MEST2 Progress Report - 20 January

Work Completed Since 6 January
All pre-production, including shot list, script, storyboard, mise-en-scene, and project schedule is complete.

Any incomplete pre-production tasks
No. There is no incomplete pre-production tasks. However, there are some improvements I would like to make on my shot list which Mr Halsley suggested to me.

Next Steps/Action Plan
The next steps are to start prioritizing what scenes will start to film and when. After this, we will then need to start filming, and next week we will need to do the photoshoot, and start designing the A5 brochure.

Date filming will be complete
All filming will be complete by the 31st of January

Requirements for photo-shoot next week
We will need to film after school or on set, due to the fact that our cast are not media students and some do not study here. We simply need the cast to wear the clothes they will be wearing during the filming.

Photoshoot

1. Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your programme?
Sidra, the unstable main character of the film, and Myla, her imaginary friend who is a figment of her schizophrenia, will appear on the front cover of the programme.

2. What image or images do you need for the contents page?
The images required for the contents page will be Sidra and Myla dressed in their casual clothing. But, at the same time, will use images from the other films in class, to make it look professional since if it was a real programme, it would feature all of them.

3. What images or images will you use for the double-page spread?
I will only feature images of Sidra and Myla

4.
Close up of Sidra
Medium shot of Sidra in front, with Myla behind her.
Extreme close-up of Sidra's eyes.
Medium shot of them both side by side

5. What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?
The costume will be a simple casual urban outfit. The one they both wore during filming. We will not feature any props. But, for make-up, they will do the same makeup they did for the filming which is simple and natural.

6. How will you make sure you have everything prepared for the photo shoot on Wednesday 20 January?
We will not be doing it on that day, but the next week on the Thursday. We will make sure we have everything prepared for then by gathering the actors around, and going through everything they need as they are wearing their own clothes and doing their own makeup.

Research

Research

1.


 I find that it is a very visually appealing piece due to its simplicity, through a lack of colour scheme, font and lack of graphics around the text, which is extremely effective for an arthouse cinema or festival programme. However, its simplicity also diverts from the typical conventions of a magazine cover, due to the fact that the typical front cover of a magazine usually has a lot of graphics and a variety of texts and is covered top to bottom, unlike this programme cover. The BFI logo is centred directly in the centre of the page, with the central image located inside the text - an extremely creative way of captivating the text's audience. On top of these, it features the company it is sponsored by in small writing, the dates of the festival underneath the festival logo and BFI print logo in the top left-hand corner.

2.


What I like about this programme cover is the neon colour scheme, which contrasts to the simplistic colour scheme, of very few colours, on the usual BFI programmes. It goes to show that either a variety of colours and lack of colours is workable, giving the programme I'm making a broad range to work from. I love the graphics used, because the neon colours have been illuminated using black lights/ultra violet lights, which is extremely appealing, working with the text and colour scheme to make an extremely appealing piece.



The text for me is one of the most appealing parts of the programme, due to it's glowing special effect and the brightness of it. It really stands out, but also links to the genre of Sci-fi. This indicates I will need to have something linking to the genre of my film on the programme cover. But the central image is also one of the key features and most appealing parts of the programme as well, with it's filter and colour scheme, giving it a daydream esence.



For me, the simplistic colour scheme and cartoon-esque central imagic makes the programme seem classic and vintage. Taking a lot at some of the other programmes from the same year and same award event, they all feature the same elements, resembling the different films. This cover was linked to the film the reader,



The colour scheme of the brochure is particularly bright and vivid, with a variety of shapes and colours against a black background. The central image is a collage of shapes which make up hands over eyes, looking at something through binoculars, which is extremely creative.




The colour scheme and design of these two programme covers happen to be my favourite. The bright, slightly garish colours are extremely nice against the central image. I love the clever central images of each of these, the second one in particular as the items make up the face of a character. It would be a great idea to do.

3.


The title of the contents page is the most intriguing feature, as the red text is placed directly behind the central image, which works extremely well due to the brightness of the text and the white lining inside it. If it had been any other colour, it wouldn't have worked as well. The colour scheme is simple but effective with the red, white and black text and background working well together.



Like the previous one, the colour scheme of the contents page is simple yet effective, with the black of the title, working well with the red. There isn't really a central image, but the most prominent and most notable one is the Gorilla's cartoon which takes up more space than the other images. However, all the other images included work well to give a short overview of what the magazine will be like well.



The light colour scheme of the pages is light and quite calming, but also easy to read. The central images clash with each other slightly, but it works well.



