Tuesday 3 May 2011

Audience Feedback

To start I will show some general feedback I have given myself about my media production.

From watching my product over and over again, I can see some negatives and positives.

Negatives
  • I may of left too many questions unanswered during the first two minutes of my piece.
  • There was also problems with the music, I wanted the song to build up but also have the faster beat during the walk, however in movie make I was limited, and could only choose the start and beginning, leaving me with the choice of sacrificing the build up for the majority of the movie, so after long thinking I decided that the majority of the piece was more important than the build up of the song.
  • Putting the song name and artist in the opening was also a risk, because it makes it seem like either a music video or credits, but I promised to the artists that I would include that, and I stuck to my word, however it could of been a mistake in the long run and is was a rather risky choice.
Positives
  • I think the mise en scene blended well with the overall feel of the movie, the music and visuals produced that "sad" feeling I was going for.
  • The shots were all relatively steady and never had anything that shouldn't be in it.
  • Used a variety of shots, such as POV, over the shoulder etc.

As Media Studies Production Portfolio Audience Feedback

Negatives
  • "maybe could have introduced more camera angles"
  • "Leave out song + Artist"
  • "looked like a music video"
Some other critism was not really constructive so I have left it out, however it is nice to see some criticism so I can learn from my mistakes and ultimately improve on them.

Positives
  • "Good song choice"
  • "Blatant Mise en scene"
  • "Song works well with visuals"
  • "Use of colors good, I liked the change from B/W to colour"
Obviously I am happy to see some positives in there, there were some more, but most just repeated in different forms, this is also very helpful for the learning approach, I can see what people like and dislike, but as my product was not mainstream, I was expecting some criticism as it does not appeal to everyone, one person even said "I do not get the story" considering it was the first two minutes I never planned for them to understand the whole storyline, infact I aimed to leave them guessing, and let there imagination blossom,  but I guess you can't please everyone.



    Sunday 1 May 2011

    In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

    Well my Media piece the number three is a two minute opening of a movie, i have tried to use the conventions of real media products as a template, but then advance on that in my own unique way, for example I have aimed to put more emphasis on images and unanswered questions instead of just force-feeding the information, for example one of the first questions probably asked, who is he? how did he get them scars, why is he wearing a suit, why is he at a cemetery, and who is he visiting, what  or who does the three feathers represent, nearly all of these unanswered in the first two minutes, hopefully to intrigue the audience so they carry on watching. So in a way it does conform with real media products due to its music in the opening credits all stuff like that, but then i developed that into my own unique way so I don't just force-feed the information like some movies do, and yes it may not be so "mainstream" but it is the way I have chosen and its the method of filming I prefer.

    Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

    From our preliminary task we found out quite a lot about the 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.








    We also learned about various shots such as the over the shoulder shot, this is common in character conversions, but can also be used in different ways, for example I used it in my movie to show the characters body language along with the feathers and grave to add a more effective mood.

    This is a shot from the preliminary task, showing both the body language and the speech of the person providing an excellent shot for conversations between two people.


    Another shot, still having the body language and speech present, but from a different angle, however still not breaking the 180 degree rule so the audience do not get confused.







    However in my actual piece I decided to use an over the shoulder shot, but higher up, as if it was looking down on the body language and the powerful mise en scene of the feathers on the grave.










    There was also another shot I leaned about in the preliminary task, the POV shot, I also realized its true beauty and effect it can have whilst filming with it. The POV shot provides  either close ups of a certain object to highlight where the character is looking, or just direct contact with something or someone making you feel in a way part of the movie.



     In the preliminary as you can see we used the POV shot to highlight the character and get the audience to feel apart of the movie, also showing detailed emotions and expressions of the character opposite.



     However in my media piece I used the POV to highlight the action on kneeling to the gravestone and placing the feathers down, I felt this would be quite a powerful shot, connecting the audience with potentially the saddest part in the clip, or so I hoped.

    Saturday 30 April 2011

    How does your media product represent particular social groups?

