Unit 26 Assignment 3 Notes

1)Pick a film with a fan following

2)Get as much info on fan made vids, merch, interviews with stars, official websites for the film, reviews, fan made websites about the film, sales figures on how well the film did, posters, trailers, competitions, tie-ins with other products i.e. soundtracks with bands; cars; clothing

Film examples:

Lord of the Rings, Star wars, The Hunger games, Twilight, Star Trek, Batman, Ironman, Spiderman, The Mortal Instruments

Psychographics

Psychographics are the labels we give to members of an audience. A target audience for a film can have more than one of the psychographics headings. My job is to prove how the marketing attracts these headings.(Must use the terminology)

In my assignment: 

-tell who the target audience is by genre, rating, gender

What psychographic am i?

-Mainstreamer-Likes structure. Likes to know what they're going in to see. Like big brands/generic.

-Aspirer-Likes materialistic things. Want to purchase the merchandise for films, and want people to know they have it.

Unit 26 assignment 3 marketing notes

Image Manipulation

•Producers will manipulate an image to make the subject look better

They will get rid of anything bad about  the subject I.e. spots, scars etc. This draws in aspirers as they want to be like the character in the picture

Text, Font, Size and Colour

The size and style of a font could connotate certain things for the audience.

Props and Settings

A prop is anything that the actor/model pickup or uses and can provide clues about what genre this product is

Iconography

An iconographic feature is a prop/setting which you immediately link to a specific genre I.e. Gun-action, blood-horror.

tech workshops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6Uw6X6kt6k&feature=youtu.be

Unit 26 Assignment 3 Film Trailer notes

The Mortal Instruments

• Voice over is quite creepy but interesting
• Props used are a little scary, might appeal to the male/gothic audience
• Special effects are clever and exiting
• The use of attractive actresses draws in the male audience
• A lot of club/dance scenes which will appeal to teenagers
• The music used is 'triumphant' and brings emotions to the audience, making them interested and wanting to watch it
• A lot of Action/fight scenes using weapons will attract the male audience
• use of review quotes to pull people in by telling them how good it is
• Fast moving montage of different scenes from the film with fast paced music makes the audience interested and exited about the film

White House Down

• A lot of action scenes that will appeal to the male audience
• Use of attractive actors will appeal to the female audience
• Explosions
• Guns
• Heavy artillery(tanks, choppers)
• SFX are very exiting 
• Music is fast pacing 
• Slight use of comedy throughout, keeping the audience interested(and who doesn't love a bit of comedy?)
• Scenes of panic and riot 
• The scale of the problem, taking over the white house and capturing the President
• Very 'in your face' action

Unit 26 Assignment 2 MPAA article

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_s_LVkV33WTN0JkUnFQWUo5dGs/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 26 Assignment 1 Auteur presentation follow-up

Sound

The use of the soundtrack 'lovely day', when Franco is clearly in a struggle, actually has quite a comedic edge to it. The contrast of the song to the situation is so great, it makes the audience feel more relaxed when watching because of how upbeat and happy it is. It also makes the scene seem less stressful which makes it easier to watch.In Trance, the use of the sneaky, energetic soundtracks make the audience feel on edge, and it creates tension as the audience will now be expecting i.e. an action sequence. These soundtracks will also get the audience exited and they will stay interested in the film.

Why Boyle is an Auteur

Boyle is definitely an auteur. Quite an obvious way of defining him as one is by looking at his use of music. His films tend to link up with the beat and pace of the music he uses, and then hits a sort of 'wall' mid way or towards the end of his films, i.e. in 127 hours, the music all builds up to the amputation scene, in trainspotting, the music used is very fast pacing until it hits that 'wall' when the baby dies. Boyle is a great example of an auteur because of his originality in his films, and because of the fact that he isn't afraid to try something different.

Unit 26 Assignment 2 MPAA Notes

Negatives of MPAA

-Can't speak to them about any problems you have

-They can't always come up with a reason for their rating

-Rated by average parents, and not a professional critic

-Ironic that the rating system is trying to protect children, by acting childish about why they rate certain films

-Studios wont release their films if the ratings are too high

-Positives get from MPAA quotes

Kimberly Pierce
'Boys Don't Cry'
NC-17
"The studio wont release it"

Matt Stone
'Orgazmo'
"Didn't receive any notes"
'South Park'-(Paramount)
"Cut this, this...treatment was a completely different experience"

Kevin Smith
Director
"If you choose not to except the rating, you cant market it"

Ex MPAA Raters
-Jay Landers
"Each member of the MPAA must sign a confidentiality agreement"
"They leave the writing 'fuzzy' so that they can sue an ex-employee"

-By censoring you they are taking away their ability of having a choice.