The colour scheme is a mixture of dark and ligth, which blends well together. The images have been kept to the left while the text appears on the right.



Like  the many other contents pages I've viewed, a key colour in it is red and black, which is simplistic yet bold, making it easier to read. The main image appears to be of the main story which is batman, and various other images from stories surrounding it, with their numbers labelled to indicate the order in which they are.

Focus Group

Focus Group

The focus group involved each of us sitting in a circle and discussing film ideas which they had written down, for example, the plot, genre, title, locations, characters, target audience etc. We were then each given constructive criticism by people in other groups in order to improve their ideas.

Feedback

• Good story line.
• Improve logline
• Consider the ending more, and where the film would go
• Be careful when filming park scenes due to noise but also other children
• Be careful when filming in the cafe
• Consider extras - how you will get two people for the child and mother role

From this, we have learnt that we need to consider how we are going to get two people to play a child and mother because that will be extremely hard to do and get permission from them. On top of that, it would be extremely hard to film in a park, since it will most likely be filled with children, and the wind might cause disruption with the microphone. It would also be extremely hard to get permission to film in a Cafe, but also, it would be hard because of the other people in it, and we would most likely cause disruption for the other customers. Despite this, the storyline is compelling and strong, but at the same time, we will need to work on what direction the film would head in eventually and how it would end.

Target Audience

The target audience of our film will be 15 - 45 year old, due to the sensitive topic of mental health which is covered in the film. In particular, I'm also targeting the film at those who do not understand mental health, and are quite close-minded about it.  The film is targeted at both males and females at a 50/50 split as it would appeal to both genders equally. In terms of psycho-graphics, I feel that reformers would be a key part of the target audience because they are very socially aware and intellectual. However, explorers would probably be the first to hear about the film and see it, especially since they are usually younger and young people are a key demographic for the film. The resigned are less likely to see it, however, due to their authoritarian values. Those targeted are more likely to have either A-level or University education, as they will be more intellectual and understand it more. However, those with just a high school education, having not gone to college or University, will also be a key demographic because they will most likely not understand the topic of the film, and therefore I want to inform them more about mental health. We have targeted all ethnicities due to the fact that the cast is of colour, and therefore people of colour will be able to relate to the characters. Despite the age range for the target audience being quite wide, I feel that it is important that all teenagers/youth watch it because it can be educational on the harassment received by people with mental health, and they need to be more understanding of it as there have been many horrific cases of bullying at school due to mental health. However, because of the urban elements of the film, colloquial language used, young adults/youths will enjoy the film due to this as it they find it relate-able. The main character, and supporting roles are all young, therefore young people will be able to relate to the film because of this too. Although, young adults will like this, adults will also like the film because they will be more mature when dealing with the sensitive topic of the film. Those under 15, will also be less mature when confronting the issues faced in the film. The elderly will most likely not like the film as much as those younger than them or understand the colloquial language in the film, and some may be quite close-minded. They educational elements of the film, however, may appeal to them. The film would appeal to a younger generation because, despite the fact it is educational, it is subtle and not boring. The film has important messages about the issues of mental health, and how people deal with it, as many people in today's society still fail to understand and accept those with mental health conditions, and therefore the film will help people understand mental health, and show that it isn't a joke and many people suffer from disorders and experience harassment due to it, like the main character. However, it also depicts the darker side of schizophrenia, and how it can change someone. The image of harassment is disturbing, and grows more so as the film progresses, and this disturbing image will unsettle people into becoming more accepting.

BBFC

The BBFC is an independent, non-governmental body which has been responsible for classifying cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the Videos Recording Act was passed in 1984. It is a non-profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only to cover its cost. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC never receives subsidies from either the film or the government. Its income, instead, is solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculate by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. It consults the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before making any changes to its fees.

Films are rated in teams of two. With each work, the Examiners log details of what they watch, including - General context (plot), characters, an outline of individual scenes; timings of key moments, including camera angles, types of shots, on- and off-screen moments; and bad language, sex and drug references and so on.

When classifying a film, there are quite a few issues faced, meaning they have to consider whether the material is in conflict with the law, harmful to the viewer, unacceptable to appear to a wider audience, acceptably portraying the dominant issue, or problematic within its tone.

