In class we were set the task of watching the movie 'Kick Ass' and were told to analyse the seven key areas of representation (Gender, Ethnicity, Age, Physical Ability, Class, Sexuality and Regional Identity) as well as the four key areas of textual analysis (Mise En Scene, Camera Work, Sounds and Editing). As soon as the film starts, we can immediately identify that the character who is about to become Kick Ass is Dave. Dave is a white, teenage nerd who is a lower class of society who has no physical disablilty and lives in the suburbs of New York, however, he has an English accent. Dave comes across as straight at the start of the film, but more is revealed as the film goes on, this goes against the stereotypical image of a person who is likely to become a superhero. His binary opposite is his ultimate enemy, Frank D'amico. Frank is older than he is, richer than he is, therefore of higher class, however, Frank acts as though he is from a working class in his mannerisms. We see other people within the play who seem to be of importance, such as the two criminals who threaten to stab and end up stabbing Dave. One of the characters is black, young, fully able bodied, of low class and the other is white, young and fully able bodied. Both men are fairly well built and look like stereotypical criminals as they are wearing gangster clothing and are performing illegal acts such as theft and attempted murder. However, these characters turn out to be red herrings. Throughout the film, close ups are used at heightened moments of tension, usually during a gruesome event such as when Kick Ass gets stabbed. There is a repeated scene to show difference between past and present when Dave and Katie come across one another in the corridor. The first time, there is close up of Dave when Katie speaks, so it seems as though she is talking to him when she says 'Hey gorgeous'. However, she was actually talking to the girl behind him, adding a comical element to the film. The girls then laugh as they walk away, which helps to emphasise Dave's natural 'Nerd' label. The second time this happens, Katie is actually talking to Dave, and this time he turns around to make sure, however, this is after Dave has been beaten up and there has been a rumour that he s gay, so Katie is talking to him as she wants a gay best friend. This fits into one of the key areas of representation because althouh Dave is hetrosexual, he pretends to be homosexual so he can be friends with Katie. Once Dave has decided to become a superhero, he goes out looking for heroic acts to perform, when he comes across a lost cat. This is a very slow-paced part of the film, however, there are quick glimpses of shots which are very fast pace, hand held shots and there is diegetic sound which forshadows danger in the near future. The scenes then collide and the action comes on the scene which was peaceful, which gives a huge impact on the audience. There is a fight scene involoving kick ass which involves many close ups of injuries which happen. The tough, rough and ready world of the city strongly contrasts with the suburbs that Dave lives in, so this reflets regional identity in a mild form, however, it does still show how cultures and lives differ from city to country. During one scene, Kick Ass enters a run down set of flats with dim lighting and threatening non-diegetic sounds. On the entrance of the flat that Kick Ass enters, the mise en scene is a stereotypical heaven for the media of gangsters. The gangsters are black barring two, there is a prostitute in the room with them, they are playing violent video games, smoking drugs and they are getting drunk. The room has many locks which suggest they are trying to hide something, and when Kick Ass tasers one of the gangsters as an attack, he starts to get beaten. The main gangster leans forwards to stab Kick Ass when you see him come to a sudden holt, you see a samurai through his body. When his dead body drops, Hit Girl is stood behind him, this is the first that we see of her, and the dramatic entrance helps to emphasise her strength. We are then introduced to Hit Girl's Father, Big Daddy. This hero uses intertextuality, as he looks almost identical to batman, except for the name change. Later in the film we are introduced to yet another superhero, Red Mist. Red Mist is not a 'real' superhero, but a plan to bring down the three other superheros. This happens in second but last scene when Red Mist falsely leads Kick Ass into thinking he is a genuine superhero, he captures Big Daddy and Kick Ass, and his Dad (Frank D'Amico) gets his men to severely injure and in this case kill Big Daddy. Due to this scene being such a major part of the film, the producers managed to cram in many close ups of the injuries, wide shots of the scene which shows a warehouse (a stereotypical place for arranged criminals to kill people) which is empty except for the seats which Kick Ass and Big Daddy are sat on. There is diegetic sound of gun shots and punches and chaos during the attempt of Hit Girl trying to save her Dad and Kick Ass. The action is viewed via Hit Girl's viewpoint to help show her battle. At the end of this scene, Big Daddy has been severely burned and is dying. Soft, slow music is played during his death and Hit Girl cries, this emphasises the emotions of the scene. The main characters are binary opposites of one another, for example: Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Big Daddy is about 40 and is male, Hit Girl is 12 and is a female. Red Mist is of high social status and is from the city, Kick Ass is of low social status and is from the suburbs. These binary opposites help to make the film more interesting and the playing against stereotypes helps to interest the audience more. Fast pace editing and CGI are used to help create the scenes such as: Kick Ass being stabbed, people being shot, the jet pack and Frank D'amico's death. The music throughout cleverly represents mood, such as emotional music was performed by a choir. When Hit Girl is entering Frank's flat, there is country and western music which suggest mischief. Rock music during the action. But most importantly, when Kick Ass rescues Hit Girl 'An American Trilogy' by Elvis Presley is played. The final part of the film is Red Mist sat in his Dad's chair with 'Make Me Wanna Die' by The Pretty Reckless playing in the background as non-diegetic sound to leave the audience anticipating a second Kick Ass movie.
