Audience Research

During a class lesson, i put together a questionnaire using a tally graph to build up results on my answers. I asked 15 students my 11 questions, and here i will demonstrate my results. First of all is my questionnaire and the answers.

1) Do you watch movies often?

Yes: 13
No:  2

2) What Genre of movie do you prefer? 

Horror: 2
Romantic: 6
Crime:
Action: 1
Comedy: 6
Other:

3) How often do you watch movies? 

Daily: 4
Weekly: 10
Monthly: 1
Hardly ever:

4) Do you/Have you ever visited the cinema?

Yes: 15
No:

5) Do you watch your movies at home or the following: 

Home: 10
Friends, Familys or partners house:
Cinema: 1
Two or more of the above: 4

6) What days do you prefer to visit the cinema?

Weekdays excluding wednesday: 4
Wednesday: 8
Weekends: 4

7) Do you pay attention to the credits in a movie? 

Yes: 4
No: 11

8) Do you prefer British or American films? 

British: 1
American: 14

9) Does a comedy film increase the chances of you watching it?

Yes: 13
No:  2

10) Would you enjoy a spy film? 


Yes: 14
No: 1


11) Would you watch a film in black and white?

Yes: 5
No: 10

From my results there is a clear understanding that the majority of people who are teenagers/young adults watch movies. Movies are something that the majority have watched, wether its regular or not, we've still seen one! I found that when people visited the cinema, they tend to go on Wednesdays, this suggests that it is because of the Orange offer 2 for the price of 1. Maybe this is because the cinema is too expensive now? Maybe people prefer to watch their movies at home. My question is supported, as when i asked where people mostly watch their movies, ten of them said at home. American films tended to be more popular with my audience, maybe this is because of the Hollywood stars, there also tend to be more great American films out than British ones. 14 people said that they would enjoy a spy film, this is great and we wont have to worry about the audience not wanting to watch out opening sequence.

Media institutions research

The Producer or Production company of a film are responsible for:

• Money - funding and spending
• Ideas - script/treatment
• Organisations - cast/crew, location

Distribution is responsible for: 

• Release of film - where, when, cinema, DVD
• Marketing of film - publicity and promotion; trailers, posters, TV spots
• Delivery to cinema - actual transportation to cinema locations 

There are two types of distributors: 

• Major studio
• independent

Major studio 

These usually have the money, resources and equipment to produce and distribute a high quality film. They can reach audiences on a global scale and can produce a Hollywood film or work with independent companies in Britain. An example of a major studio would be "universal studios". 

Independent

These produce small scale, lower budget films and rely on funding from major companies to release films. An example of an independent distributor would be "working title". 

Films from Universal studios and Working title make great British films such as: Hot fuzz, Love actually and Bridget Jones. The British film funding usually comes from three main areas which are: 

1. equity investors - they give money in return for profit in completion 
2. Distributor - share profit
3. Broadcasters - such as the BBC and sky, they negotiate deals 

THE BBFC

The BBFC is a British board film classification. They decide  the classification of each film shown in the UK, in other words, they decide how old you have to be to see it. So if you were at the cinema at the age of 14 hoping to watch an age 15 film, but going home disappointed because you weren't old enough... then the BBFC is to blame! 

They decide through a board of members who listen to the publics opinion on the contents of a film. Here is a short clip (right) of tony blair speaking about the BBFC and laws of the age restrictions applied to the films. When the BBFC rate their films, they consider:

• Discrimination 
• Drug use
• Horror
• Imitable behaviour ( copying the film, e.g. Jackass) 
• Language (swearing) 
• Nudity 
• Sex
• Theme 
• Violence

The more explicit a film is, the higher the age rating will be. In general, an 18 certificate allows for the above and considers the adult viewing in the film has the right to decide what they watch, (within reason to the law).  So your wondering what all the logos mean?  here i will guide you through the ratings. 

U - Universally suitable for everyone. 

