.
 

The special effects used in the remake are much better than the ones used in the original and the ones used in the remake are better but that would be because of the computer graphics of the modern day and the special effects of the guns and explosions helped the film with action loving viewer of the film.

 

Technology would play a big part in both films and despite the fact that the new films had all the computer graphics I feel that they did not use all of their technological weapons. The directing from F. Gray Gray and Peter Collinson wasn’t very different really the action shots from the first film by Collinson were mirrored by Gray Gray in the new film.

The grossing between the two films was for the second film $176 million but for the first film I couldn’t find an gross for the first film but I’d guess that the sequel would have earned more than the original because films that are remade are generally followed by fans of the first films, if the first film is a success. 

 

Overall, i would say that this film was more of a success with the first film than with the sequel.

 

Missing in Action: Blog of production log by Alex Clinton

 

My Roles
1st assistant director -
The First Assistant Director (AD) is the Director's right hand person, taking responsibility for a number of important practicalities so that the Director is free to concentrate on the creative process.  During pre-production, First ADs break down the script into a shot-by-shot storyboard, and work with the Director to determine the shoot order, and how long each scene will take to film.  They then draw up the overall shooting schedule (a timetable for the filming period).  Once the film is in production, Firsts are in charge of making sure that every aspect of the shoot keeps to this schedule.  This job involved talking to the whole cast and crew as it is my job to organise the whole set and crew and to get them to the location to keep them quite when recording to get the correct talent to the right scenes. I the film i will be in charage of putting up the new call sheets and the getting the right actors in on the right days. My role as first assistant was continues through the pre production and the actual production itself but stopped as i played no part in the post production as the first AD.

Overall, they provide the key link between the Director, cast and crew, whilst also liaising with the production office, and providing regular progress reports about the shoot. Before the shoot, the Firsts' main task is to create the filming schedule, working in careful consultation with the Director.  When drawing up the shooting schedule, First ADs must also be aware of the budget, cast availability and script coverage. 

Director of photography - Directors of Photography (DoPs) are key Heads of Department on film productions, and theirs is one of the major creative roles. They are requested by the Director. DoPs must discover the photographic heart of a screenplay, using a variety of source material including stills photography, painting, other films, etc. They realise the desired look using lighting, framing, camera movement, etc. DoPs collaborate closely with the camera crew. The work that comes with this job involved me on set check the spirit level of the camera to make sure there isnt a tilted shot and also making sure that the boom microphone doesnt fall into shot while looking at the veiw finder. At the actual shoot i had to make sure that i got the shots i was asked to get by the director and when i was getting these shoots i also had to think about the edit. Directors of Photography (DoPs) are key Heads of Department on film productions and theirs is one of the major creative roles. They provide a film with its unique visual identity, or look. They create the desired look using lighting, framing, camera movement, etc. DoPs collaborate closely with the camera crew.After reading the screenplay, DoPs meet with the Director to discuss the visual style of the film. In this film i played a part in all 3 parts of making this film with the pre production i had the job of storyborads and of working out what the film would look like. In the actually production i had to make the storyborads actually come to life, and in the post production i had the job of making the edit along with our director so we could match up the storyborads with the real look.

Sound recorders -  Sound Recordists/Production Mixers record sound on location or in a studio, usually in synchronisation with the camera, to enable the highest quality 'real' sound to be recorded at the time of filming/recording. They monitor the quality of the sound recording through headphones, and work closely with the Director, Boom Operator and sometimes the Sound Editor, often using multiple microphones. A Sound Recordists prime function is to make sound recordings of outstanding quality, free from interference and all unwanted noise. Sound Recordists/Production Mixers may work on a wide range of single or multi-camera shoots, and their duties can vary considerably. Depending on the scale of the production, they may work closely with the Director and Producer at the planning stage to clarify technical requirements and budgets. On this production i had to work with a boom operator and since i was first assisstant on set i had to keep everyone quiet on set.

Log 1 - On day 1, our team was put together. The team consisted of 3 members. The reason the three of us have been put together is because the screenplays we wrote were all in similar context. We then decided what our storyline would be and what characters would be in the film. Having agreed we were ready for the script to be constructed.
 
Log 2 - Today we went over the story again choosing the characters names and their qualities. This lead to a big debate amongst us. In the end we decided that the characters from the original story would stay the same and they would be joined by two characters, one from my story and one from my fellow writer’s story. We also had a discussion on the stories that would go into this and this also lead to fiery discussion and we had squabbles about the stories but eventually we all decided that we would revert to having our teacher help us decide. After 45 minutes we had a storyline fit to win infinite Oscars and Baftas. We are well on our way to the best story the north east has seen since Billy Elliot.