The Essay Is On The British Film Industry, Use British Examples. I already used British examples, but reference back to them more often wouldn't hurt.
Examples Must Be Used For Working Title, Warp And Hollywood Should Be Used As Examples. I, again, did this, but using examples more often would be just dandy!
Always Refer Back to The Question. I will look back at the question more often, however, i think that i did it already, i just need to do it more clearly.
I Must Discuss Audiences And Institutions. I must look into the institutions in more detail and also look at audience's opinion.
Use The Term Audience Not People. I will apply this into my essay.
Use Correct Terminology. I feel as though i used terminology, although i know very little, knowing more and applying it to my essay would score more points.
Use Detailed Points And Explain Not Describe e.g. Use PEE. I will follow a structure of PEE so that i cover more points and hopefully score a higher mark.
Task 1 1. Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come 'from all walks of life' or do different kinds of people watch very different kinds of programme? Are there any examples of media texts that you can think
of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?
Most media texts come from all walks of life because they are trying to achieve the largest, most varied audience possible. Once this is achieved, they can manipulate the audience and dictate their message. Examples of these universal media texts are the news, soap operas, and such shows as the Simpsons.
2. How much of your media experience occurs when you are on your own and how much when you are
with others?
I feel when you are alone, you tend to be more 'passive' and absorb more of the content - whereas when with others, there are more distractions. Therefore, more experience is gained when alone, and when with others the experience is less detailed - as attention is somewhat focused on the others. 4. Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren't
around when you experienced the text? List as many ways as you share experiences (e.g. msn etc)
Can you think of any examples where the media have been seen to influence public
behaviour or have been blamed for an individual's behaviour?
The E4 series 'Skins', which displays graphic drug use along with sex, alcohol and smoking scenes of underage teens. This was said to have sparked a negative influence on teenage viewers behaviour. Similarly, rapper 'Eminem' uses a lot of obscenities, mysogeny and homophobia - as well as political challenging lyrics - which have been blamed for aggressive behaviour in listeners.
Is this influence always negative?
No, there are positive moral messages depicted to audiences, such as romantic films and awards programmes. Also, a good example is 'Russell Howard's Good News'; at the end of each show, there is a piece of inspirational, 'nice' news.
In todays lesson, we were asked to look at how age is represented by the media and make a list of classic stereotypes that the media uses for both old people and young people (teenagers). Here is a brief list that i came up with for teenagers:
Sleepy
Drug addicts
Cheeky to parents
Bored
Intimidating
Violent
Disrespectful
Uninterested in their education
And here is a brief list for old people:
Slow
Always moaning
Nosey
Incontinent
Unhappy
Deaf
Anti-youth
False teeth
Here is a presentation that i made on the representation of Kevin from "Kevin And Perry":
Propp believed that films had character roles and these characters had a specific duty to do. He believed you could fit characters into the following roles with almost every film (I have provided some examples, my chosen film is James Bond - Goldfinger):
The Hero - The character who seeks something (James Bond) (In films and TV 'Hero' can be male or female - someone who moves the story forward e.g. Bridget Jones or Homer Simpson)
The Villain - The character who opposes the hero (Gold Finger)
The Donor - Who provides and object with some magic property (Q)
The Helper - Aids the hero (Felix Leiter)
The Princess - reward for the hero - often object of the villains schemes (Pussy Galore)
Her Father - who rewards the hero
The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way (M)
The False Hero - who seems heroic initially but turns out to be evil or a red herring*
You won't be able to account every role type in every text, but this shows how the theory works.
* = Red Herring - A character or object that is introduced as seemingly important and is then left behind, forgotten or never mentioned again. The Red Herring is a character that turns out to be of no importance to the film.
