Test Market

I put my film plot on Facebook, to see what my friends would think. They all like the idea of the film as you can see and can't wait to see it, this makes me more confident about my film and I now know that it will be successful.

wix website

Here is the link to my website, where I have planned my film

http://www.wix.com/lucydragon/film-plan

Time and equipment

I will shoot my film between 11 to 1, this will give me lots of time to film and to edit afterwards. I want to shoot early so if anything goes not to plain I will have lots of time to fix it also they will be less people walking around as its not pep time. I will to look up days when there will be a no rain as this will effect when I can film. I will film in the winter so there will be dead trees I can film this will make my film have a creepy feel to it.

I will need a tripod to make my shots look professional and camera so i can film it. I'm going to use the JVC Everio as its HD, has an SDXC card slot and features 40x optical zoom. I'm going using Imovie to edit and Garageband to make a soundtrack, these are both very easy software to use.

Planning film

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Style Influences

I found two youtube videos that are tributes to my 2 favourite directors, they show film clips of their films with music. I think these videos are great as they some up what type of director they are. They also inspire me to be like them as they have made some amazing films., that everyone can enjoy.

Michael Bay Tribute

ShoWest 2009 Michael Bay Tribute from Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo.

Steven Spielberg Tribute

My Target Audience

I have made a slide show of images, which are associated with my target audience. My target audiences are boys aged 16 to 18, having completed a research questionnaire my findings were that boys are more likely to visit the cinema than girls who preferred to read books.

It will be a challenge to produce a film for a different gender but I am motivated by this challenge. My film targets those who enjoy playing video games with their friends and eating lots of junk food and going to the cinema. They also enjoy astronomy; they will probably have a telescope and they may entertain ideas of aliens visiting our planet. Science is possibly a favourite subject in school.

My audience in the main will derive from upper working to middle class families with a degree of disposable income coming from either pocket money or a part-time job. They wear jeans and t-shirts, which carry humorous slogans or related to films like Star Wars. They are probably achievers so may wear glasses due to long hours of study. Musical tastes may be techno as it reminds them of sci fi.

Research of sci-fi films

Research of sci-fi films

The Thing (1982)

Rating - 18

Genre - horror, mystery and sci-fi

Director-John Carpenter

Plot - Scientists in the Antarctic find a shape-shifting alien and its ship.

District 9 (2009)

Rating - 15

Genre - action, sci-fi, thriller

Director - Neill Blomkamp

Plot - Aliens come to earth are forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth by the government

Alien (1979)

Rating - 18

Genre - horror, sci-fi

Director -Ridley Scott

Plot -A mining ship lands on a distant planet and the crew discovers some strange creature.

Description
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities.

Types of Sci-fi
A sci-fi film can have many sub genres as I found researching the film trailers. Some of the sub genres include horror, action, thriller, adventure and mystery.

Most famous sci-fi films
Star Wars, Inception, Terminator, Alien, Back To The Future, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Thing, District 9, Avatar, Jurassic Park, E.T, The Iron Giant and Transformers.

Famous sci-fi film directors

George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Ridley Scott, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay.

Conventions of a sci-fi film

Location
Most sci-fi films take place:
On a space ship (Alien)
On a different planet (Avatar)
In a City (Transformers)
In a isolated place (The Thing)
On a Island (Jurassic Park)
In a small town (The Iron Giant)

Character
Usually the main character is ether a young boy (E.T and Transformers) or an older man (Inception). It is rare that that they have a women as the main character (Alien)

Plot
Most sci-fi films are about aliens trying to take our planet/killing us all (War Of The Worlds). There are some films where the main character befriends the alien and helps them in some way, mostly to get them back home (Paul).

Props

Alien body parts/full suit, weapons, space ship sets, new technology, alien plants and rock ( for the alien planet).

Sounds

Here I is a video with the convention for sound in a sci-fi film.

By identifying what makes a film a sci-fi I now know how to create a realistic sci-fi film, in which involves the conventions of sci-fi.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

I want my target audience to be around my age, as it will be easier to ask them questions to find out what they like as I go to school. I made a questionnaire, to find out what people wanted from films so I could make my film to the best it can be. I had questions such as how often do you go to the cinema?, Whats your favourite genre?

I found out that boys watch more films than girls and they like to watch sci-fi/action/horror films. The girls told be they like reading better than watching a film. So I now know that my film will be aimed at boys and with be a sci-fi/action/horror film. I think it will be a challenge to make a film for the other sex but I'm looking forward to it.