PG - Parental Guidance, this is general viewing (unaccompanied children of any age may watch the film but some scenes may upset under 12 year old) 

12 - Suitable for 12 year olds and older 

12A - Suitable for 12 year olds and older, however, under 12 may watch the film if accompanied by an adult

15 - Suitable for 15 years and over 

18 - Suitable for 18 years and over

R18 - Suitable for 18 years and over, however, this is distributed to specially licensed shops such as the cinema and sex shops. 

My group and i have decided that we are going to name our production company SGG Productions. The age rating we are going to give our film is a 15, this is because our film will contains mild scenes of murder/violence. Because we are college students, we have thought about budget and star appeal, obviously, we wont have any celebrities in our movie! so we have chosen an independent company called Ace Films Ltd. Our film will appeal mostly to teenagers and young adults. 

Ace Films Ltd.
ACE Films is Anthony E. Cabral and a full service production and production support company.  They can develop, produce, shoot and edit projects completely in-house and work with a great team of freelancers and industry associates to accomplish their goals.  ACE Films also can assist your projects with specific production services including: Script Breakdown & Scheduling, Assistant Directing, Shooting, Glidecam work and over all production assistance. 

Mr. Cabral graduated from Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Media: Film Studies and Production.  He began his career working on local access cable television programs and working his way up to nationally syndicated television, local and regional commercials, & short and feature length films.

Since graduating from college, he has worked as a production technician, director, and as the commercial photographer at KSPR TV - Springfield 33. He has volunteered at the Sundance Film Festival and in 2000 attended the Sundance Producer’s Conference. Since moving back to St. Louis in 2002, he has worked on a variety of projects and started volunteering for the St. Louis International Film Festival.

In 2003 he officially formed his production company, ACE Films, and has produced several short films for the 48-Hour Film Project, one of which won Best Directing for the 2005 48-Hour Film Project - St. Louis.

Over the past several years he has worked on numerous shorts, feature length films and several national television programs in St. Louis, as well as around the country.  Production opportunities have taken him to projects in Chicago and several cities throughout Central, Illinois; Grand Rapids and Northern, Michigan; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Northern California; and even the New York and New Jersey area. He continues as a Volunteer Manager for the Sundance and St. Louis International Film Festivals, while working on a variety of projects around the country.

Aside from working in the film and video production industry, Mr. Cabral has been working as on-air talent on several radio programs.  Most Recently, he has been a Co-Host on The Morning Jolton KCFV FM 89.5 in North St. Louis County, which also broadcast online.  The Morning Jolt won the Best Music / Entertainment Program Award from the National Broadcasting Society in the spring of 2009.

These are projects which ACE Films has produced:

Spiral 

Feature Film (In Post-Production)

A Fire Set on Fire

A 48-Hour Film Project Mockumentary Short Film

S.A.M.

A 48-Hour Film Project Sci-Fi Short Film

All Tied Up

A Comedic Short Film






Here is a video from Anthonys work.
Anthony E. Cabral's Demo Compilation Reel

My mood board!!

Here is the mood board we created during class, it represents items of spy material.

Titles and opening sequences!

Here i will tell you what i have learnt about the purposes and conventions of titles and opening sequences in a crime film. I will also show the order of the credits are brought into the film to establish who does what throughout.

What is the purpose of a title/opening sequence?

• First of all, it introduces us to the type of genre and theme that the film is going to be
• It shows us who made it
• It gives us a hint about the plot and builds atmosphere to get us interested 

1. First of all, the producers name or company will appear on screen. This is because they hold all responsibility of the movie being shown. 
2. Secondly, the highest billing person will be credited, which will either be the director or the star(s) of the film (depending on how famous they are).
3. Thirdly will be the director, which is usually presented in three lines such as " A _____ film "
4. Next will come, the all important film title! 
5. Then an actors name will appear; the title role, main role or most famous
6. Next a few of the main characters will appear on screen
7. After a few seconds, the crew members will appear. This includes the editor, production designer, music and so forth
8. And last but not least the final name will appear, which is always the director. 