Levi-Strauss believed that the world had binary opposites. Binary Opposites are: a pair of opposites, thought by the Structuralists to powerfully form and organize human thought and culture. For example:
Good Vs Evil Black Vs White Tall Vs Small Old Vs Young
In class, we walked in and listened to a song called "Spasticus Autisticus" which was played by Ian Dury & The Blockheads. We then discussed viewpoints on disabled people and what we thought. A lot of people, when asked, said that they felt sorry for people for disabilities and they believed that disabled people were brave. However, as the lesson went on, people felt more entitled to discuss their deep feelings about disabled people that may cause offence in some circumstances. As a class, we all came to a conclusion that our opinions of disabled people depend on their disability. For example, people in our class felt more comfortable around physically disabled people rather than mentally disabled as mentally disabled people can be intimidating and we are less inclined to treat them like humans. The main patterns of opinions in the class were: there is a slight awkwardness as we do not want to patronise the,; some people embrace their disability e.g. paralympians and wounded soldiers. However some play on it, this may be because they are bitter or maybe because of envy; some people find it easier to pick on disabled people than to empathise with them. My opinions on disabled people are: If a person comes past me in a wheelchair, i do not know where to look, as i am not used to it. However, i do not want to be rude, but sometimes i do a patronising smile. If the person is mentally disabled, i feels as though i have to speak loudly - which is quite bad as there are a lot of mentally disabled people that are extremely capable of achieving what able-bodied people are.
We then went on to looking at famous disabled people, here are the people we could think of and their disablility: Steven Hawking (Wheelchair, Motor Neuron) Heather Mills (1 Leg) Gordan Brown (1 Real Eye) Stevie Wonder (Blind) Verne Troyer (Dwarfism) Muhammad Ali (Parkinson's Disease) Michael J. Fox (Parkinson's Disease) Gary Coleman (Dwarfism) Albert Einstein (Autistic) Leonaro DaVinci (Autistic) Terry Pratchett (Alzheimer's Disease) Ian Dury (Polio) Ray Charles (Blind) Mozart (Deaf)
There are also many more. We then went on to disabled people in films and discussed their roles with the films. Here are some films with disabled characters and how they were used in their films: Forrest Gump (Hero of the film)* My Left Foot (Hero of the film)* I Am Sam (Overcomes disablility)* Born On The 4th Of July (Hero of the film)* Waterboy (Hero of the film/comical character) The Ringer (Comical character) Unbreakable (Villain of the film) Million Dollar Baby (Tragic ending for the character)* Avatar (Hero)*
* = Award winning film.
A lot of these films won awards, this may be because of the reality of these characters. Making some character disabled is quite inspiring to the audience and is quite realistic to us, which is why we like these sorts of films.
In the opening scene, we see that some of the characters in Shameless have an anti-social nature, which is a steretype commonly asociated with northerners due to their higher crime rates. Stereotypes are used from the very beginning to give the audience a chance to recognise what sort of characters they are going to be watching and their backgrounds. Many shots are showed of stereotypical northerners, such as: the main character, Frank, introduces the audience to his family; a shot of his daughter Debbie is shown and intertextuality is used, she poses whilst holding a knife and rolling pin, this is created by Vinnie Jones from the 1998 film 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. This makes the montage more appealing to a wider audience as they are covering more people's interests. During the opening scene, it becomes more than obvious that the priorities of the family is partying - rather than working. This is another classic stereotype of northerners, to be 'uneducated'.
Sexuality is explored in this episode, as Ian, is found guilty of being gay, by his brother, Lip because he finds Ian's stash of gay pornography. Later on, Lip shows Ian his findings and Ian looks shocked as he does this, the camera backs away to reveal Ian and Lip's shared room. The mise-en-scene shows a poster Kylie Minogue which helps make the scene less sinister and more comical. When Ian is confronted Lip, he cries, which is playing up to the stereotype of gay men being very "easily affected" and femininity. Ian has an unstereotypical appearance of a gay person but not even this stops Lip to alienate Ian because of his sexuality; this hepls to show how being gay in a stereotypical northern location is not accepted. Lip completely contradicts Ian's character as he is a typical teenage boy with all the stereotypes you can ever imagine. However, there is one thing which is not very stereotypical of Lip, he is very good at physics, whih he uses to gain himself a sexual encounter with Karen. Later, Lip boasts about his sexual encounter, which is another great stereotype of teenage boys.
We then meet Steve and Fiona. They fit into another stereotype of northerners, by being drunk, disorderly and aggressive. Steve fights with another man, and then "decks" the doorman. When they get home, Steve boasts to the other characters about what has just happened, they all know who the bouncer was, which shows that they have all been in trouble with him before, again meeting another great stereotype of notherners. Steve and Fiona begin to get close and quite sexual with one another, romantic music is playing faintly in the background, giving off a quite magical atmosphere. The scene then cuts directly to them having a very graphic sexual encounter in a very non-dignified way. During the sexual encounter, Fiona shouts 'ni, ni, ni' which is another great use of intertextuality, as this featured in a Monty Python episode.