Saving Private Ryan

This film opens with a tilt movement of the sea with titles telling us the date and location. This provides the audience with an understanding of the times in which the film is set.

Next violent shaking shots of the boats fighting against the power of the sea, this shaking has been done to give the audience a sense of being in the boat with the soldiers. A close up of a soldiers hand shaking has been use to demonstrate fear and create empathy for the character. The camera then follows the hand to the soldiers face and zooms out to show the other soldiers around him this has been done to show he’s not alone in his mission.

Soldiers are depicted vomiting which again creates empathy and a sense of hopelessness. Then a series of shots of different soldiers faces is shown so that we may absorb their individuality. The mise-en-scene of the some of the solders praying to god shows they are desperate to be granted mercy. Then the boat doors opens and the soldiers are immediately under fire. Some of the characters with whom the audience has connected are killed demonstrating the fragility of life.

There is a shot of the soldier jumping in the sea to avoid the bullets and the camera follows under water making the audience share in his plight to escape. Then the camera moves above the sea then bellows, this has been used to show how hard the war was. The camera moves along the top of the water showing men being killed, the camera shakes a lot making believe you are there and making you remember it was this real as it’s a true story. In the opening you also attach to the people but for little time as they get killed, this shocks the audience. Then the camera focus in Tom Hanks is character as he looks around trying to take everything in. The shots are all in slow motion making the audience feel shocked at what’s happening we see people crying, being burn alive, a man pick his own arm up. Then we go back to Tom Hanks he picks up his helmet from the bloody sea as he places the helmet on his head the blood drips down his face which he fails to notice as he struggles to comprehend the massacre that has just taken place.

Research of films.

E.T –opening scene

The soundtrack to this film is iconic and takes the viewer on a journey from the outset. The first shot is of the sky at night; the mise en scene of the stars is a code to the audience that this is a sci-fi film, moreover the camera is focusing on the stars which invites the audience to question “what is out there?” Then the camera does a tilt to focus upon the treetops, which gives an impression that earth is being watched from outer space. Next an establishing shot of a dark wooded area containing a mysterious space craft which excites the viewer and offers a glimpse of what is yet to come, viewers may consider are the inhabitants friend or foe. The camera fades to a dolly movement circling the spaceship, the fade cut is used to create a sense of mystery and the dolly move makes the audience feel like they are discovering the ship themselves. The soundtrack gets more and more intense as the camera gets closer to the ship; this has been designed to build up tension. Then we see the aliens for the first time the camera has been placed behind trees to make the audience feel they are there secretly watching them from a safe distance. Then there is a sequence of shots of an alien hand moving toward a plant simultaneously a rabbit is feeding close by and is clearly not threatened by the alien presence. This suggests that they are similar, that they are both harmless to each other. The next shot reinforces this by showing the alien walking through the wood it is clear he is small and insignificant as the tress and shrubs tower above him. As the alien is walking the camera cuts to a low angle shot of a tree which makes the woods seem powerful and the alien weak. Then the camera moves through the grass and reveals a city this is a point of view shot and tells the audience that the alien is curious and a shot of him watching the city reinforces it. The camera quickly swinging to the left to show a large vehicle breaking abruptly nearby suddenly breaks this moment of innocent curiosity. The mood of the film is changed as the viewer considers whether this poses a threat to the alien. Steven Spielberg has, without the use of dialogue, created sympathy for the alien visitors.

Jurassic park

The first shot we see is of tops of tress that are moving violently suggesting they are not moving of their own volition but are being thrown around by a disrespecting force. This foreshadows an impending perilous event. Then the camera cuts to a close up of anxious male face the intension of the shot is to enhance the degree of his emotions. Then the camera goes back to the shaking trees then cuts again to a medium shot of a group of male workers all looking scared and nervous, which causes the audience to be apprehensive about what is to come. Next we see the men with guns, now the audience is aware that danger is present. A large container is being transported; its contents are not immediately revealed to build up tension. There are a number of low angle camera shots of the container leading the viewer to assume the contents are more powerful. Then there are point of view shots from inside the box looking out at the men pushing the box. The creature’s hisses at the men and they jump which reinforces their fear and that they are very uncomfortable with their task. The men are dressed entirely in black, which could suggest to the audience that what the men are doing is secretive and morally wrong. There is a clear leader, he is dressed in green hunting clothes again suggesting that a hunter and prey are present. This man has dialogue whilst the other characters do not this shows us that he will be present later in the film and is possibly a significant character. Then the creature manages to attack one of the men, we see a dolly move around the box showing the group responding by shooting tasers, given the amount of force used it is very clear that humans are no match for this creature, its unstoppable. Then a shot of the creature’s eye cuts to a human eye highlighting the difference between them. The creatures eye is green and has a slit, the colour green could suggest the creature is smart, evil and possibly jealous. The human’s eye is wide-open showing stress and blue, which suggests weakness. Suddenly the leading male in shouts “SHOOT HER” this shot is an extreme close up of his mouth, which raises the intensity of the scene. The next is a fade shot showing the remaining part of the victim slipping into the container; this tells the audience that the creature has defeated man.