The Dark Knight was awarded a 12A rating by the BBFC, which resulted in much press coverage and complaints from members of the public, because they thought the violence was too strong to be contained in that category. I feel that it should have been awarded a 15 rating, due to the high levels of violence in it, however, I don't think that it is as much as an issue as everyone says, and personally, not something I would be outraged about. Especially, since there are worse cases of misrated films. Some would argue that the violence in the film was just below the guideline of a 15, therefore that is why they rated the film a 12a. At the same time, people of that age have seen much worse things that people don't complain about and sometimes at this age, they need to exposed more to violence in order to understand why it happens. If not, then they may not understands signs of aggression or violence, or see these things as wrong. Plus, the dark knight is a superhero film and therefore is not reality and people of this age should be able to or learn to understand this.

The guidelines for a 15 rated films, indicate that they may feature strong violence, frequent strong language, portrayals of sexual activity, strong verbal references to sex, sexual nudity, brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence, discriminatory language or behaviour and drug taking. However, this depends on the severity and extent of these features.

Learner Response

Feedback

TRUSCOTT, Laura

Evaluation mark: 8/10

Grade: B+

WWW: Overall, this is an impressive evaluation that offers an honest and accurate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the production. You've confidently used media terminology and there’s an engagement with the production and an awareness of audience that is crucial for the top grades in Media.

EBI: There are, though, some key areas to work on. Firstly, your written English could potentially hold you back. This does not refer so much to spelling and grammar (though there are a couple of typos/missing words etc.) but your organisation. The huge paragraph of strengths and weaknesses shows a distinct lack of organisation. At the very, very least surely you would have one paragraph for strengths and one for weaknesses? It’s great to see reference to enigma codes and audience engagement – the real evaluation in March needs more references like this as well as other media theories applied and detailed analysis of the impact on a potential audience.

LR: Copy and paste this feedback into a new blogspot and write three specific aspects you will look to improve for the real MEST2 evaluation in March.

Three specific aspects you will look to improve for the real MEST2 evaluation in March:

1. Organisation - I will be looking to improve this in order for my evaluation to look clear and easier to understand. For example, by separating my evaluation into more paragraph so it isn't one giant bunched together paragraph that comes across as messy.
2. Key terminology- in the real evaluation in March, I will need to use more terminology like I have in this, but also apply theories as well, like Levi-Strauss etc.
3. Analysis - I will need to go into more detail in my analysis in my evaluation of my production in much, including the detailed analysis of the impact on a potential audience. 

Arthouse film institution research

Production: Independent films studios

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:

Produced by:
Anonymous Content (Steve Golin) and This is That

Anonymous Content: Babel, The Revenant, The End of the Tour, Rendition, Spotlight, Winter's Bones

This is That: The Door in the Floor, Thumbsucker, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Friends with Money, 21 Grams, The Savages, Adventureland

Donnie Darko:

Produced by:
Flower Films

Flower Films: Whip It!, Never Been Kissed, Music and Lyrics

Juno:

Produced by:
Mandate Pictures and Mr. Mudd

Mandate Pictures: The Strangers, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Whip it!, 50/50, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Youn Adult, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Hope Springs, This Is the End

Mr. Mudd: Ghost World, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, How to Draw a Bunny, Which Way Home.

It Follows:

Produced by:
Northern Lights Films, Animal Kingdom, and Two Flints

Northen Lights films: The Brass Teapot, High Road, I'll See You in My Dreams

Animal Kingdom: Short Term 12, Louder Than Bombs, Trespass Against Us (Upcoming)

Two Flints: I'll See You in My Dreams

Pan's Labyrinth:

Produced by:
Telecinco Cinema, Esperanto Filmoj, Tequila Gang, and Sententia Entertainment

Esperanto Filmoj: Gravity, Duck Season, Chronicles, Rudo y Cursi, Year of the Nail, The Shock Doctrine

Telecinco Cinema: The Impossible, No Rest for the Wicked, The Orphanage, The King of the Mountain, Cell 211

Tequila Gang: The Devil's Back Bone, Rage, Chronicles, Don't be afraid of the Dark, Insignificant Things, Calle 54

Distribution: Independent film distributors

10 Steps of Film Distribution

1. The making of that film will become a labour of love. The stronger the labour of love to create a film, the greater the desire to ensure it finds exposure, therefore, the better a success it will be and the wider an audience it will attract. The films need to move away from the computer screen and in front of the largest audiences in order to inspire because they can't essentially find the words to. The cinema is the best opportunity to do so. This is the role that film distribution provides.

2. Films have a social and commercial impact, to the extent that they connect with their audience. Distributors identify and deliver the largest possible audience for the film, promoting in the title and competing distributors.