Here is a Calvin Klein underwear advert from a 2009 campaign, starring Eva Mendes as the model. The facial expression she uses I would say falls into the category of Romantic/Sexual. Her face shows almost passion, as her eyes are closed as if she in some sort of pleasure, perhaps an orgasmic element. This then relates the image immediately to sex, and agrees with Laura Mulvey's theory that the woman is often the 'image', whilst the man is the 'bearer of the look'. I would say that this advert appeals to both men and women, men from an obviously aesthetically pleasing side, whilst women from an envious or inspirational side - as they want to look like this. There are fetishistic aspects to this image, for example the use of high heels and lingerie. A combination that would never be used for anything other than from a voyeuristic approach. Her stance adds to the sexually suggestive theme, as the parting of her legs indicates sexualisation. She also has a fairly confident posture, suggesting she is putting herself on show, and is comfortable with her appearance. Her hair has an almost post-coital effect, as it is wet from either sweat or water, and is messy. This is then continued, as her body is oiled also, giving the impression of working out in some way or showering. The model has fantastic legs, which are exaggerated well by the use of high heels, adding to the attractiveness. She wears suspenders on the right hand image, which again are often a fetishistic element, so the image appeals more to the male gaze.
Here is another image from a Calvin Klein advert, this time with the use of Freddie Ljungberg. To begin with, he has short, well groomed hair - highlighting his masculinity. The lack of activity in his hair region means the gazer focuses more on other aspects of the image, such as the body. His face is well chiseled, with a structured jaw line, again adding to his masculine image. The lips however, are slightly pouted, giving a hint of femininity or perhaps seduction. The look he has emphasises this as he has a seductive expression, which is viewed as intra-diegetic gaze, making the whole image more engaging by breaking the 4th wall. The facial expression has a sense of invitation, and is intense yet subtle. The stubble he has again is another aspect of stereotypical masculinity. The choice of a red background has connotations of passion, danger, sex, heat and love. All of which are portrayed through the image, as everything about it is sexually suggestive, and the oiled up look indicates sweat from the heat. The bar displayed at the top of the image relates to the gym, and explains his sweaty appearance - however, is likely to be just a prop that allows for the model to display his bicep. The tattoo is of some sort of wild animal, and is in a fairly intimate location - making it sexually suggestive. The oiled/sweaty abs add to the sexualisation, as this is a fetishistic aspect aimed at women primarily, however with possible potential for homo-eroticness. The body in general is well maintained, and probably the model's 'temple', indicating metro-sexuality. It also has a post-coital effect - with the sweat and tensing. The necklace he wears is a feminine aspect almost, along with a fashionistic addition. Finally, the pubic area is shaven. This relates to indications of metro-sexuality, along with a sense of homo-eroticness as well. The advert appeals to gay and straight men, along with women. As women are the main spectator, whilst men are viewing as the product advertised is aimed at them.
The latest of technologies in films are cameras, CGI (Computer Generated Images) and editing software. We were asked to look into these four things and see how Working Title, Warp Films and Hollywood would use them, if they use them and why some may be able to use them more than others.
Warp Films use small amounts of the latest technolgy as they are only a very small business compaed to other institutions and so get small amounts of funding. For example, 'Rubber Johnny' was created by Warp Films and only lasted 6 minutes as an experimental film to see what uses they could put CGI to. The camera shots are filmed with infared night vision using a digital camera - showing that they have the use of modern cameras. Also, it is edited using fast transitions, colour correction and sound effects - displaying the use of editing software and possibly up to date software, due to the complexity. From my research, i cannot find that there are any plans in Warp Films to use 3D films, as with their small budgets, they can only usually ever make socially realistic dramas.
Working Title do not have extensive use of new technologies, however they do use more than Warp Films. Working Title have made no 3D films, or revealed plans for the future involving 3D. They also do not use a lot of CGI, but again, there is more than Warp Fims. This may be due to the majority of their films being drama and comedy and so do not need many added extras otherwise their films will be less realistic. However, editing software is used with a passion. In Hot Fuzz and Shaun of The Dead, the shots are fast paced and there is a lot of transitional editing. Working Title may use software such as 'Avid'.