    Well in a way my media product represents a particular social group but in others it doesn't, like its not really a social group that I am trying to represent, more a group of people that share the same misfortune in their life, for example losing people, the ones you loved, getting that feeling off emptiness and just not knowing what to do with your self. Those are the people I am trying to relate to and represent, after all it happens to so many people it should be represented, and most people just need to know there not alone, and maybe this movie can highlight that to other people.
    For example some movies have represented the character who has lost pretty much everything, or only holding on to one thing or person.


    E.g Law Abiding citizen, it is a powerful movie that represents losing all the family you loved, and fighting to avenge there deaths. As you can tell from this powerful image there are strong emotions through out.

    How did you attract/address your audience?

    When I realized the type of film I was making, I then realized it was not mainstream, so I wanted to find out what people thought was necessary in a movie opening. We were quite vague with a few questions to get the general feel of what genre's and type of films people liked, and I used people around my age to see if my movie was something that would appeal to them.









     So obliviously I used questions to try and understand my audience and address them face to face to get there real feel about movie openings. I have now realized I am most probably not going to appeal to all the people my age as most boys just like fighting and explosions, however there may be a few that appreciate art house type films and that is what I am aiming for.

    Who would be the audience for your media product?

    Again with answering such a question you first need to establish what type/genre of film you film is. I have already gone for it being an "art house" type film, so now that we have established the type I move on to whom my audience would be.

    I can quite easily say it is not for the mainstream audience, but more directed at the smaller group of movie lovers, they go by many names but I am aiming to please some potential Mainstream plus, but more directed at the Aficionados and the Buffs, these are the "specialized" movie lovers. For example the Aficionados do like to associate themselves with specialized films however they tend to watch some main stream titles,unlike the buffs, they usually reject the mainstream cinema as a first choice and always seek out specialized films, often film clubs and societies, so if anything I am aiming to please the Film buffs. And for age and gender, I could see it be quite varied for both, more so age, I couldn't see under 18's watching this movie, but as this film could appeal to so many no matter age or gender, I could see it being most over 20's watching it.

    What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


    Camera/Filming: To start off I used a Canon HF M306 HD camcorder, this proved to be a handy piece of equipment, not only producing high quality picture in HD, but being light, easy to handle, and a long lasting battery. This producing quite a enjoyable time playing and filming, however a few problems such as holding the camera still, but were soon solved with the trusty tripod, but it can also cause problems such as moving shots the tripod felt rather stiff and gave a slight jolts whilst filming. The transferring onto the computer was also quick and easy, due to the SD card in the camcorder. The camcorder also gave me the freedom to get great quality images with the ability to edit and delete the scenes there and then on the touch screen pad.


    Editing: I used the software Imovie for pretty much all my editing work, being a first time user, I found it quite complicated, however it guides you too many help and aid videos of various websites like you tube. So finally after getting the hang of it, I quite enjoyed the editing software, it seemed very user friendly and not that complicated for first time users. I could only find a few faults about the software in my opinion, it did not let you cut and choose the exact points of the music you wanted, it however gave you the awkward option of only being able to move the start and finish, which made it very time consuming to use and match with the visuals, it actually made me change my music opening making the music start off to soon with no real build up. I was not happy with this, but overall it is a good editing software, and I would most probably use it again in the future.



    Research: Websites such as You tube gave great options for help or any unanswered questions, for example, there were many step by step videos showing you how to use imovie, as it was my first time using that software. You tube not only helped me in answering my questions, it gave me the opportunity to watch other peoples videos and get advice off more experienced people. There were many occasions were this website had helped me when stuck and not sure what to do whilst editing.


     Facebook/Blogger/Sound Cloud: All three of this websites helped in various ways,


    for example I spent hours and hours searching for songs on random websites, then I came across Sound Cloud, it provided the perfect conditions for what I needed, free, copyright free, and available to re-use and modification. All of which I needed for my movie, now all I needed to do was find a song. With the extremely user friendly website I was able to browse and play many songs, finally I found a song and it even gave me the option to email the person or contact him on websites like facebook, you tube or twitter. In fact I used the websites actual mail service, I am still using this website for music browsing and to this day I still love it.