Log 3 - Its a new day and things are looking good for the future we have a nice plan laid out and I'm feeling like when we do this production ours is going to be the showcase of the show. Yesterday we read through the script and we worked on our ideas chopping bits of to replace it with new more interesting ideas. The squabbles and the arguments have halted the groups harmony is back in shape and we are feeling like a unit (from my point of view anyway). i have just completed a presentation on what camera angles we will use, using examples i found from shows and films such as 'Band Of Brothers' and 'Saving Private Ryan'. I have used those examples because they are the best examples i can find of the War/Drama sequences i need.  

Log 4 - Today we have drawn up a itinerary of what actors/actresses are coming in at what time. This is a quick process that has been made long because we have to work with 2 other teams in the same room. Following the auditions we decided that we have the right people for the jobs we had to fill. We have a job in two days for the call-backs where we get the actors to team up with each other and try out their parts.

Log 5 - Today we did the call backs and we now have all the characters we wanted. Of course the other teams did their call back to but speed is everything on this course and when we got them first but now we are being told we can’t have them because the other group wants them. I mean no personal offence to those on the other team but I don’t like losing and this feels like a big loss.

Log 6 - In this week's meeting we gathered together our locations and we had our first production meeting where we allocated jobs to each other over the week and with one actor dropping the part that they auditioned for, for another film we now have the situation of being 1 actor down and now we need to get the actors together that are without a part and get them to audition for that role. The Film is coming on well and with the Facebook page up and running with 70 plus likes we are reaching an audience but there needs to be more if we are going for glory with this film. The link for my page and be seen below and I would appreciate it if you would like and share it.

https://www.facebook.com/TrioProdMIA

Log 7 - This week i will talk about what we did in our second meeting and how we are moving closer to that sacred production fortnight. Today we have gone to the hard graft of making an agenda for our meeting. Now the meeting has been done we achieved an amazing height work rate getting almost everything done with just two items left which are to be done on tomorrow (4/3/2014) and on the Wednesday (5/3/2014) so there is nothing we can do about those. When we have done the stuff on the agenda we had to do things with the script everything is moving at a good standard but not a good pace.
  
Log 8 – We now have many things partly done and we are moving towards having the whole thing done but it’s now time for us to go through what we have so far. We still have a few things to do which include risk assessments for our sets and we have to go through some rehearsals with our actors which have yet to arrange. We have all the sets and all the actors we just need to get all of the paperwork ready.

Log 9 – Today we have begun to get everything into place and we also begin rehearsals. We have 1 more costume but we still have others to get and when we get them we are fully ready. Now we have only a few days till we start filming and we are only doing voice overs then. We are stripping the tapes today which will stop the tapes overwriting themselves when we stop and start them. Today we are staying back to make sure everything is in order and is ready for us to go out and film our first day of actually filming is on the Wednesday which is 6 days from today. The excitement is still there but now we’re all a little nervous.

Log 10 - First day of production. The first day has gone we but it was cold and windy. We spent today at Preston park in Stockton on tees and it is a fantastic location but with the weather kicking our plans in the crotch. The wind has prove to be a big downfall to us because the shots that we have today will need to be redone because the wind was so strong it was blowing the hair of the actress all over the shot. So we have to go back and that means we have to arrange it for next week. We also had to work with a baby which was painful on the ears because the child was tired and making a tired baby act with only make it angry also the baby was cold and didn't like our female actor who had to work with her. With tomorrow also a filming day I now know what to expect in the days to come.

Log 11 - The second day of the production. It rained today at near enough 2pm. The upside to the rain was we knew it was coming we checked the weather report before leaving and we had a set time limit. Today we left with a set plan and with help from two runners which stood in as boom mic holders and just as helpers and with both runners having more experience than us that helped us with the shots that we got and this means our shots looked more professional.

Log 12 - Today was meant to be shot day 3 but in partial thanks to me and a lack or organisation. We went all the way to a set which is a 28 mile round trip all for nothing and now everything much be changed and since i take all the blame for this i will fix it.

Log 13 - Today was Monday but the Monday where i had to save myself from a massive verbal beating from my group and teachers i thought through a whole new scenario and a whole new way of doing our film. First i thought of a new explosion scene and where we can get the costumes from. I feel now like i have made the film a little bit better. Everything happens for a reason.

Log 14 - This was the real 3rd day of production in which we went back to the place where we had been on the second day because on that day it rained and was windy but today all was well and nothing went wrong the talent was on top form and the team worked well. We are going strong and though we need the extra pick up week, this film will still hold the same 'magic' as before.