The MPAA have an ideology. They don't like things that make them uncomfortable, and they don't want anyone else to see it.

-A lot more temperamental about films with sexual content rather than violence

Jamie Babbit

'But I'm a Cheerleader'

If she wanted an R rating, she had to cut out the sex scene between two girls, the MPAA are quite homophobic

Joan Graves

Only rater known to the public

Joanne Yatabe

Her children are between 20-23

The MPAA say the eaters children are between the age of 5-17.

The MPAA are liars

A film was still cut because they said they "don't object to a 'better R' "

The system is corrupt and bias as they came to a decision on a rating, an the film was still cut.

No homosexuals are on the rating board

The board wanted to change America phsyco to an NC-17 because they didn't like the tone of the film.

MPAA is different to BBFC, because the BBFC are more open about sex than violence.

The Matrix is blamed for the 'name of the massacre' massacre, people said that they did it because of what they herd from one of the characters.

Jack Valenti said he wants ordinary people on his rating board, none who have children with behavioural issues.

MPAA are bowed to pressure rather that making ratings that are suitable for certain ages to watch.

They don't know about their own statistics

Some film makers feel that the MPAA hold a grudge

You can appeal your rating but you cannot use another film to defend yourself

They don't like to be challenged about their ratings

The raters were quite old and their children weren't in the 5-17 age range, one of the raters had no children?

They know people with power and they can get away with things. 

The appeals board have most of the major cinema chains that will show your films.

They have priests on the appeals board.

Unit 26

1)What is MPAA?
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), together with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and MPAA's other subsidiaries and affiliates, serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries in the United States and around the world. 

2)What are the six studios that are members of the MPAA?

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

3)What is the American Film ratings?

It helps parents to determine what films are suitable for their children to watch.

4)What does each rating mean?

• G-General Audience-This rating means the motion picture is safe for all ages to watch as it doesn't include any inappropriate screenplay i.e. bad language, nudity, drug use.

• PG-Parental Guidance Suggested-This means that the film may include some explicit material that may not be suitable for younger children. This rating tells the parents that the film should be inspected before the children can watch it. There might be slight snippets of violence and brief nudity, but nothing too harsh. There is no drug use.

• PG 13-Material Strongly Cautioned-The material in a PG 13 film might only be suitable for a child above the age of 13 to watch. With this rating it tells us that there could be use of drugs, harsh language and nudity. If there is any nudity, it generally isn't sexually orientated. There may be violence in a PG 13 rating, but nothing realistic, extreme, or persistent.-Children under the age of 17 require 

• R-Restricted-Children under 17 are advised to have parental consent-This rating will include some adult material. This would include adult themes/activity, hard language, persistent violence, drug abuse and sexually orientated nudity, parents should take this rating very seriously. Parents are strongly advised to check the content of an R rated film to determine the suitability of the film for their children.

Toy Story 3-G-This is an appropriate rating for this film as the content is acceptable for all ages to watch. It is made for the entertainment of young children, so it doesn't include any inappropriate screenplay i.e. Nudity, drug use, bad language.

Adventures of Shark boy and Lava girl-PG-This film has been rated as a PG because it depicts mild action and some rude humour. This is a sensible rating to give this motion picture as small children shouldn't be introduced to any sort of action or violence at such a young age, and they probably won't understand or enjoy it anyway.

The A-Team-PG 13-There is a lot of intense action and violence in this film which is why it has been given a PG-13 rating. It has some drug usage (tobacco) throughout this film, and although this is a legal drug, it is unsuitable for any young children to see this as they might persevere it as a good thing, as the good guy is doing it. Children 13 or over are a lot less likely to think like this, which is why this is a suitable rating.

About Fifty-R- This is the lowest rating I'd expect to see on a film like this due to the use of bad language, drug use and sexual content. This film shouldn't be viewed by any child under the age of 17 because this sort of content is seen as too harsh and inappropriate for that age group.