    Then Blogger, it provided a perfect layout for all my work to be stored and linked to the "The Spider" and all of my class mates blogs. It was very user friendly and there were many links on you tube for help and advice for making a good working blog. I especially like the ability to pretty much design this blog from almost scratch with the help of various template. This enabled me personally to feel closer to the website as it was made to suit me and what I want it to look like.



    Then Facebook, it provided me with some decent feedback from my friends and family about my movie, it also gave me the ability to talk to some artists which songs I liked, however I did not take advantage of that ability.

    What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

    To tackle this question, you would first have to ask yourself what type of film is it. Well it may not seem like much due to the shortness of the clip, however I aimed for it to be more in the "art house" side of film, reasons being I want to focus more on mise en scene, but more directly the thoughts and dreams of characters instead of a clear cut story line.

    So to the media institution's that might distribute my media product, well now we have established the type of film, we can see what media institutions fund produce such films.




    Focus Features (formerly USA Films, Universal Focus and Good Machine) is the art house film division of NBC universal, universal pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films. 
     
    In the UK under the Focus Features umbrella.
    • Momentum Pictures
    • Entertainment Film Distributors
    • Universal Picture





     Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation:As of 2007, it is the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America.

    UK
    • Momentum Pictures (2000–present)
    • Lions Gate UK (2006–present)



    Entertainment Film Distributors is a British distributor of independent films in the UK and Ireland for various production companies; it is owned by Nigel Green who started the company in 1978.








    So which company is most likely to distribute my product, well all of them specialize in independent film distributing, however Lions gate is more focused around America, so that leaves us with Entertainment film distributors and Focus Features. overall I think both being good companies but just due to Focus features having more under its umbrella is bound to be more interested and available. It would also provide the opportunity if selected for DVD release under Focus Features. Also because it is based in the UK making it easily accessible and convenient for both me and the company. 

    Thursday 24 March 2011

    labeled for commercial reuse with modification pictures proof

    Logo Idea

    Comformation for use of song

    Steven Hubbard 29 Mar 2011 at 19:25
    I was looking for a suitable song for my As level media opening of a movie, and I came across your cover of (fix you) .. to say the least I was amazed, you have a great voice man. I was wondering if I could possibly use that cover in my movie opening? I will put you in the credits or something if you wanted? Thanks.
    Steven.
    kindofblue
    kindofblue 29 Mar 2011 at 20:13
    It's absolutely fine with us, we're so glad you like it! Please make sure to reference that the song is originally by Coldplay in the credits...licensing can be difficult and we don't want to get you in trouble.
    As long as we're credited with the actual performance, please feel free to use it. We'd love to hear more about your movie, and we'd definitely like to see it once it's released. Please let us know about the project, and we look forward to seeing (and hearing) the final result!
    Please feel free to contact me on our band's email, thearbitrarylines@gmail.com
    Thanks,
    Jimmy

    Wednesday 23 March 2011

    Location Research

    Norwich road

    Cemetery 

    Cemetery

    Cemetery

    Cemetery

    Cemetery

    Cemetery

    Tuesday 22 March 2011

    Changes to the idea




    So new synopsis= To start off i have picked idea 2 (Number seven), many reasons behind this, I believe the story may appeal to events that could happen in real life, its also quite an interesting take, to show how people cope with being alone, or losing everyone they loved. I am thinking about having an establishing shot of the road he live on, the shot will look up into the sky and slowly drop down to reveal the road lined with houses both sides. Then a still shot of his house to highlight that fact. Then shots straight into the house, all different rooms until finally it gets to his bedroom, where he is either lying there asleep or getting dressed. He will be wearing a black suit to make the audience question why, maybe his work, maybe a funeral, or just his style of clothing. Then shots of him walking down the stairs to the door, as the door is closing the shot will blur out to reveal him walking up the path, of that appears to be a cemetery. Different angles of him walking down the path, then he will stop at a gravestone, clutching a picture in his hand and some 3 feathers with. Then a shot of his face holds it for 3-6 seconds. After the still shot the camera will slowly blur out to reveal the name of the movie with a picture of his family as the background.




