Media Studies Questionnaire

Media Studies Questionnaire

Please circle your answer

1.     Which Gender are you?

         

Male           Female         Other

      

2.     How old are you?

12-15     16-19     20-25     26-30     30+

    

3.     Do you enjoy films? If so, what genre?

Comedy   Horror   Romance   Sci-Fi   Action   Drama

Fantasy   Social-realism   Mystery   Other…

4.     What qualities in a film (if any) encourage you to see it?

Actor/actress   Storyline/plot   Setting   Director   relatable stories

Other…

5.     What types of characters do you like to see in films?

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6.      What is your favourite film(s)?

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7.      How many films (if any) do you watch per week?

0     1-3     4-6     7-9     10+

8.     How do you hear about the majority of films you have watched?

Word of mouth   happened to be on TV   advertisement

Previews   Internet   radio   other…

9.     Do you think that film trailers are best when they…

Show a small bit of the film, leaving the viewer not really sure what’s going to happen, but aware of the plot.

Give some information about the whole thing, but leaving a cliffhanger for the viewer to wonder.

Give away essentially the entire plot and the good parts of the film, and the trailer seems to go on for ages.

1.   What most grips you about a trailer for a film?

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Film magazine research

Film Poster research

Shot design: Dutch Angles

"The Dutch angle, also known as Dutch tilt, canted angle, oblique angle or German angle, is a type of camera shot where the camera is tilted off to one side so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame."

In regards to shot design, the Dutch angle is used to add a new variance to an otherwise boring shot, for example standing still in a mid shot, this is a basic shot that doesn't symbolise too much, but if we make it canted it can then be interpreted differently. This is an approach that I hope to use in my own film trailer to show the character losing his mind or to show confusion.

Target audience: Social Realism

Target Audience of the Social Realism genre

The majority of people who watch the social realist genre are British teens/young adults, this averages from 15-26. The reason for this could be that the film are relatable by this age gap, however it isn't just these people who watch social realism, like many genres it can be watched and liked by anyone. I will be aiming my film at the the specified age group as they are more likely to have seen people go through the changes that my character does within the film. If the younger generation were to see it I would hope that they saw some of the side effects of drugs and how depression can be a real problem and not just a case of sadness as it is usually diagnosed as by many people.

Title Research/Analysis

This is a direction I may go in for the presentation of my film title, as a working title I am going to name my film 'Happiness'. The words would be presented in front of a grey clouded background which connote misery and sadness which associates with the story being presented. The grey clouds would contrast with the working title of the film because "Happiness" isn't usually associated with grey clouds, due to the idea that they symbolise more negative feelings. The different colours are there to suggest different things; the blue version was to suggest the blue sky behind the grey cloud; the black version to symbolise black skies to come, could be seen as foreshadowing;the white version seems like it's to happy because of the look it gives, the white text could be seen as white clouds which denotates sunshine and more positive emotions, this would go well if the film were of a happy genre. Finally the greyish text on the grey clouds makes it look as if the word is coming out from the clouds, I feel that this is clever, however I am not sure if it will make the final cut.

Working Storyboard

This is a working storyboard, it is showing specific shot ideas that I have considered including within the trailer. I have already shot some footage, however I felt that it didn't capture what I wanted, so I have put more effort into storyboards such as these so that I have a clearer idea to follow when next shooting.

Film Trailer Treatment

Treatment Of DIRE
Contentment. Pleasure. satisfaction and joy. These are words we associate with Happiness or being happy. Kevin Sassend is trying to find his own association with happiness, but how can someone be happy if nothing they do is ever good enough, or if nothing ever stimulates them. Kevin feels as if he is merely a shell of a man, this negative idea sends him on a path that others may find wrong, but this doesn’t faze Kevin, because in his world, nothing is right… A film by Josh baker, “a gritty tale, based off of real life events that happen to many young adults in the modern depression era, where happiness is a goal that is rarely achieved, instead of a way of life, as it should be.”

Original Soundtrack Taster 1

This is a taster of the original soundtrack I want to create for my coursework, The tone of this music is sad and light, I hope to create this tone within my trailer ask. however when the tone changes within my trailer the sound should also change, so i will have to also create a happier toned, faster paced jingle.

Denotation\connotation of a magazine cover

Potential Titles

This title sequence is reminiscent to the ending of most films/trailers and a convention that I would like to apply to my own film. It would most likely feature at the end of the trailer where casting and production information would briefly be presented to the audience.

This would be a potential production ident for my production company and would feature at the very start of my trailer I still need to create a logo though I have decided on the name which will be 'Bakers Dozen Production Company'. This title is under consideration for my film title because I can include my own image, most likely my poster image, into it as well as having the name of said film. Another useful aspect of it is that it doesn't represent or symbolise any specific genre so it's more forgiving to a new film/trailer.

Goodbye Option 10.

I have decided that I shall be changing options of the media A2 coursework from option 10. to option 2.