These titles can be shown using a blank back round before the film actually starts, however, other films choose to intersperse their titles with the action within a film. For example.. the film being shown AND the credits at the same time. 

The Sequence and meaning

The purpose of an opening sequence of a film is to set the scene, establish characters, genre and narrative. This is done through: 

• Visual style of titles 
• Use of sound
• Transitions of titles

In my class lessons, we watched a video of James Bond.  From the above bullet points, we were asked how the title sequence would establish the film. I thought that the opening of James Bond Casino Royal  makes us instantly think of casinos, Gambling and cards. It has silouhettes which adds mystery because you cant see their faces. This will make the audience want to carry on watching the movie. It gives a sense of undercover spies and secrets. Also the silouhettes are shooting guns and blood comes from the suits on the cards, this shows the film is about to have a lot of action. 

The opening scenes of a film must also establish: 

• The plot
• Characters
• Genre
• The settings

Next we watched 'children of men' and were asked questions about how the film was represented.

children of men video clip

WHERE?! the opening showed us that the film was in london. It was being represented as a negative bleak thriller because everyone was sad and crying, the air seemed dull and the environment was grim. 

WHO?! the opening established that there would be a hero within the film, however, not just the average hero. He didn't look like one, and by this i mean; he didn't wear a costume like superman!  We know that he is most likely to be the hero because he is the main character and isn't crying when the other characters in the film are. This gives us a sense that he is going to be strong and masculine. He doesn't fit the established ideas of a hero because he isn't like spiderman or superman either, he's not "SUPER".

How is the film represented? 

The film is first represented  as being very dull, boring, sad.. and what i like to call 'bleak'

How can you notice any other social groups or places which are represented? 

We see illegal immigrants standing outside the train station along with mobs. We also see other countries shown on a large screen like "britain carries on". 

It uses mise-en-scene; giving a sad atmosphere like there isn't a life there. 

It also establishes the Genre, as a bleak thriller because of how sad everyone is and the explosives going on. 

The narrative structure shows a negative future for the film because of the beginning, it opens up with sad people upset and crying, however it uses enigma by making us have questions but not giving us any answers. 

The target audience is targeted to older people, i think this because it would be too complicated for younger people to understand and it wouldn't keep a childs mind interested. 

The values and ideologies  of the opening sequence are challenging, what is being shown could actually happen because of immigration, the world COULD become over crowded and there COULD be too many people born to cope with. 

conventions of the crime film!

There are six main conventions of the crime genre which are :

• Film Noir
• American Gangster
• Detective 
• Spy
• Police 
• Action 

Each of these have their own uniqueness which i will go through to help get a feel of the differences within each convention.



Film Noir

The main thing you will notice about Film Noir is that, all of their movies are in black and white! (or also known as 'low key'). They are usually based in cities and focus on the higher class, posh characters. The Film Noir films usually also include sex scenes or focus on sexiness, with the women tending to be very attractive and beautiful. They have few minorities; such as black people, where the films are fulfilled with racism and stereotypes. Film Noir is very anti hero, with the men usually being detectives. Film Noir movies also have a use of voice over, such as a Narrator.
The two films i looked at for this convention was Sunset boulevard and Gilda.






American Gangster 

This type of convention is; well, American! With characters having very strong accents and the filming dark and shadowed. The characters tend to have suits, slick hair and mustaches, carrying brief cases or what looks like a violin case. They always tend to have desks within their films, with the 'big man' sitting there with something less fearless, which i found was a cat? this is confusing why would such a scary fearless man have something as pathetic and small as a cat? It gives the sense that maybe the gangsters are just an act. American Gangster films are developed around sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law (corrupt), stealing and violently murdering their way through life. One of the greatest films which suits this convention is 'The Godfather'. 