    New Shot by shot list



    1. Opening shot of the sky, slowly going down to reveal a road with houses either side. I am aiming for a clear with some clouds in the sky, to reinforce the average every day street.
    2. A shot of just his house, to highlight that this is the key characters/character house.
    3. A shot of his bedroom, A shot of him through his door, looking at him putting his shirt on.
    4. A shot of him doing his buttons up, also revelling some serious injuries to the body.
    5. A shot him putting his blazer on, then to a shot of him putting his shoes on.
    6. A shot of him walking down the stairs ( from two different angles) all the way to the door and when the door is being opened as soon as like shines through the door this shot will then blur out.
    7. (blur in)  A shot of the sky going down to reveal a shot of the man walking up a path, what seems to be a cemetery with gravestones scattered around the place.
    8. Different variety of shots (far away,close,shot of the sky down to him walking etc) to show him walking through the cemetery, until he arrives at a this one certain Gravestone
    9. Shots of him standing there from different angles and distances.
    10. Then a shots of him putting the 3 feathers on gravestone to represent the three names on the stone, a feather is a very symbolic image. I am aiming to use it as a sign of cowardliness, when he could of done something to intervene with the people that killed his family, and he is now putting the white feather back to show he is ready to stand up and stop being a coward.
    11. A POV or over the shoulder shot of him placing the feathers down at the left side of the gravestone.
    12. Then a shot of him kissing his fingers then placing them on each of the feathers
    13. Another shot of him standing over the grave whilst wiping away tear.
    14. A still shot in-front of the character of his face for 3-6 seconds

    Names for movie:
    Revenge
    Family
    The Number Three


    Character names
    Sven Stevenson
    Jason Weatherhead
    Martin Hinde

    Monday 21 March 2011

    Location ideas for "family"

    My house: Not just because it is convenient, more because its the ideal house, a family home where three children have grown up, and nieces visiting at least once a week. And for my opening I want an average every day family home so the viewer does not suspect anything until they get a closer look. It also provides a good road for the opening shot I wanted and a great spot for the shot when he finds out his family gone.

    Norwich Road: This is a suitable location for the opening shot of the movie, mainly because it is wide and looks like a average every day road.

    Wymondham cemetery: This is a good location for the shot of him visiting his "family". reasons behind the choice; It is a nice quiet location with beautiful scenery also providing all the necessary shots of walking down the path. The trees provide good and time saving editing, and I have been to that cemetery quite a lot so I am used to the setting and feel comfortable filming there.

    Tuesday 1 March 2011

    Shot by shot ideas

    To start off i have picked idea 2 (Family), many reasons behind this, i believe the story may appeal to events that could happen in real life, its also quite an interesting take to show how people cope with being alone, or losing everyone they loved. I am thinking about having an establishing shot of the road he live on, the shot will look up into the sky and slowly drop down to reveal the road lined with houses both sides. Then it will either be a shot straight to the main character, walking down his drive then opening his door. or  i am considering having the POV shot of a person on his bike riding down the road, the usual opening to a family movie, maybe a paper round boy. until it gets the this house, then it will follow the paper that was thrown, it hits the main character, he just stops, looks at it emotionless. Bends down slowly, picks it up and carries on walking down his drive, then back to POV shot opening the door, then a shot showing him come through the door from the other side, as this is happening various shots highlighting all of the rooms in the house, an average family home, toys, fridge magnets, children's bedrooms and what appears to be the parents bedroom. Then a shot to the man standing in the hall way, motionless, with a bag around his shoulder that slowly falls down his arm and on to the floor making a loud thud. Made louder than usual as the house is so quiet, a POV shot to show what he is looking at reveals what seems to be the only picture that has been taken care off, it consists of five people, looks to be like his family or people that are close to himThen a flash back, the man but when he was younger, around 16-18. Walking down the road back to his house, looking down with every step, with hardly any confidence, the camera then looks up suddenly to see what appears to be sirens flashing, blue and white lights, with the well known police sirens mixed with the ambulance sirens echoing into the streets. Quick shots of what appears to be body bags, and police tape, officers in uniform. Quick shots of the boy running to his house, POV shot showing the desperation in his face as he frantically runs to see what is happening. As he finally reaches the drive, he's met with a police officer, he seems to be rather shocked, the boy explains how it is his house, the policeman's face drops, "Im sorry to tell you.. that your family are gone, I am so sorry" The boy drops to his knees, curls his back and looks blankly at the floor, crying slowly as the realisation that his family are gone becomes apparent.


