Homework: My completed trailer storyboard

Homework: Selected scenes for my film's trailer

• Bomb counting down.
• Logan talking to heros
• Shia Lebeouf fighting scene.
• Tom Cruise fighting scene.
• Will Smith fighting scene.
• Car explosion.

Homework: How Effective is the Transformers Film Trailer?

I think that the target audience for the Transformers trailer is males aged 12-30. This includes the 'Male 16-24 action audience'. The trailer is very action-oriented in the form of chases and explosions which means that it targets this audience as they are generally the audience interested in this type of film. 
The personal identity need is fufilled through the relationship between the aspirational Hero and Princess figures, Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox. The diversion need is fulfilled as during the film, the audience can escape into the world of the film and forget about what is happening at the present time in their lives.

Homework: Storyboard for my film's opening sequence

Homework: Shot list for my film's opening sequence

Shot List

1. Universal Logo. Fade to black.
2. Underworld Productions logo. Fade to black.
3. Shia LeBeouf holding a gun pointing at the top left of the screen. Still image with his name on the bottom left.
4. Tom Cruise pulling his fist back as if he is about to punch someone. Still image with his name on the bottom right.
5. Will Smith holding a sniper pointing towards the bottom left. Still image with his name on the top left.
6. Christian Bale pointing a gun towards the viewer. Still image with his name on the top right.
7. Christian Bale shoots the gun and the bullet consumes the screen, blacking it out.
8. Names of the directors, producers and all other credits shown on the screen on a bomb.
9. Countdown appears on the bomb screen and flashes. The bomb detonates filling the screen white.
10. Fade in. Mid shot of a man pointing a gun at another man.
11. Over the shoulder shot of man pointing gun at another man with his hands held up.
12. Mid shot of a man pointing a gun at another man with his hands held up.
13. Zoom out to show that it is on a film set with the crew (boom, camera etc) in the background.
14. Mid close up of Logan shouting 'Cut'
15. Long shot of team looking towards Logan.
16. Mid shot of Logan speaking to the team.
17. Long shot of crew packing away equipment.
18. Mid shot of crew walking towards van.
19. Mid shot to crew packing equipment into van.
20. Close up of one member of the crew passing equipment to another.

Homework: Film Marketing Research Task

I have chosen to research the marketing behind 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'

Marketing strategies used

Posters
Trailers
TV Spots
Website
Word of mouth
Viral marketing (Wanted poster, games)

The different media platforms used


Print
Internet
Television
Moving image
Merchandise


Other products

The film is obviously based off the books so the books may receive a boost in sales towards the time of the film release. The book 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' is heavily featured in the film so this book in particular may receive a big boost in sales.
Merchandise from the film was also released, such as wands and action figures.
These items are mainly aimed at children but also people who like to collect these items. For example, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' also had a collector's edition released, priced at significantly more.


Audience interaction

There were many chances for audience interaction throughout the marketing campaign. The website in particular has many opportunities for the audience to get involved. The game can be shared via social networking sites and the posters created by the wanted poster creater can be sent to friends. These all create viral marketing which is the cheapest and most effective method in promoting the film.

Overall effectiveness of the marketing campaign


Overall, I think that the marketing campaign is very good. It is very noticeable because of the dark and mysterious feel and offers great audience interation and viral marketing through the games and create-your-own wanted poster. Harry Potter is already very well known so does not need as much marketing as it is already hyped up but to maintain the high quality and hype that is needed, marketing is still well thought out and very effective.

Homework: Moodboard to represent men and women in A-A films.

 

Men and woman are portrayed as binary opposites in action-adventure films. Men are usually the main hero and are represented as strong, heroic, masculine, couragous, charismatic and brave. Woman on the other hand, are usually the princesses of the films and are usually represented as sexualised femine characters. When being the princess, they are in need to help and are portrayed to be quite weak. However, women sometimes also play the hero role and during this, they are possess the qualities that the male hero would traditionally have.

Homework: Edited Film Pitch

BLK Feedback


Positives: Strong plot movivation
Iconography
Marketing idea
Well prepared
Overall, great idea


Negatives: Title of the film
Visual references
Actors
Setting
Develop USP


All changes to the orginal film pitch are made in red. All the images are new and were not in the original pitch.

Film Title: Countdown

Narrative

Equilibrium


Logan is a director on the set of a new film. The film is progressing well and he hopes to have it finished soon.