"A promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
• a poster for the film."

My reasons for this are; wanting to learn some of the print side to media, including photoshop so that it prepares me for later on, time consumption, getting people who are able to shoot regularly and trying to produce/edit/write/direct/film a full 5 minute film on my own can be pretty tedious.

the research I have already done is still useful to me, and so not too much time has been wasted by this change, however now I just have to produce some print alongside a small trailer lasting 2-3 minutes.

Stage 1 of Filming

Stage 1 of Filming 

I am currently at the stage where I believe I'm ready to begin shooting the beginning scenes and title sequence of my film. I will be going into it with a good plan/layout of what to shoot, however I find its also good to allow some on set inspiration to occur whilst shooting. I've learnt from my previous task that I shouldn't leave the majority of the filming to be done through inspiration on the day, and also not allowing large periods of time to pass in-between shooting. British weather isn't too consistent; unless it's summer...always raining in the summer time.

The title sequence and first scenes of the film will just be introducing the character and establishing the setting. The beginning of the film has already been written and planned out, once I complete the shooting of it and am happy with the results I can start with the middle of the film and then, of course, the ending. In the mean time I want to start researching mise en scene of my genre and research some more ways in which I can use a soundtrack to assist my scenes and add tone/atmosphere.

Finally, I hope to be updating the Blogger more regularly with what we are doing within class and what I have been doing outside of class relating to the task. This will include little briefs, similar to this one, on what I'm doing or planning to do once I have reached a specific stage in my work. I'm expecting 3-4 stages of shooting, 2-3 stages of editing/camera work/mise en scene and maybe one on soundtrack.

Character Research

• The Big Lebowski's "The Dude" is a prime example of a character i wish to create, he is scruffy looking, free thinking and doesnt follow normal social conventions

• In Pineapple Express James Franco plays a Stoner character, we can see this by the excessive use of marijuana and the way in which he dresses and acts. if we remove the pot smoking side from the character he becomes a fun character, free of what society tells him to do.

• In Raising Arizona we have a redneck character, he isn't respected by  people of different classes because they believe they are above him, but within his social class he is. the reason I picked this character also as an idea for my main protagonist is his attitude and how free he is, even when being detained by police.

• Kenny Powers, portrayed by Danny McBride, is a great character, he is essentially a social outcast but never lets it stop him from doing what kenny powers thinks is right. he doesn't show emotions unless they are extreme, this makes the character sort of like a time bomb. 

My basis for these characters is that they are all free from society, meaning they dont follow normal social rules and therefore are seen as outcasts. the plot of my film is essentially a story within a story. The film that influenced me to do something along these lines are Pulp Fiction, however my film isnt quite an action film, im hoping it will come across as more social realism/comedy.

Shots Mood Board

Soundtrack Research

Soundtrack research 

• In the title sequence and possibly as background noise within my film I would to include sounds similar to the ones an acoustic guitar can create. I will write and perform this soundtrack to be included into my short film. (not guaranteed to be as good as the examples shown).
• I enjoy these two examples for different reasons, the first one is very skilled playing and has a good rhythm which I like, however probably wont be able to do, and the second because it fits the idea of my title sequence and is more realistic in playing. In a previous post I also gave an example of a fan made soundtrack for a film title sequence.

Research

These videos have given me ideas to include within my film. I will be referring to shots used, mise en scene and elements of sound/soundtrack

Title Sequence Research

The dolly shot in the beginning of The Big Lebowski is used to introduce the character and to also show the titles, it essentially kills two birds with one stone.




In this intro we see a man walking through a snowy mountain range, this is insignificant but the soundtrack used during it is something I am considering doing in my intro, soundtrack in film sets the tone of the film. happy music=happy tone, sad music=sad tone, etc. etc.

WWW/EBI

WWW/EBI

WWW:

• Haven't failed/been left behind yet.
• Have an idea of what to do for a short film, taking a different approach to the last short film.
• Have completed research on films/title sequences that i would like to take influence from.
• Stayed more organised this time, stayed on top of the work etc.

EBI:

• I knew what i was doing for definite.
• I wasn't so lazy/easily distracted.
• I could make myself want to work during the lesson and outside of it.
• developed better camera skills. (can be done through research or practical methods)

Pre-Production

Hobo Life Shot Research

Photoshop Tools

The tools I used to create my poster were:

• Move tool
• Magic wand tool
• Paintbrush tool
• Magnetic Lasso tool
• Type tool
• Eraser tool
• Zoom tool

The move tool was used to position the shadow of the Hitman above the blackened city.

The magic wand tool was used so that i could remove any background images that I didn't want in the poster.

The paintbrush tool was used to make both the city and the shadow of the hitman black.

The magnetic lasso is used to remove any finer details manually.

Type tool ised to create the titles.

Eraser tool used to erase parts of the layer so that both images blend.

and the zoom tool for zooming of course.

RetrievaL poster