Research of institution

Research of institution on Prezi

Film institution

Film

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Research Audience

Audience

Tzvetan Todorov theory research

Tzvetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory while also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium. The theory is the fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be). It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium). Then recognition which builds up tension of the disruption, followed by attempt to repair. This is at the highest point of tension and there is a change in the disruption dynamic. Lastly reinstatement, everything is back to how it was. I believe that this theory is reflected in my research I watched: Jurassic Park, ET, Saving Private Ryan and Finding Nemo and there was evidence to suggest Todorov's theory was applicable. I believe that most films use this as the scene is set with the equilibrium then disruption is use to make the audience interested. I will use this in my film as I think that most audience are familiar with it and are still entertained by it.

Preliminary evaluation

My short film is about a girl trying to survive as her family turns into demons and try to kill her. I chose horror/thriller as I like that type of film and I would learn how to make the genre clear for my real film. I used lots of shots to help the audience understand the story of my film. I used a low angle shot to make the girl look weak, which make the audience want her to live and fear for her. I also used close ups to make the film more intense; one shot in partially that has the mise en scene of the knife with blood on, make the audience foresee that something bad is going to happen. There is another close up of the demons eye and the pupil changes size, which adds a creepy vibe to the film. However my favorite shot is of the candles; they are a code to the girl’s life as they are lighted and then suddenly die out. I feel my shots affect the audience in all these ways very well, but there are some shots where you can see the demon not sat in the seat, as I played the demon and filmed. I could not be in two places at the same time, so next time I will have get more people involved to help out. It was also hard for the camera to be still, as did not have a tri pod. This made some shots look a bit shaky; next time I will need to have a tri pod to give it a more professional look. The setting is in my kitchen, which is not great as its not very scary. Next time I will try to find a location, which has a creepy feel to it. I was not able to find a place because I had little time. I did the makeup for the demon, which I thought was good but next time I would like to do something more ambitious: maybe a full on zombie. The lighting in my film is dark to build up the tension; I wish it were a little more dark as we filmed in the day, and I had to close the blinds, which didn’t do much. I would have liked to add a soundtrack to the film but I didn’t have the time; on my real film I want to make my own soundtrack by using Garage Band. This will make it different and unique from other people’s films. I have learnt how to use final cut to edit my film, put text in and to edit the sound. I think my film sort of met the brief, the problem was that because I didn’t have a tripod it was hard to not break the 180-line rule. Sometimes the camera was set on the middle of line as I placed it on the table (in the middle) so it would not shake. But a part from that I think I did met the brief.

preliminary exercise

Plan of film.

Here I have drawn out what shots and scenes i'll film; this will help me stay on track with the clips, and will make it easier to act out. I can refer to the plan at any time if I need to and change it if I encounter any problems with it. This will also help produce the correct outcome I want.

Research of films.

Here I am analysing Jurassic Park (1993), the scene where John Hammond and Dr. Sattler talk about Johns dream of making an amusement park and how it does not go according to his plan.This is a very emotional scene where he opens up to Dr. Sattler. There are lot's of long-shots that show them in a lunch hall eating ice-cream. This shot draws attention to the fact that they are alone as all the other seats are empty. This makes the audience empathise and worry for the other characters at the same time as the lighting is very dark and suggests death. Also there are lot's of closeup's of their faces which shows their emotions in further detail then that of a wide shot, and causes the audience to feel closer to the characters.

I have chosen to do analyse this film as a part of my research for it is one of my favourite films that I know very well and I'd like to make a sci-fi/adventure film like this, so I thought it would be perfect.

chosen brief

I have chosen to do the video brief, which involves filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. I have chosen to do video as I'm interested in how films are made as I love films. In the future I want to produce my own films so this was perfect for me. My aim is to produce a film that is unique and stands out from others, by using different types of shots and editing along with a good plot line. This will make it challenging so I will need to be very organised and work hard.