Distruption


He finds that crew are disappearing, one at a time. He also received a note that there has been a bomb placed in the area and is set to go off in 2 hours. The film is set in real time and the bomb ticks down in real time. There will be a timer ticking down on the top right hand corner of the screen so the audience know how much time is left. The will help build up suspense as the audience are constantly worried by this timer. He hires a team of three people to track down what is responsible for this. They eventually stumble upon the person who is responsible and chase after him in a high speed chase scene. They fire shots at him but miss, he fires back and take out two people.

Restoration


The team catch up after the villain walks into a dead end and find out that is Steve, a person who was recently involved with the film project but was fired and is out to get revenge. This person and bomb are stopped with minutes to spare and the filming safely continues. 

Iconography

Many props often seen in action adventure films will be visible in the film. For example, guns are usually associated with this genre of films and they will be used often in my film. The bomb will have a countdown, building up suspense and desperation and making it obvious it is an action adventure film.

Characters

The team of 3 people - Heros, save the film and crew by stopping the villain.

They are the ages of 25, 35 and 40 and are played by Shia LeBeouf, Tom Cruise and Will Smith as these three actors are all well known for playing heros in action-adventure films.

Logan and the film crew - Princess, need to be saved. Logan is a 30 year old man who is working on a new film when the villain attacks. He can be played by someone relatively unknown as he only features in a small part of the film.

Steve - Villain, plans to kill the crew and ruin the film. 35 year old man out to get revenge for being sacked from his job of working on the film. He is played by Christian Bale as he is quite well known for playing villains.

Setting

Will be mainly set in a city, such as New York. Because New York is highly populated, the heros will find it hard to locate the villain and there will be a lot of moving around and chase scenes involved. New York is a busy and fast paced city which connotes action and makes it ideal for my film.

Marketing


Posters and trailers will portray this film as a very action based film, with a bit of mystery. The poster will have a man pointing a gun upwards while a bomb behind him ticks down. The trailer will give an introduction into the film, explaining about the bomb and the following shots will be of the team trying frantically to locate the villain in time.
Viral marketing will be achieved through an online game in which a player can try and locate the bomb before it detonates.


Main Audience: Males, 16 - 27 years old.

I think that my film will appeal to this age group because it contains the action that tends to appeal to this younger audience. Also, it will appeal to males more than females because males are generally more interested in action than females. Of course, there will be females and people outside the age group going to see the film, but this is the general audience that the film is geared towards.

USP: An action-adventure film about a group of 5 people who must locate a bomb before it detonates.

Narrative Techniques 


Closed Narrative - This is used because the film has a definite ending, the villain is captured and the bomb is stopped.


Red Herring - This could be used in the film. The group may receive a tip off as to where the bomb is but this could turn out to be a fake from the villain and would only waste their time. It would occur in the distruption section of the film.


Circular Narrative - The story goes in a circle and in both the beginning and the end, Logan is filming his film.

BLK feedback

Good homeworks so far John. Your two analysis posts are very good. Don't forget to make your changes to your film pitch, as identified on your feedback sheet.

Try to be as imaginative/visual as possible in the presentation of your posts - it is important to develop this as much as you can before the exam.

Homework: My Target Audience Profile

Main Audience: Males, 16 - 27 years old.

I think that my film will appeal to this age group because it contains the action that tends to appeal to this younger audience. Also, it will appeal to males more than females because males are generally more interested in action than females. Of course, there will be females and people outside the age group going to see the film, but this is the general audience that the film is geared towards.

USP: An action-adventure film about a group of 5 people who must locate a bomb before it detonates.

Homework: My Film pitch

Narrative

Equilibrium


Logan is a director on the set of a new film. The film is progressing well and he hopes to have it finished soon.


Distruption


He finds that crew are disappearing, one at a time. He also received a note that there has been a bomb placed in the area and is set to go off in 4 hours. He hires a team of five people to track down what is responsible for this. They eventually stumble upon the person who is responsible and chase after him in a high speed chase scene. They fire shots at him but miss, he fires back and take out two people.

Restoration


The team catch up after the villain walks into a dead end and find out that is Steve, a person who was recently involved with the film project but was fired and is out to get revenge. This person and bomb are stopped with minutes to spare and the filming safely continues. 

Iconography

Many props often seen in action adventure films will be visible in the film. For example, guns are usually associated with this genre of films and they will be used often in my film. The bomb will have a countdown, building up suspense and desperation and making it obvious it is an action adventure film.

Characters

The team of 5 people - Hero, save the film and crew by stopping the villain.
Logan and the film crew - Princess, need to be saved.
Steve - Villain, plans to kill the crew and ruin the film.