Hollywoodhave by far the biggest budget, therefore by far the largest amount of new technologies and discoveries in film-making. For example, 'Avatar', the most expensive movie ever made was filmed specifically in 3D over a period of 10 years. Unlike other 3D films, it was actually recorded using a 3D lense. Also, Avatar was edited using a whole range of software such as:
Autodesk Maya (most shots)
Pixar Renderman for Maya
Autodesk SoftImage XSI
Luxology Modo (model design, e.g. the Scorpion)
Lightwave (low-res realtime environments)
Houdini (Hell’s Gate scenes, interiors)
ZBrush (creature design)
Auodesk 3ds max (space shots, control room screens and HUD renderings)
Autodesk MotionBuilder (for real-time 3d visualisations)
Eyeon Fusion (image compositing)
The Foundry Nuke Compositor (previz image compositing)
Autodesk Smoke (color correction)
Autodesk Combustion (compositing)
Massive (vegetation simulation)
Mudbox (floating mountains)
Avid(video editing)
Adobe After Effects (compositing, real-ime visualizations)
The first gaze that I see in the video that I have cut is when Justin does a “narcissistic” look crossed with an “invitation” gaze. This means that Justin looks indifferent, self-sufficient, arrogant, slightly insolent, haughty, aloof, confident, reserved; slightly or fully closed eyes. The emphasis is mainly on the eyes, his mouth is shut, his head is to one side, looking back to the camera. His gaze is suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.
The second gaze that I see is from Justin again, but this time, he is using a “seductive” gaze. He is staring straight at Ciara, biting his lip and staring with his eyes half open at hers. He looks confident, arrogant, slightly insolent, seductive, dreamy, heavy-lidded and sexual.
The third gaze that I see is that of Ciara looking back at Justin during his second gaze. Ciara is doing a cross between the “sexual” gaze and the “super-smiler”. Ciara has her teeth showing but does not have a cheesy grin. She is quite heavy-lidded with her head thrust forward, she looks arrogant, confident, self sufficient and mildly seductive.
The fourth gaze is Ciara being quite “soft/introverted”, yet “seductive” and “sexual”. She has her mouth open, eyes half closed but looking upwards as if through her eyebrows. She looks confident, arrogant, seductive, sexual, almost showing herself off by pouting a little. Her behaviour suggests availability.
My fifth and final gaze that I see is the one of Justin, which is the last shot in my video. Justin is looking downwards, but towards the camera, whilst Ciara is kissing him. Justin looks slightly subdued but satisfied, he looks confident and arrogant as he is not facing her and he looks quite cool/level. His eyes are half open and he looks heavy-lidded, he is not smiling, but has quite a straight face. Justin appears to be quite uninterested in Ciara’s behaviour at this point.
Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.
Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.
Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.
Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.
In a study of advertisements in women’s magazines, Trevor Millum offers these categories of female expressions:
Soft/introverted: eyes often shut or half-closed, the mouth slightly open/pouting, rarely smiling; an inward-looking trance-like reverie, removed from earthly things.
Cool/level: indifferent, self-sufficient, arrogant, slightly insolent, haughty, aloof, confident, reserved; wide eyes, full lips straight or slightly parted, and obtrusive hair, often blonde. The eyes usually look the reader in the eye, as perhaps the woman regards herself in the mirror.
Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.
Narcissistic: similarities to the cool/level and soft/introverted looks, rather closer to the latter: a satisfied smile, closed or half-closed eyes, self-enclosed, oblivious, content - ‘activity directed inward’.
Carefree: nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.
Kittenlike: coy, naïve (perhaps in a deliberate, studied way), a friendlier and more girlish version of the cool/level look, sometimes almost twee.
Maternal: motherly, matronly, mature, wise, experienced and kind, carrying a sort of authority; shorter hair, slight smile and gentle eyes - mouth may sometimes be stern, but eyes twinkle.
Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.
Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed. (Millum 1975, 97-8)
You will find that TV dramas all have the following ingredients:
Characters – even particular kinds of characters: eg, at its most simple, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters.
Stories – they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often, but not always, end happily.
The stories are told against familiar backdrops: – eg, homes, police stations and offices (for crime dramas), hospitals (for medical dramas) – most of which are created in studios. However, most dramas also use outside locations to create particular effects.
Camerawork – particular kinds of shots are used: eg, sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid-shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and, in particular,close-ups to show the characters’ emotions.
Stories use dialogue to tell the stories. Occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).
Music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.
Particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identifiable – police cars, blue lights, operating theatres and scalpels, triage/reception areas in hospitals. Icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.