Log 15 - Day 4 of production. We have a day at the Dormans museum in Middlesbrough which were fantastic and let us just go and film there was no hassle from them telling us what we could and couldn't do because we knew our limits in this place. We spent time in the model pub, cinema and classroom we are looking more like a professional film. Next week we have a photo shoot, another day at the gun battery in Hartlepool and then the break for Easter.

Log 16 - Today we went to a hill today to do our final scene and with a photo shoot to do times are always on the up at Trio productions. We did the gruesome death scene today and we are very proud with the outcome.

Unit 26 – Film Studies Task 1 - Auteur Directors

An explanation of Auteur theory

Auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision. An auteur director will sometimes go against what the studio expects of them, For example, a director is expected to go through the standard process of making a film. When the director chooses something different that can have a effect on their future because if there style takes too long and costs too much to create then producers may think twice about hiring them.

Auteur Theory suggests that a director can use the commercial apparatus of filmmaking in the same way that a writer uses a pen or a painter uses paint and a paintbrush. It is a medium for the personal artistic expression of the director. The film theoretician, André Bazin, explained that: auteur theory was a way of choosing the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard of reference, and then assuming that it continues and even progresses from one film to the next.

The auteur theory, which was derived largely from Astruc’s elucidation of the concept of caméra-stylo (camera-pen), holds that the director, who oversees all audio and visual elements of the motion picture, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie than is the writer of the screenplay.

Is Wes Anderson an auteur director?

When watching a film many would say that they can tell if it’s Wes Anderson film because they can see a certain style in the camera work and acting. Others would argue that Wes Anderson is just another film director.

The reason that Wes Anderson is seen as an auteur director is when you watch his films like ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ or ‘Moonrise kingdom’. You will notice that there is a dysfunctional family; there is also a lot of detail in the Misc en scene and many slow motion shots that tend to have some folk or indie music playing over it. This is a signature for Wes Anderson as no other direct does this. The opening shot at the start of the film of the house and Royal Tenembahm entering the house is signature of Wes Anderson because he makes the talent of enter the shot instead of following the talent with the camera. There is also a central long shot and two shot of the children and of Royal Tenemnahm around 15 minutes and 20 seconds in which is common of Wes Anderson but it is also common to have mid shot of a character when they are in conversation with another character.

Many people will say that Wes Anderson is just recreating the effect of making films look like they are from the 1940’s or 50’s and they say that Anderson is just bringing ‘look’ into the 21^st century. Wes Anderson’s love for the attention to detail is undesired by many movie fans who feel that the detail adds little to the film and does not help with the story. Starting in the 1960s, some film critics began criticizing auteur theory's focus on the authorial role of the director. One reason for the backlash is the view of shooting a film, and in the theory's privileging of the role of the director (whose name, at times, has become more important than the movie itself).

In my opinion I feel that Wes Anderson is and auteur director because he has a style that I like many film fanatics can clearly tell the difference when I watch the film. I use the film ‘the royal Tenembahms’ the talent is always in the centre of the scene and this is common throughout the film. There is slow motion used in this film many times like in the 24^th minute, and at the end of the film.

 

Bibliography

A - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory

B - http://lauraoosterbeek.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/auteur-theory-and-wes-visual-style/

C - http://andragroza2013.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/wes-anderson-auteur-theory/

D - http://www.sundance.tv/top-ten/top-ten-wes-anderson-influences#/5

E - http://www.imovies.ge/dir_member/1577

F - http://www.thefourohfive.com/news/article/first-track-from-wes-anderson-s-moonrise-kingdom-soundtrack-released

G - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auteur_theory

H - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/44609/auteur-theory

 

 

 

Review for archies final project

This is a review by Alex Clinton on the film Archie's final Project. The film is about a teen coming-of-age romantic dramedy about a media-obsessed geek and the most beautiful and twisted girl in school.

The camera work in this film reminded me of the Blair which project by the way it was shot (Defiantly not on storyline) and with this camera work came some very playful and innovative animation which is seen commonly through the film. The camera work changes constantly through out the film going from POV shots to the other wide range such as over the shoulder and wide shots.

The film is mainly shot from a hand held prospective and not from the professional side of the camera many people either find this sort of camera work annoying or distracting from the magic of film but it work well here i think because of the use with the professional camera work.

When i was beginning to watch this film i could feel that it had a big topic to handle with much dignity. The fact that through out the film we see the main characters life and the way he lives and how he treats others around him gets the audience in a small sense into the mind set of Archie and the way he thinks and the way he lives his life.