Setting

Will be mainly set in a city, such as London. Because London is highly populated, the heros will find it hard to locate the villain and there will be a lot of moving around and chase scenes involved, connoting action.Marketing


Posters and trailers will portray this film as a very action based film, with a bit of mystery. The poster will have a man pointing a gun upwards while a bomb behind him ticks down. The trailer will give an introduction into the film, explaining about the bomb and the following shots will be of the team trying frantically to locate the villain in time.
Viral marketing will be achieved through an online game in which a player can try and locate the bomb before it detonates

Changes to be made

1. The film will be set in real time.
2. Setting will be more detailed.
3. Actors will be chosen and characters will have more details.
4. There will be more visual references included.

Homework: Action-Adventure Clip Genre Analysis

Narrative

Equilibrium

Sam Witwicky is just starting college. He has a girlfriend called Mikaela Banes and owns an Autobot car named Bumblebee, both of whom he leaves behind when he goes to college. He begins college and everything seems normal.

Disruption

Sam is attacked by his roomate who turns out to be a Decepticon (bad robots) in diguise. The Autobots (good robots) rescue him and they are reunited. The Decepticons are instructed by their leader to find the Matrix of Leadership which grants the holder massive power. The Autobots try to stop them and engage in a battle in which Optimus Prime (the leader of the Autobots) is killed. With Optimus Prime dead, the Decepticons launch a full scale attack on Earth.

Resolution

Sam and the Autobots follow clues which lead them to the Matrix. He uses the Matrix to revive Optimus Prime and together, they defeat the Decepticons.

Iconography

The mise-en-scene is generally bright in scenes with the Autobots and darker in scenes with the Decepicons. This is also portrayed in the robots themselves. The Autobots are brightly coloured, using colours such as blue, red and yellow, while the Decepticons are darker, using colours such as black, grey and brown. The characters themselves also use these colours. The film also fools the audience by showing Sam's Decepticon roomate in bright colours, tricking them into thinking that she is good.

Characters

Sam Witwicky - hero. Saves Optimus Primes by obtaining the Matrix even while under attack from the Decepticons. He plans and coordinates attacks eventually bringing the end to the Decepticons.


Mikaela Banes - helper/princess. Helps Sam by offering support and guidance. She also saves Sam in a number of situations and risks her life for him. Could also be considered as princess as she is the person which Sam loves.


Optimus Prime - false hero/princess. He is first believed to be the hero by showing extreme courage and nobility but is killed during battle disproving that he is the hero. Could also be considered as princess as he is the one that needs rescuing.


Bumblebee - donor/helper. Helps Sam to aquire the Matrix and also donates himself to Sam to be used as a mode of transport.


The Fallen - villain. Leader of the Decepticons. Gives the order to destroy the Autobots and Sam.


Megatron - villain. Secondary leader of the Decepticons. Plots to detroy the Autobots and Sam.

Homework: Genre & Narrative Analysis

I have chosen to analyse Bruce Almighty for my homework.

Genre

The genre of Bruce Almighty is comedy as shown through clips such as the dog sitting on the toilet and Bruce miming 'I've got the power'. It is also suggested through the film being completely unrealistic - a ordinary man gaining God's powers.
The film could also be considered of the fantasy genre. The fantasy genre generally contains supernatural or magical films and as this film is all about a man gaining supernatural powers, it could also be fantasy.


Narrative
The film follows a conventional 3-part structure: equilibrium, disruption and restoration.

Equilibrium
 
Bruce is an ordinary human who has a girlfriend. He is a television news reporter. He feels rather bored in his life and feels unappreciated for what he does. 


Disruption

Bruce does not get the promotion which he has been working for and complains how unfair God is. God then contacts Bruce and gives him his powers to see if he can do a better job than he is doing. Bruce starts to hear voices in his head and he is told by God that these are prayers and will continue if not answered. He sets up a ‘prayer email account’ and answers ‘yes to all’, thinking that this would make everyone happy. However, there is an outburst because of this. Thousands of people win the lottery, each receiving only $17 each. Bruce is also caught by his girlfriend kissing another woman so his girlfriend leaves him.



Restoration






Bruce feels very depressed and walks onto a highway, asking God to take back his powers. He is hit by a truck and ends up with God. He assumes he is dead and asks God to find his girlfriend a man who she will be happy with. God agrees and revives Bruce, putting him back with his girlfriend. Bruce and his girlfriend become engaged and the film ends.

Characters


Bruce - false hero. The audience think that he is the hero because the main focus is on him, but it turns out that he is not.
God - hero/donor/helper. He saves Bruce and gets Bruce and his girlfriend's relationship back on track. He also give Bruce his powers and guides him along the way.
Bruce's Girlfriend - the princess. The person that Bruce ends up getting engaged to.
Evan Baxter - villain. The person who gets the promotion instead of Bruce, making him complain to God.