3. Distributor's bring each film to market by identifying it's audience, considering why they'd go and see it; estimating the revenue potential across all the formats of its release; persuading exhibitors (cinema operators) to play the film; developing plans and partnerships to build awareness of and interest in the film and aiming to convert as much interest as possible into cinema visits.

4. The UK has six major distributors, affiliated to Hollywood studios, and many smaller independent distributors, who handle films outside of the major studios.

5. UK distributors acquire the films they released from one of more various sources: a third-party sales agent, acting on behalf of a producer, a continuous flow of new content from a parent studio, a studio or production company with whom the distributor has negotiated an output deal covering a slate of titles, or a single title acquired at any stage before, during or after production. Particularly with big budget blockbusters, a studio will sell off the international rights to another major international distributor. On occasion, however, those rights might be sold off to a number of independent distributors, each handling a specific territory. Independent distributors will more frequently acquire their films from independent producers. When considering acquiring a new film, distributors normally look for distinguishable features in order for the film to sell and become a success. On top of that, they would also need to consider the target audience. They will need to put together a detailed marketing spend and organize film festivals to make a wider audience aware of the film's release.

6. Distributors will then sign a formal contract with the producer, sales agent or studio, specifying the rights they hold in respect of the title, including the right to release it in UK cinemas and promote it in all media platforms before and during its release.

7. Once a deal has been signed. the distribution plan needs to be prepared, in terms of what format it will be released in and which countries will get the film and when. This planning starts as soon as possible.

8. In order to decide how and when they release the film in order to optimise its chances, they need to consider a number of questions regarding what type of film it is, when it should go out, where it should go out, how it is going to be released and the audience. They need prepare a budget to release it once they estimate what the film may earn. They also need to consider the BBFC certification, which they must pay a fee in order to have classified.

9. The job of a distributor is to market the film in the correct way. They create a visibility that will raise awareness and interest in a film, enough to persuade potential audiences to buy tickets. This can be done through film artwork, trailers, interviews, exit polls and digital marketing such as social media. Film Artwork must be creative and eye-catching, the trailers must be engaging and intriguing, exit polls should be taken after screening in order to get feedback on the film and digital marketing needs to include online advertising and websites through the use of social media and user-generated content. Promotions through developing Merchandise such as posters and toys or holding competitions are also considered by the distributor. Premieres, festivals and awards are also great places to promote the film too. Media advertising campaigns are constructed using concepts of paid, owned and earned channels.

10. Everything that is associated with their film needs to be then properly licensed in order to prevent illegal copies being made.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Distributor: Focus Features

Budget: $20 million

Box Office: $72.3 million

Donnie Darko

Distributor(s): Pandora Cinema and Newmarket Films

Budget: $3.6 million

Box Office: $7.6 million

Juno

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Budget: $6.5 - $7 million

Box Office: $231, 411, 584

It follows

Distributor: Dimension Films and RADiUS-TWC

Budget: $2 million

Box Office: $19.4 million

Pan's Labyrinth

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures (Spain) and Picturehouse

Budget: $19 million

Box Office: $83 million

Curzon Artificial Eye

Curzon Artifical Eye is a British film distributor, specialising in independent, foreign-language and art house films for the cinema and home entertainment. It was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel, and his then wife, Pamela Balfry. Since 2006, Curzon Artificial Eye has been part of  Curzon World, a group of companies in the film entertainment industry which also includes the Curzon Chain of 11 cinemas, plus eight joint venture cinemas, video on demand service Curzon Home Cinema, the retail DVD distributor Fusion Media Sales, and horror film distributor Chelsea Films, which launched in 2010. It releases some 20 new theatrical films and 30 DVD and Blu-ray titles in the UK each year, as well as digital releases via several platforms, such as iTunes and in-house Curzon Home Cinema.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

The trailer is bold and uses stylistic characteristics of film noir, which would be quite interesting to use in our production. In the trailer, the stereotypical femme fatale is portrayed and is iconic imagery in the genre and narrative. The low-key lighting would be something we could achieve in our production to attain this. Another aspect from the trailer that I noticed was the gradual change from the monochromic colour scheme to vibrant colour. I've hardly ever see this in films, and I think it would be interesting to use and play around with.

45 Years

A tender and serene atmosphere has been beautifully created in this trailer, which I would love to achieve in our production. This can be achieved through non-diegetic music, like in the trailer, which is parallel to the clips in it. What attracted me to this trailer was the use of cinematography, which is quite beautiful. The long shots are particularly stunning, which is why I will use a variety. The manipulation of focus is also very beautiful, which I would love to apply to our production.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour

What I found most intriguing was how it was shot in a naturalistic style, which is quite beautiful and I would love to include that in our production. The use of cinematography is extremely lovely and create different atmospheres throughout the trailer, particularly the past paced close-ups at the beginning of the trailer, which add a sense of confusion. 