    Main character names:
    Doug Newgood



    Shot for shot list
    1. Establishing shot: a shot of sky, slowly drops down to reveal a road with houses both sides, average looking houses and road, 
    2. A shot of a boy on the bike.
    3. Shots following the boy until he passes a house. An average looking house.
    4. A shot of the man, looking down at a spot outside what appears to be his drive.
    5. A shot of the man opening his door. POV
    6. A shot of the other side of the door, man walking in.
    7. Then loads of other shots of the room's in the house.
    8. A shot of the man standing motionless in the hall way.
    9. A shot of bag dropping off his shoulder to the floor.
    10.  POV shot to reveal a picture on the wall.
    11. Shot of the mans face, tear slowly secreting from his eye, all the way down until it hits the floor.
    12. Flashback to the day it all happened, walking up the road to his house, hears sirens, and see's blue and white lights.
    13. shot of the boy running
    14. reaching his house and being greeted by a police officer
    15. over the shoulder shot of police man talking, then POV shot of the boy dropping to the floor
    16. High up shot of the boy on the floor

    Wednesday 23 February 2011

    Ideal actors

    Im looking for a middle aged man, someone who is an average sized build, who looks physically strong but a hint of mentally weak, not a very confident person maybe due to a bad childhood or a bad event that has happened earlier on in his life. I want my actor to have dark hair, short non styled hair to emphasise the lack of confidence.



    Iwan Rheon


    imgres.jpg



    Iwan Rheon is a good example of the type of character I am aiming for, but I am looking for him to be slightly older than Iwan. However it still gives a good example, average build, not really styling his hair, dark hair, and looks short of confidence.

    Main character name =William Weatherhead

    Thursday 17 February 2011

    Synopsis for Idea number 2 (Family)

    A middle aged man, around 30-35, he seems like an ordinary middle aged man. Walks in what appears to be a family home, and when he enters you get shots of all the different rooms it seems like the average every day family home. Many family photos hanging on walls and scattered around the room, refrigerator magnets, children's toys and teddy bears. You get a quick glimpse of  toys in the corner of what appears to be the living room, suggesting there are children present in this home. But there is only one problem with this"ordinary" house, it is covered in dust and spider webs, something you would not expect to see in a ordinary family home, well you would expect to see a little, but defiantly not this much. Then a shot to the man standing in the hall way, motionless, with a bag around his shoulder that slowly falls down his arm and on to the floor making a loud thud. Made louder than usual as the house is so quiet, a POV shot to show what he is looking at reveals what seems to be the only picture that has been taken care off, it consists of five people, looks to be like his family or people that are close to him. A zoomed in shot of his eye that slowly zooms out, to reveal a tear secreting from his eye, the camera follows this tear all the way down the bottom of this face till it drops off and hits the floor. Then a flash back, the man but when he was younger, around 16-18. Walking down the road back to his house, looking down with every step, with hardly any confidence, the camera then looks up suddenly to see what appears to be sirens flashing, blue and white lights, with the well known police sirens mixed with the ambulance sirens echoing into the streets. Quick shots of what appears to be body bags, and police tape, officers in uniform. Quick shots of the boy running to his house, POV shot showing the desperation in his face as he frantically runs to see what is happening. As he finally reaches the drive, he's met with a police officer, he seems to be rather shocked, the boy explains how it is his house, the policeman's face drops, "Im sorry to tell you.. that your family are gone, we found them in the kitchen, I am so sorry" The boy drops to his knees, curls his back and looks blankly at the floor, crying slowly as the realisation that his family are gone becomes apparent.

    Thursday 10 February 2011

    Synopsis of first idea

    In short: A group of best friends, hit by a tragedy, decide to take the trip of a life time they all once dreamed off.

