Production Diary

This shows the days we tried to film. We weren't always able to follow this however due to external limitations out of our control. We did however work around them to get it done for the deadline. For example we failed to film on the 21st of March however we were able to film on the 28th which is of course evident from the diary. 

Target Audience

(I created this diagram on pages, showing how audience, semiotics and representation are connected.)

Why do people watch films?

1) Entertainment

2) Interests/relate to characters for example

3) Escapism (escape reality)

4) Inspiration

5) Increase knowledge and understanding on an area you know little about

6) To relax or as a pass time activity

Uses and Gratifications (In order of importance - my opinion)

1) Entertainment: Sometimes we simply use media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill in time.

2) Personal identity: We may watch the television in order to look for models for our behaviour. So for example, we may identify with characters or they may help us to decide how we feel about ourselves and if we agree with their actions. If they succeed we feel better about ourselves.

3) Integration and social interaction: we use media in order to find out more about the circumstances of other people. Watching a show helps us to empathise and sympathise with the lives of others.

4) Information: We want to find out about society and the world - we want to satisfy curiosity.

I did some research on BFI and found some facts and statistics on films within our particular genre.

Firstly, in 2014, 15-24 year olds made up the largest proportion of the UK cinema audience, at 31%. Along with this, according to BFI, a wide range of genres appealed to women, whereas men were drawn to films with a strong action element. And finally, the top watched film by males in 2014 was fury (action film).

In terms of deciding our target audience, taking into account the fact and statistics, the target audience will be 15-24 male, with a secondary audience of females. The reason for this is males in this age range are the largest proportion of people who view this genre of film, and it will make it easier for us to relax to this audience as we as individuals in the group fit into this bracket of people.

My Contribution

Role allocation In the Production of the Brief and my input

Director-

Robbie - Deputy director.
Alex - Director.
Tom - N/A.
William - N/A.

Cinematography-

Robbie - Co cinematographer for the chase scene and main cinematographer for the gym scene.
Alex - Main cinematographer for the chase scene and co cinematographer for the gym scene.
Tom - N/A.
William - N/A.

Editor-
Robbie - Co editor for the 'Gym Scene'.
Alex - Main editor for whole production + input into the 'Gym scene'.
Tom - Co editor for the 'Gym Scene'.
William - N/A.

Music- 

Me - N/A.
Alex - Found music from other sources.
Tom - Found music from other sources.
William - Attempted to make music from scratch however we did not use it because of the suitability to the scene.

Actor-

Robbie - N/A.
Alex - N/A.
Tom - Protagonist.
William - Antagonist.

Pre Production work-

Robbie - Location scouting.
Alex - Shot list.
Tom - Story board, call sheet, team manager.
William- Screen Play.

My Personal Contribution altogether:

• Actor.
• Co-divised.
• On occasion, during shoots, I would communicate on behalf of the actors with the camera men to help direct the shot.
• Story Board.
• Coordinator/ Team manager.
• Ident (Shot Type Studios).
• Co-edited (Gym Scene).

In our production, I worked on numerous areas of the project. To begin with, Will Laing and I both pitched our idea, which was accepted by our group, made up of myself, Robbie Watson, Will Laing and Alex Hey. My Pitch can be seen here: Pitch Analysis, Pitch Video. As a result of this, I co-divised our production.

I then wrote the story board. We had various preparation tasks, and allocated them among us, I allocated the various roles, to add structure and organisation to our production, and gave myself the story board, you can see my story board here: Story Board.

Along with this I acted as the protagonist. This is because the part to played was an active role, and I personally have a big interest in fitness and exercise and sport in general. I was nominated by the rest of my group to play the part and was happy to do it.

On set, when shooting I helped to direct what was going on, helping to organise the shoot and communicate between the camera men, to add structure to the shoots.

Conventions and the History of Action Films

There are many types of successful action films, including

-Robin Hood

-Star Wars

-The Three Musketeers

-District 13

-James Bond... Casino Royal

Common Conventions:

Most action films adopt a fast pace and continuous high energy to maintain the speed and flow of the film. Stunts and activity is used to emphasise the genre of film. They include chase scenes, rescues, battles etc... they use these to increase the adrenaline of the audience so they are 100% focused on the film, and stunt scenes for example come to full effect. When the two main characters meet (antagonist and protagonist) fights and martial arts for example are used, at this point, tense music is used with sharp editing to get the audience to feel the speed and pace of the fight, and keep them engaged. And finally, huge plot twists are common, usually from the use of a huge disaster which remove one of the vulnerable yet well liked characters, to change the emotion of the audience, and again keep them engaged. All of these are used in many many action related films including the samples above.

The History of Action Films:

-The '40s and '50s saw many 'Cowboy and Indian' and 'warfare' related films. 

-The '60s introduced 'spy' films, for example James Bond. these films normally include high speed car chases to really engage the viewer, and soon became an icon of James Bond, with the Aston Martin.

-The '70s brought 'urban crime dramas' and martial arts.

-Hollywood then took over the film industry in the '80s with big time actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone who was in 'Rocky', arguably the greatest boxing film ever produced.

-And the '90s saw sequels of many films. The success of many film sequels proved successful as a franchise. It also proved how marketable films had become, with toys and video games spiralling of for the film itself, opening a new gap in the market.

Having done this research, as a group we felt confident this was a good genre to go with, it allows us to have fun with music, camera shots, editing and a great storyline, it also eliminates the use of too much dialogue so that what we have is emphasised.

Warp Notes

Warp are a small indie production company who run on a reasonable low budget in comparison to a company like Working Title.  They tend to concentrate on awards and non-formulaic films as the aim for large profit is not in their sights. They have produced films such as This is England (2006) Submarine (2011) and Four Lions (2010). 

                   This England:

· Story: A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like     family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.

· Director: Shane Meadows

· Stars: Thomas Turgoose, Stephan Graham, Jo Hartley

· Budget: £1.5 million 

· Gross: $8,176,544 (worldwide)

                    Submarine:

· Story:15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.

· Director: Richard Ayoade

· Stars: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine 

· Certificate: 15

· Budget: £1.5 million

· Gross: $864,659

Four Lions:

· Story: Four incompetent British jihadists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.

· Director: Christopher Morris

· Stars: Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed, Adeel Akhtar

· Certificate: 15

· Budget: £2.5 million

· Gross: $4,658,570 worldwide

Source: http://wattfilms.blogspot.co.uk

January 2016 Experience (Podcast)

Feedback

Evaluate the role of digital technologies in the marketing and consumption of products in the medias area you have studied.

Points to improve...

• USE EXAMPLES
• The points I am making are all valid however without examples I will lose significant marks.
• Digital consumption was limited, focussed on one point. Other examples include digital television, iTunes, apps, piracy etc...