A couple of lessons back, we were asked to create and pitch our own film idea and then plan budgeting for it. My budgeting looked a little like this:
Director - Richard LaGravenese, £2million overallEditor – Andrew Mondshein, £10,000 a week (10 weeks)
Location – Ruislip College, £100,000
Cinematographer – Barry Ackroyd, £50,000 overall
Cast – Open Auditions, £1,000,000 overall - Venue: Main hall at Ruislip College (Place of Filming)
Script Writer – Will Fetters, £50,000 overall
Plus the below the line costs, amounting to a maximum of £1.7million
We were then asked to look at our budgets again, and then pretend that one of our financers had oulled out of the deal and our budgets dropped by a third. We we asked to respond to this and show our new figures. Without below the line costs, our budget was £33,333 pounds under budget. So we could afford to keep ours the same. However, we did come up with some slightly different plans, just to be safe. We said we'd lower the directors cost by £500,000 and if Richard LaGravenese was not happy with that deal, then we'd look at some B-list directors who could produce this film at the same quality, but costing a lot less money. This would make us £533,333 under our budget and give us plenty of money to spend on below the line costs.
When i first got introduced to film financing, i thought it was an easy thing, i just thought they used the left over money they had from previous films to make new ones and carry on that way. But you really don't. There are so many ways to get film financing and it all starts off with your film pitch. Your film pitch must include what, where when, who and why about your film. What is it about? Where will it be filmed? When will it be filmed? Who will watch it/be in it? Why will people go to watch it/would people invest in it?
Once you have made your pitch, there are several placs you can go for funding, such as:
Government grants
Tax Schemes &Tax Shelters - Tax shelters are deductions in tax if you include a British cast, for instance and use a British setting, and use mainly British employees in your film. This deduction makes it a lot cheaper to produce your film
Debt Finance such as: Pre-sales, Television Pre-sales, Negative Pick-up deals,Gap/Supergap financing
Equity Finance such as: Private, Hedge-fund or Product Placement
All of these methods are suitable, but you would have to look at where you are planning to create the film and with which actors before you begin to look at finance, so you can see where is cheapest.
When finding finance, it is advised to get as many financers as possible, so that if one financer pulls out, you still have others to rely on. Whereas if you have only one financer and they pull out, it's pretty much game over.
In class, we were asked to watch the montage scene of Rushmore. We were asked the question " Is Max a typical teenager?"
First of all, we watched it all the way through without stopping the video and i picked up that somebody said he is the worse student at Rushmore.
My answer to the question is no, i do not think that Max Fischer is an average teenager because he tries all of the out of school activities and the stereotype of teenagers is that they are lazy - Max is far from lazy. Also, another stereotype of teenagers is that they are scruffy, Max is almost always dressed formally and he is very smart. He has founded some of the groups and is in charge of a lot of the others, which, again goes against the lazy teenager stereotype.
When we went into analysing the scene of Max, i noticed first of all that there were bees on the front of the book that he opens to start the montage scene. This may suggest that he "flies" from activity to activity. He may be "Busy as a bee" or "The bees knees".
Max is the founder of the Yankee Review Publisher. In the video, Max is leading the others in the group and Max is placed in the middle of the group. Max is dressed very formally in his suit and boe tie, whilst the others are just wearing unbuttoned shirts. All of the other characters are wearing baseball boots, whereas Max is wearing proper shoes.
Max is the French Club President. Max is shown wearing a red hat, all the rest of the group are wearing blue which shows his importance within the group. He is also the only person wearing a flag. Also, Max, again is in his full suit, and everybody else is less formal than him. Max is sat at the front centre of the shot.
Max is the Model United Nations - Russia. Max is again placed in the centre of the shot, wearing his full suit. He is a very important country of the United Nations. Also, i thought about the American crudge with Russia, Americans do not like Russians, so this may be a signifier of the whole film. If you look carefully at Max's body language, he is very interested and he seems to love his role, whereas the others are slouched and it looks as though they do not want to be there.
Max is the Stamp & Coin Club Vice-President. This is not very typical of teenagers and so goes against another stereotype. We don't see any other people in the shot. There is a large collection of stamps. Max may be a geek?
Max is the captain of the Debate Team. Everyone in the shot is showed to be wearing bow-ties and Max is still in his uniform - he is an outsider. Max obviously likes his uniform which is very odd for a teenager. Max may be poor or not very well-off. Also, Max is at the side of this shot, so he may be of little importance.
Max is the Lacrosse team manager. Max is still wearing full uniform, despite the fact he is sat on the bench. Max is not a typical jock shape and is nothing like the rest of the jocks. He isn't playing and he isn't properly part of the action. Max is sat there arranging equipment and the rest of the team have just dropped their equipment on the floor and they are ignoring him. This reflects what they think of him.
Max is the Calligraphy Club President. Max is showed as the only person on the shot, so it looks like there would be very little members if any others besides him.
He is the Astronomy Society Founder. Max is showed to be facing the camera whilst the others are taking part in actually looking at the stars, Max does not appear to be doing anything, this may be due to his lack of knowledge about stars.