    Steven's film Characters: Billy Nelson, Tom Henderson, Chris Togart, Doug Spencer

    The opening scene: (Camera slowly blurs in) focuses to appear four children, running through a open park.(For about 3 seconds), then to a POV shot of Billy being ahead looking back, the camera then zooms out to appear a play area, the children running to see who can get there first. A wide shot of them running, a few quick shots of the surrounding including the sky, trees, and the open shot of the other side of the park. Then blurs out to see another shot, slightly more quick paced, of the children running through the trees and the rec, different shots through gaps in the trees to show them running. Tom shouting "Why am i so good at man hunt?", Chris shouts " Why am i so fast?",  Billy replies "Comon Doug im hardly running", Doug replies "Give me a chance, i have asthma" (Stops and uses his inhaler) All of these will be different shots, but all in front of character running through the woods, to get the face expressions of all the characters. ( idea one for last shot)Then for the last time another blured out shot, to blur back in to a wide shot of a back garden with a slowlly zoom in focus of the four children round a big tree. Different shots to show them attempting to build what seems to be a tree house of some kind. (Idea Two for last shot) A blured in wide shot of a bike track/skate park, all the boys love to bike, but doug is not so keen and see's it as life endangering, Tom, Chris and Billy all go round fine, but when it gets to Doug, he is very hesitant, they manage to pusuade him to do it, but at the curved bank he goes straight over instead of round, the shot ends at Billy, Chris and tom round Doug laughing. The shot slowly blurs out, to reveal a wide shot of a cemetary, quick shots of surrounding areas of the cemetary, then it stops on the shot of people gathered round for a ceremony. The shot will focus on the three main characters from before, Tom, Chris and Doug. There will be shots showing there facial expressions with a vicars voice over the top "Billy Nelson was not just a good person, he was a good friend, a good husband and a good father, he will never be forgotten, and will always be in our hearts forever" The last shot will be zooming out slowly from the funeral up wards then it will blur out.

    Audience research

    So far i have two ideas, and i am still not sure which one to choose, so i have decided to create a tally to aid with my descion.

    Open Cupboard Productions
    Ole Mother Hubbard


    Film 1
    Emily Melvile
    Nikki Rance
    Patrick Croughan


    Film 2
    Jack Gould
    Ryan Cole
    Sarah Wilson
    Tom Dallas
    Anna Wyatt
    Rebecca Curson
    Jess Baker
    Tom Dart
    Jenna Rich
    Becki Greef

    Feedback of my pitch

    The feedback giving from my pitch was usefull in many ways, it confirmed some unsure parts in my movie but also gave me some help in parts such as my target audience, and from this i feel my target auidence needs to be expanded to people of all ages of the characters at least.

    Tuesday 8 February 2011

    My Genre

    My genre will  be a subdivision to the usual drama genre, it will provide hints of smart comedy with all the same pleasure of drama.

    The genre will be identified in my idea, through consistent themes and concerns.
    also by the setting, props, lighting, music etc.

    Saturday 22 January 2011

    Disney Research

    The Walt Disney Company (NYSEDIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.[5] Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions, Ltd. in 1929, and became publicity-traded as Walt Disney Productions in 1938. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

    Annual gross revenues of The Walt Disney Company (in millions USD)
    YearWalt Disney Studio Entertainment[Rev 1]Disney Consumer Products[Rev 2]Walt Disney
    Parks and Resorts
    Disney Media Networks[Rev 3]Walt Disney Internet Group / Disney Interactive Media Group[Rev 4][Rev 5]Total
    1991[20]2,593.07242,794.06,111
    1992[20]3,1151,0813,3067,502
    1993[20]3,673.41,415.13,440.78,529
    1994[21][22][23]4,7931,798.23,463.635910,414
    1995[21][22][23]6,001.52,1503,959.841412,525
    1996[22][24]10,095[Rev 2]4,5024,142[Rev 6]18,739
    1997[25]6,9813,7825,0146,52217422,473
    1998[25]6,8493,1935,5327,14226022,976
    1999[25]6,5483,0306,1067,51220623,402
    2000[26]5,9942,6026,8039,61536825,402
    2001[27]7,0042,5906,0099,56925,790
    2002[27]6,4652,4406,6919,73325,360
    2003[28]7,3642,3446,41210,94127,061
    2004[28]8,7132,5117,75011,77830,752
    2005[29]7,5872,1279,02313,20731,944
    2006[29]7,5292,1939,92514,36834,285
    2007[30]7,4912,34710,62615,04635,510
    2008[31]7,3482,41511,50415,85771937,843
    2009[32]6,1362,42510,66716,20971236,149