Decent-NC 17-This film has been given this rating because it includes a brutal rape which is completely unacceptable material for anyone aged 17 or under to watch. This rating is showing that the content of this film is only suitable for adult viewers which I think is a good decision.

Why do they rate films?

-Movie ratings provide parents with advance information about the content of movies to help them 

determine what movies are appropriate for their children at any age.

Unit 26 Assignment 1 Danny Boyle Auteur Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/alexcollege/danny-boyle

Log and Transfer Window

-Open FCP
-Click on file
-Click on 'log and transfer'
-Click on the Final Cut Pro menu and go to system settings. click on set and save somewhere except the scratch drive

Uploading from Final Cut Pro to Youtube

-Right click on the sequence you wish to upload
-Choose share
-Choose youtube settings
-Select closed destination folder
-Enter your youtube login details
-Click on export

Slate: Used to sync audio and video

Unit 26 Assignment 1 127 hours script

127 hours

Isolation scene

In 127 hours, Boyle tends to move in and out of focus, and uses lots of shaky hand held camera shots to make the audience feel like they're there in this situation with Franco, it also keeps us interested. (Show clip from 127 hours)There are lots of high angle shots used in this scene to show how isolated and unimportant Franco is compared to the vast, barron canyons he is trapped in. at the end of this scene, we have an aerial tracking shot, starting above Franco to show the confined space that hes trapped in, and then rises up into a wide shot of the setting to show the vastness of the canyons and prove how alone and isolated he is. the colour wash used in this scene, and also used in the majority of the film, is a little grainy but uses warm, red/orangy colours to bring out the setting even more.

Trance

In this film, Boyle uses some of the same techniques he uses in 127 hours. In the fight scenes, the camera is hand held and is also very shaky, and he also uses a lot of high/low angles to strongly express the status of the different characters. I notice that he uses a main colour wash throughout this film, he uses a bluey/grey colour wash when  the actors are fighting, or in a torture scene. Also, he uses hard light on the male characters, Vincent Cassel and James McAvoy, and he uses this to cast a strong shadow on half of their faces which makes you untrusting of both of these characters and unable to decide who to follow as the 'good guy', which keeps the audience interested. In contrast to him using hard light on the male characters, he uses quite a soft light on the female character Rosario Dawson. He does this to make you think that she is harmless, when actually she is just as mysterious and dangerous  and she seems as if she's hiding something as much as the other two male characters.

Colour wash

The colour wash used in 127 hours is a little grainy but uses warm, orange colours to bring out the setting and help the audience understand the heat and how uncomfortable the situation is. I notice that he uses a main colour wash throughout Trance too. He uses a blue colour wash when we see the main characters because we can't trust any of them, as none of them seem to have an alibi to go with.

He always has our female character in very clean, white colour washes, which makes us persive her as a good person and innocent, when actually she is just as unreliable and untrust worthy as the two male characters. This is a very clever use of cinematography and he uses this contrast to catch the audience out, and twist their views on her keeping them interested and on edge. Sound

The sound used in these two films are very contrasting. In 127 hours, Boyle uses a contrapuntal soundtrack when Franco is trapped in the cavern. He shows Franco struggling to try and free his arm, and he shows his disparity for a drink and his struggle to try and stay focused, meanwhile the song 'lovely day' is playing in the background. Underneath this song, we can hear the ambient sound of Franco struggling to free himself from the cavern. The soundtracks used in trance are very fast, energetic and sneaky, due to the film being about a heist. You can hear lots of diagetic ambient sound when watching this film I.e. When we are in the gallery and we can hear the crowd of people talking and applauding(show 0:20 to 0:40 of trance clip). This helps us to understand the atmosphere and feel as if we're involved in the film.

Cast away

Cast away is a perfect film to compare to 127 hours. They're both survival films and show a male character completely isolated from any sort of society. In both of these films, the camera angles we see are high angle shots of the characters, showing their inferiority compared to the vastness of where they're trapped. The colour washes used in these films are quite different. In 127 hours, the colour wash is very warm and grainy, and at times it's a little bleached, where as in cast away, the colour wash makes the individual colours stand out which makes it look like a really nice place, when in actual fact it is a very dangerous place to be alone. Both of these films also show how the characters start to loose their minds when isolated alone for a long period of time. 127 hours shows this by using hallucinations of water, and in cast away, they show how lonely Hanks is when he befriends a volleyball.