Detective

This type of convention is based on upper class characters in the country side which are usually rich from an inheritance. It is usually period type and their costumes reflect on the upper class character because of their dresses and corsets and posh suits with bow ties. Detective films usually have a Narrator, which is in fact the detective. The detective introduces the suspects which relates to the audience because it gets us thinking by leaving clues and having enigma. The detective is usually 'different', by having mustaches, being foreign and not dressed like they are within the police. The image on the left is what we imagine a detective to look like in their own quirky way. 
The film i looked at for this convention was The Maltese Falcon. 


Police

 Police crime films aren't that different within britain and america. I looked at two different police films such as "hot fuzz" a British film and "starsky and Hutch" an American film.  These police films are by far more modern than the previous conventions. The first thing we notice about 'Hot fuzz' is that they have a uniform!  They wear the police uniform, including badges, a hat and handcuffs. However, 'Starsky and Hutch' are more less formal and don't wear one, but they still have a badge. Its also legal for them to carry round a gun because they act within the law. When we think of police, we think of fat and lazy characters who take everything in their stride and   

always come as a pair (they always have a partner). Police movies can be based in any location, wether its a city or  a country side. Police films also use narrative, with the characters introducing themselves. The two images on the left, who the differences between the two types of police within these films. 










Action
Action films are more physical, upbeat and energetic than the other conventions and make the audience feel nervous. They are usually fulfilled with one or more heroes which are required to challenge themselves in a series of fights, chases and rescues. They often involve destructive disasters like explosions, natural disasters, floods, and fires, etc. During a class lesson i watched a clip from the movie Lethal Weapon, below is a video trailer of this movie, and you can see by watching it how it creates tension for the audience and how it grabs attention from the amount of action there is within it. Action films can be quite graphic, in terms of fighting, gun use and violence. 







Spy

I have left the spy conventions to last because this is in fact the convention that my group and i have chosen to use for our film! 
Spy films tend to be more modern, upbeat and have a lot of action within them. I like this sub genre because it creates intensity. Spy films are quite often british and include extreme violence and often used free running. We usually find that the spy is someone that never loses and someone you want to trust. The spy is always one step ahead and smart and is ALWAYS the hero! The spy films have a wide range of guns, gadgets, cars and women. Spy films also have a use of flashbacks, which creates different aspects of the film and makes it more interesting. One of the main spy films which most of us have heard of  is James Bond, who is a spy but also a murderer. 
He is a good representation of the spy convention because he shoes the 'average' spy what we expect; having gadgets, weapons, cars and lots of women. 

Sarah,Gabby,Georgie prelim

Preliminary video task.

My prelim video is when i first got to know the camera and how it works, however, it was Sarah; our group member, that filmed the preliminary task.
It is a continuity task involving filming and editing a character (me) opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character (Georgie). Georgie and I then in turn exchanged a few lines of dialogue.

The prelim video went very well because we made a lot of shots during the recording, so when it came to editing and putting together the video it fitted in well with substantial amount of choice. However, we did have a slight issue when editing because the other character and i talked very quickly, which meant that sometimes when we edited the clips they didn't make sense when they were put together because it was too fast and didn't fit. This was solved, by cutting out certain parts of the conversation.
We also worked very well during the prelim, we all equally ensured that the camera was set up correctly and steady and it was all done in a formal way which looked professional, we used shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

During the prelim, i learnt that characters need to speak slower in order for the video to fit correctly when the clips are being put together. I also learnt that having a varied amount of shots and longer shots make editing much easier and gives a lot of choice. I also learnt how to control the camera correctly and ensured that we used the 180 degree rule in order for the filming to be correct.

I have given myself three targets for my main task areas of improvements which are:

• talk slower during filming
• think about potential problems and resolve them
• ensure that the clips are filmed longer so that it is easier to edit

prelim vid

Welcome

Hello;
Welcome to my blog!
This is my AS Media blog where i will show my journey and progress through reasearch and planning, the construction of my main task, through to the evaluation of my final product.