He is the Fencing Team Captain. In this shot he is showed participating but still wearing his trousers with the rest of his fencing suit. He doesn't have the proper equipment, which, again, shows that he may have a low income or be poorer than the rest of the students. He stands out.
Max is the Track & Field J.V. Decathlon. On the shot he is showed to be on his own and when the camera zooms out, you presume that there will be lots of people behind him, but he is the only person running, so it does not show his ability. He may not be very good.
He is the 2nd Chorale Choirmaster. Max is still in his uniform in this shot and Max is only the 2nd choirmaster, not the first, so he may not be very good at it.
He is the Bombardment Society Founder. Everyone around him is casually dressed, whereas Max is still in his uniform. He is a very clear leader and takes his role very seriously. He is showed in the middle of the shot, so obviously of high importance.
Max is in the Kung Fu Club at yellow belt level. On the shot, looking at the belts, Max is the worst out of the lot and the people who make up the rest of the club are younger than him.
Max is the Trap & Skeet Club Founder. This is another unsualy actvity for an average teenager. Max is again in his uniform and he is with his friend. They may be the only people in the club.
He is the President of Rushmore Beekeepers. Max is still in his uniform and there are only two people on shot, so at a guess, that will be the only two people in the whole club.
Max is the Founder Of Yankee Racers. Max is sat out of the action in this shot and Max's kart doesn't appear to be as good as the others. Max again seems to be an outsider and is again in his uniform and there are not many other people racing, this may be because he is the founder?
Max has named a club "Max Fischer Players" and he is the Director. It is quite vaine to call a club after yourself, Max is in the middle of the group, which represents his importance and everyone is wearing black clothes, which may reflect what the club is like: dull and boring.
He is in the Piper Cub Club and he has logged 4.5 hours, which is not very long at all. So he may not be very good. Max is in his uniform again.
In a lot of the shots showed, Max is either not taking part or is not very good at what he does. This, i think may be a signifier for the whole play. Max is obviously not an average teenager due to his involvement in a lot of outside clubs and he is obviously a very enthusiastic participater. However, the shots show him almost always in his uniform, i think this is done purposefully and this may be a money issue, or just purely to show that he is not an average teenager.
Max is represented as quite geeky but is in no way, shape or form an average teenager.
In class we watched a short, ten minute film which told us the basic ins and outs of what has to be taken into consideration when making a film.
First of all, film making is a gamble. You never know if you're going to make the money back or whether you are simply going to lose it. This is the main risk when making a film, will the audience like it? And who will go so see it?
A film next to always starts off with a producer. Their role is to get the money for the film; find a director; find a script writer for their idea; find health and safety officers and they are basically in the middle of all the action. They are the entrepreneur. Once they have chosen their director, the producer must look after their director as they are now in charge of what your film will look like.
In the film, the people said that there were four main parts in creating a film and they are: developing the idea; raising money for the idea; making the idea and producing/selling your idea to the market.
When you find a script writer, their main stimulus for a whole film is an idea or a question. Once they have written their idea, they then redraft their script twelve to fifteen times NORMALLY. That means that sometimes there are more. The script writer, must try and relate the script to the audience so that they feel the issues covered in the film can affect them. The more emotions a film makes the watcher feel, generally, the better the film, so making the script relate to the reader can be quite a vital part. The script must tantalise the director otherwise the director might turn down their script. One of the script writers say that you must have a distinctive beginning, middle and end. They say that a basic format is one that can rarely go wrong. So, how do you know if you have a good/hollywood blockbuster script? Well, apparently, it is a combination of instincts and the market place that you aim your film at.
Once the script it made, they then create screen play. At this point, they then get the director back on board and then they look at the budget together and then look into a cast. This is called "The Package". The cast are vital to the film as it makes the difference as to whether somebody will come and see your film or whether they won't.
The script developer works with the screen writer to look at what is important to them. If it is not good enough, for instance, the team, the film might not get funding and then you're back to square one.
Most film makers get their funding from worldwide or co-production deals. Usually, film makers like to have between 3 and 10 financers because their money is more guaranteed and it is far safer. Of course it is easier to get one funder, but it is a lot higher risk. Obviously, the more your directors, writers and actors cost depends on who you go to for financing.
Then comes the planning for the film. What will be filmed? Where will it be filmed? When will it be filmed? etc. A lot of people in the film industry go for the hardest scene first and then build the rest of the film around it.
For the filming you need a cinematographer. The cinematographer is the directors right hand man - they can turn the script into something amazing.
Budgeting is another key area of the film. To make a film, you must make a finance plan to see where your money will go and when, otherwise you may go over budget, and a lot of the time, you cannot afford to do that. You need a business plan, which is basically an analysis of the script. The business plan shows all of the above the line and below the line costs.