    Full acquisitions









    Thursday 20 January 2011

    My Idea

    Plot: Basically my plot is a group of close friends having a good time when they were younger, living over half of their childhood together.(old style video effects, grainy, maybe black and white, to show how old the footage is) They are a inseparable group of friends who only do things together and have crazy dreams about traveling the world together. But after they end school they are split up into different parts of the country doing different jobs and living completely different lives. But they are brought back together by a funeral of one of their friends, and after this they soon realise that the friend that passed away, tired to organize that trip 3 years ago but they were all busy for different reasons, so they all decide in his memory to take this trip.


    Actors: A group of boys, age ranging from 5-10, depending on how many of the same or relatively near to the age i can get.
    Four similar looking actors, aged 20-30.
    Maybe four Pregnant ladies to show that they were friends before.
    Possibly one over 60, to show the last remaining friend.


    Music idea for the opening
    Oh lala- The Faces
    Biffy Clyro- Many of Horror
    The Beatles- With a little help from my friends
    Marvin Gaye- Aint no mountain high enough

    Locations: Wymondham Abbey/ cemetery, Local parks such as Rothbury, Queens Head, The Rec etc, Morley hall.

    Open Cupboard Productions

    Opening of short film

    A young man is jogging through a sunny, tree-filled park, families are walking dogs and an ice cream van serves customers in what seems to be a normal fashion. A stereotypical park scene.. until 15:01, 15:01 is when it all changed.. (slowlly zooming out, then fast cut away to the top hand right in the sky) an object is rapidly falling from the atmosphere, people start to notice and panic breaks out, parents running to the play area,

    Tuesday 18 January 2011

    Target auidence and Target actors

    Target Auidence
    -Both Genders
    -15-24
    -Fans of comedy and good feel movies

    Target Actors
    Young Boys or Girls aged 10-14 to start off with, but then i will need older around 20-30 aged people to act as them when they are grown up at the funeral.
    I want 3 or 4 people, one ginger, Ginger and preferably skinny. The rest, one bigger, "leader of the group" the rest brown or blond hair.

    Initial Ideas for two minute opening of movie..

    So when i first started to tackle this, i started to watch all the movie intro's i had in the house, and so far one's that seem possible considering lack of funding location and limited resources, i am strongly considering doing a feel good comedy. But i want to introduce it differently than normal comedies, im thinking having 3/4/5 boys or girls in there young age, around 10-14 (not totally sure yet) and have them playing around in different locations, such as a park, back gardening making a tree house, playing games all these sorts of things. Basically to show how a good and strong friendship these characters have, i may also narrate over the top introducing the key characters. For a song i would like some gentle guitar playing, kind of folk music, maybe Ooh La La- The Faces, but maybe adapted in different ways, so a longer intro on the guitar. Then to have a wide shot of a cemetery, and slowly move round to a group huddled round a grave, it slowly zooms in, then shoots straight to a picture of one of the children when he/she was younger, but also all loads of other pictures of him/her and the stuff he/she had done/ achieved since the earlier video. And then i want it to cut out slowly zooming away.