Exhibitions: Art-house Cinemas

Electric Cinema

The Electric Cinema is located at 191 Portobello Rd, London W11 2ED. After the renovation of the cinema, they have started to show more major production films as well as some independent arthouse films, which will most likely have been done to attract a wider audience. This weekend, the cinema will be showing: 

• Bridge of Spies
• The Dress Maker
• Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
• Big Hero 6
• The Hunger Games: MockingJay part 2
• The Wolfpack
• Carol
• Black Mass
• Sleeping with Other People
• Brooklyn
• Sunset

Since the renovation, a wider range of audiences have attended the arthouse cinema. Through the showings of Big Hero 6 and The Hunger Games: MockingJay part 2, it has attracted a much younger audience, as they would attend these films. Most of the films on show this weekend are 15, or 12A, suggesting that the cinema is targeting younger audiences in order to broaden their target audience, meaning that much younger audiences are attending these cinemas, but not to mentioned families. Their wider audience range is emphasised through all the events that go on at the cinema. For example, there is an Electric Scream! event for avid horror fans, typically for the older target audience whilst there is also a Kids club, for parents and children. The renovation of the cinema also indicates at the type of audience they are trying to attract, which are young upbeat urban and modern audiences. But the seating being in pairs, indicates that they are also trying to attract couples, specifically young couples as they have beds right in front of the screen. However, most of the individuals that attend will most likely be middle class, as suggested by the more expensive prices of tickets and savoury goods.

Case Study

Film London is London's film and media agency. It exists to sustain, promote and develop London as a major international film-making and film cultural Capital. This includes all screen industries based in London - film, television, video, commercials and new interactive media. It is one of nine regional screen agencies throughout the United Kingdom. The non-profit organisation is supported by the BFI and the Mayor of London.

The purpose of Film London Microwave is, a micro-budget feature film fund, launched in 2006. The scheme's purpose is to challenge film-makers to shoot a full length film for up to £100,000 with cash and in-kind support. It does more than fund films; it gives development and mentoring support to all of the short-listed projects, as well as production finance and distribution support to the final commissioned films.

The London calling project is a scheme that delivers a comprehensive programme of training and expert mentoring, helping nurture and champion the capital's most exciting new breakthrough talent. It is a continuation and expansion of the London Borough Film Fund Challenge, open to all new and emerging film-making teams resident in the capital. Run across nine months, the highlights of the scheme include: 15 short films are awarded a maximum of £4, training and mentoring is provided to all film-making teams and match funding can be sought for any film being produced by London Calling.

Lilting 

This is a British drama, but the use of foreign language indicates that it is an arthouse film. The narrative heavily relies on the homosexual relationship between the lady's son and the main character, therefore wouldn't be targeted at elderly people, who are more traditional, conservative and religious making them quite close-minded. This means that the film would be targeted at younger people, perhaps, between the ages of 16 - 35, due to the fact the younger generation is more open to and accepting. 

Borrowed Time

Borrowed time is a unique comedy, with a narrative that has never been done before, highlighting that the film is independent. The target audience of the film would be predominantly 15 - 25-year-olds, but it is possible for older demographics to enjoy it due to the character identifications such as youth and the elderly, which is why both young people and older people may enjoy it.

iLL Manors

iLL manors is an urban British crime drama set in Forest Gate, east London. The harsh reality the trailer depicts shows it to be educational in a way and hinting that the film is an arthouse film. However, the creative shots in the trailer also depict it to be an arthouse film. The target audience of the film would be between the ages of 15 - 25, and predominantly male, as they will probably be more sympathetic towards the characters whilst older people might find that they are just hooligans with no thought processes.

• I need to make sure there is a clear narrative that my target audience can identify and relate to or, at least, relate to the characters the narrative focuses on and feel sympathy for them.
• I need to know exactly who my target audience is and need to remind myself of this whilst making it, in order to make sure the film will appeal to them and fulfil their requirements.
• I need to have an interesting plot, that doesn't dawdle or isn't too fast, in order to keep the audience intrigued and engage with them. I can do this through enigma codes, which keep the audience intrigued and guessing at the narrative, and want to know what is going to happen next. If it is too boring, then the audience will immediately turn off and lose interest.