Then, the director must decide where they see the film being played. Clear plans are fundamental as without them, your film cannot work. You must decide whether a $20 million film will have a $20 million audience, if not, you can't afford to make it. As one of the people said, a film must be "definable without being formulaic".
A key area of films which people underestimate the value of in almost every film is the marketing of the film. It is very costly and without advertising, people won't know their film is on. So, marketing decisions are things such as: does it fit into a good sellable genre? Do you have marketable stars? Is your director/producer well-known?
Making a film is not as important as marketing film, because that is where the money comes from.
Lester Burnham is the main character in the award winning film "American Beauty". As a class, we were told to make notes on his body language, voice, clothes, mise en scene and general representation. At the beginning of the film, Lester is talking about how he has less than a year to live. However, he does not know that yet, the voice over is as though he is speaking from a dead person's perspective. During the introduction to himself where he reveals where he lives, what he does etc. he speaks with a monotonous and unenthusiastic voice which later links to his body language. During this time in which we get to know him, he shows a defeatist view on his life, it is as though he has nothing left to live for. It appears that he has everything a person could possibly want to achieve in their lives; he has a large house, a wife, a child, he's smartly dressed, a nice car, large shower, his daughter has a computer in her room etc. He basically shows that he's succeeded already and has no ambition any longer. He even admits when he's masturbating in the shower, that's the best part of his day.
When we are introduced to his wife, it shows her with gardening gloves on which match her gardening accessories, she is looking after her roses and maintaining her garden, obviously a very materialistic woman. His wife and his daughter both think that he's a loser and they show this via their sarcasm, especially when he is late for work and he drops his papers - she gives him a deathly stare and shows her hate towards him, which is mutual from both Lester and his wife. When he gets in the car, he sits in the back, with his wife and daughter in the fornt, which is quite unusual in traditional families. When he is in the back, he does not join in any conversations, he just sits there and falls asleep with his body slumped. Throughout the beginning of the film it shows that nothing goes right for him and that he is a liability. Despite all of this, Lester's voice picks up and become more confident when he says that things are about to change.
During this opening of the film, i picked up that there was a repeat in the colours Red, White and Blue. Which shows to be quite patrotic, as the American flag is made up of those colours.
The final thing i picked up on is that Lester is trapped. He is always on the inside looking out and never vice versa. I think that this may act as a signifier for the rest of the film. As he is trying to change this order in order to make his life better.
In class, we were given a task to come up with a pitch for film idea. The better the film, the better the teachers funding for your film would be. However, there were two target market groups you could aim your film at: Infants or African-American men. We went for African-American men. At first we had to discuss what we thought the interests of African-American men might be and then this gave us a stimulus as to what our film could be about. After a few minutes of "err"ing, we thought it'd be a good idea to create a British version of the American film "Freedom Writers" as that would intrigue a similar kind of audience as to what we were aiming our audience at. We had to come up with all of the above the line and below the line costs and find out how much exactly everything costs.
The basic summary of the film is as follows: There is an awful lot of violence caused by gangs in a college to a point where the college is shut down. There are five different groups, some split by race, others split by class. There is one teacher in the school who see's an opportunity to complete a project by taking one member from each of the gangs and making them work together. The project goes well, things are clearing up and gangs are starting to be civil with one another. The college, after a year of hard work form this teacher is finally due to reopen. But the night before the college reopens a single member from one of the gangs shows their true colours and sets hell loose with what he really thinks of making peace. For this idea, we got £5 million. Which, we soon came to realise is not a lot of money. However, we were given our budget by a tax schemes company so we have no extra taxations which could have lowered our profit before by 17.5% or more. We thought a good start would be to use the college that "The Inbetweeners" use - Ruislip College. We thought this would be an ideal place to film and to audition people as it would make them familiar with the set they would be working with in the near future. Obviously, the budget is low, so we would have to use new, upcoming actors and actresses. When we were deciding on directors, editors and script writers etc. we thought it'd be appropriate (and cheap) to use the same director as "Freedom Writers" (Richard LaGravenese) due to his know how of these sort of films and the same editor (Andrew Mondshein) and script writer (Will Fetters) of "Remember Me".
So, overall, our budget spending looks like this: Director - Richard LaGravenese, £2million overall
Editor – Andrew Mondshein, £10,000 a week (10 weeks)
Location – Ruislip College, £100,000
Cinematographer – Barry Ackroyd, £50,000 overall
Cast – Open Auditions, £1,000,000 overall - Venue: Main hall at Ruislip College (Place of Filming)
Script Writer – Will Fetters, £50,000 overall
Plus the below the line costs, amounting to a maximum of £1.7million