    Second idea: A middle aged man, around 30-35, he seems like an ordinary middle aged man. Walks in what appears to be a family home, and even when he enters and you get shots of all the different rooms it seems like the average every day family home. Many family photos hanging on walls and scattered around the room, even refrigerator magnets. You get a quick glimpse of  toys in the corner of what appears to be the living room, suggesting there are children present in this home. But there is only one problem with this"ordinary" house, it is covered in dust and spider webs, something you would not expect to see in a ordinary family home, well you would expect to see a little, but defiantly not this much. Then a shot to the man standing in the hall way, motionless, with a bag around his shoulder that slowly falls down his arm and on to the floor making a loud thud. Made louder than usual as the house is so quiet, a POV shot to show what he is looking at reveals an old dusty picture of five people, looks to be like his family or people that are close to him. A zoomed in shot of his eye that slowly zooms out, to reveal a tear secreting from his eye, the camera follows this tear all the way down the bottom of this face till it drops off and hits the floor. Then a flash back, the man but when he was younger, around 18/19. Walking down the road back to his house, looking down with every step, not with much confidence, the camera then looks up suddenly to see what appears to be police outside his house, about 4 police cars and an ambulance. He then runs to the police line surrounding his house, the police stops him but he frantically explains he lives there, then a quick shot to his front door, with five body bags.. the boy then drops to the floor on his knees,and puts his face in his hands. End with a still shot of the man back in the hallway. 


    Thursday 13 January 2011

    Media Ideas and Inspiration

    Inspired not to do a typical 16-18 year old media studies film including over use of drugs, swearing, teens and violence. We will take this into consideration when making our own openings, and learn from others mistakes. Just to make it original but different, it seems the most popular genre is crime/thriller and horror. So i will try to use more suitable genres such as drama/ comedy/ romantic comedy etc.

    I have just watched many intros done by other students and put on youtube, i have also watched most of the intros of the movies i have on DVD, and currently i really like the idea of Without a paddle's intro.
    The way it show's four children in the past having fun and building a tree house, just a good feel intro, and that is what i want to achieve in my work.

    Tuesday 11 January 2011

    Time warners take over of British publisher IPC media has given the N.M.E brand a new lease of life.

    Time warners take over of British publisher IPC media has given the N.M.E brand a new lease of life.

    The influence, guidance and experience of Time Warner have been used to assist IPC after the recent take over. One of the brands that have prospered from this take over is NME; it has prospered in many ways, finically, status and new technologies to expand out. Status as it is now over in America and N.M.E.com is huge toping to the third most popular music news site in America, and it’s only been in America for 10 years. It has even adapted its site to the culture of music and traditional West and East coast music, this is to suite the American audience as they still feel very strong on the whole west/east coast competitiveness that has been present for quite some time. Back in Britain N.M.E is even bigger; there radio station has now doubled in audience shares. There is now 1.3 million listening hours overall, they even have a sky channel for this radio station. And they N.M.E were the first magazine to have an app for the iphone. This showing how they have benefited with new technologies time Warner have introduced to them. And also more benefits of how they have been introduced abroad and been very successful reaching Americas number 3 website for music news.
    The take over has also given N.M.E a lot of publicity and talked about even more than it already is, Time Warner post many articles about N.M.E, for example it posted the  announcement of the new website design for NME and the fact that there is a new publisher running the operation called Krissi Murison. Krissi has announced that she wants a new feel to the website with improvements like a new front section, a complete overhaul of Radar (NME vital new music section) and an incredible celebration of its history page. All of this advertised in Britain and America thanks to the take over by Time Warner.
    There is an obvious finical benefit from all of this, more advertisement abroad, more income from the top number 3 website in America for music news. And because it is now part of such a huge oligopoly the money it can borrow or use is nearly limitless. As long as it carries on making profits and being such a hit, Time Warner will invest heavily in it. This whole synergy provides all these benefits for IPC’s NME. If it was without all its links it would not necessarily struggle, but it would not be as big as it is now without the help of Time Warners experience, advance in technology and huge income to help what it has become.

    Monday 10 January 2011

    Preliminary

    Following sylvester opening a door and closing it, then he takes a seat opposite Frederick.
    F: 'your late'
    S: 'Sorry'
    F: 'well did you bring it?'
    (Pause for dramatic effect, slowly whips out a board game)
    S: 'Do i ever let you down?'

    Thursday 6 January 2011

    Idea for a two minute opening of a film

    So far just watching many film openings to get inspiration, films such as
    1. Stranger than fiction?
    2. Without a Paddle?
    3. Ferris Bueller's day off?
    4. Stand by me?
    5. Forrest Gump?
    6. Up?

    I like the idea of narrating over the top of the shots, good way of setting the movie and introducing characters and a hint in the main story.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI&playnext=1&list=PL9A86B6322B160137&index=17