Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Casting Decisions
Saturday, 16 January 2010
DVD Cover Research
50 First Dates
500 Days of Summer
The Break Up
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Me, Myself and Irene
When looking at these DVD covers we noticed all of the conventions that were required to make a DVD cover. The conventions that we felt that we needed to include on our DVD cover were synopsis, pictures, production company website, credits, running time, language, main feature subtitles, company logo, classification, barcode, reviews from magazines, layout, main cast, titles, strap line and a big picture as the background image.
Most of the DVD Covers that we looked at had the same layout, for example the main characters name along the top, a big picture as the background, a three colour scheme and the classification on the front, side and back.





Thursday, 14 January 2010
Viral Marketing
A good example of how a film has used viral marketing is Cloverfield who first distributed a teaser trailer with no film name, just a website. When you logged onto this website which was the date of the film release (http://www.1-18-08.com/) it just had a pile of pictures with dates on them that you could move around to look at better (An image of this is below). Some of these pictures were clear pictures of friends and a party whilst others were very mysterious with effects on top of them making it very unclear of what they are of. This created even more of a hype and got people excited and talking about it on social networking website.
Cloverfield also used Facebook and MySpace to create pages for the characters of the film. This created even more hype for the film; there were links to these pages on the website. This made the film very up to date and accessible.

Wednesday, 13 January 2010
The representation on different people/groups
Characters
There are many ways in which theorists have explained characters structure the first one being created by a Russian theorist Tzvetan Todorov
Vladimir Propp came up with the theory that there are only a certain amount of characters that can come up:
- One of the character types that is used in our film is the hero this is the character that has the lead narrative and is trying to solve something, on a journey or on a quest, in our film this describes the main female character as she is on a journey to figure out her life after her mum dies. As our hero is a female this challenges the usual conventions as a film typically has a male lead role.
- The dispatcher is a character that sends the hero off, although the mother isn’t shown in the trailer much she is the dispatcher of the film, as she dies leaving the girl alone and having to go on her journey.
Posh Girl
In our film the main character is a female that is of upper class, she is very naïve and in her own upper class world, she is not very aware of the bad things in life until her mum dies. Her personality however she is then forced to change when she is moved to live in an average town, she then starts to realise what life is about.
Being the ‘Hero’ in the film she follows Tzvetan Todorov theory as the start of the trailer shows Equilibrium where everything is good and happy, there is then a disruption in her life, when her mum dies, this is the Disequilibrium a resolution then starts to occur towards the end of the teaser trailer however there is then another disequilibrium and you will need to watch the film to find out how it is resolved.
Upper Class Boy (William)
In our film William; the upper class boy, is very pompous and has a sense of self-importance. Compared to the lower class boy he is dull and plain. He believes that he is in love with the posh girl and thinks that she loves him back just as much, however will the bubbly personality of the lower class boy change things?
Lower Class Boy
In our film the lower class boy is very easy to relate to, as he is just an average person. He is very easy going, carefree, relaxed and fun to be around, this is the opposite of William.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Time Log
Location: Basildon Town centre
Shots filmed: Establishing wide shots of Basildon Town
Wednesday 2nd December 2009:
Location: Joyces house, Basildon
Shots Filmed: Fast shots with the girls mum
Thursday 10th December 2009:
Location: London (Embankment and Canary Wharf)
Shots Filmed: Hotel shots and establishing wide shots of London and posh areas
Saturday 16th January 2010:
Location: Joyces house and Basildon
Shots Filmed: Shots with the posh boy and the new boy and the rest of the shots
Casting
- Joyce Ncube - The posh girl
- Jack Gruchy - Lower class boy
- Kyle Chapman - Upper class boy (William)
Other characters that our in our film are:
- Cheraine Ncube - The mum
- Daniel David - Hotel receptionist
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Friday, 27 November 2009
Conventions of Film Websites
Below I believe are the conventions of a good, informative film website:
-Starting page with a video clip/trailer
-Background picture from film
-Fonts/quotes/titles
-Option to enter the official site
-Animations during the loading of the site
-Sound
-Toolbar at the top of the page
-Basics – storyline, cast, crew
-Videos, photos, downloads
-Promotions
I believe that the above conventions are definitely conventions of which we should be looking into when making our own website.
I have looked into websites that are of the romantic drama genre and found that New Moon and The Time Travellers Wife are good examples of very complex, informative websites. What I really like about the New Moon website is the fact that you have the choice to enter the New Moon official website or the Twilight website; however this would not be appropriate for our website as we have not made a series. I also like the way that at the bottom of the entrance page there are links to social networking websites for example Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. I think that this is something that we need to look into as our target audience will be those that use social networking a lot. This is also a very widely expanding form of promotion, you can now on Facebook choose which type of person your advertisements are shown to by their age, gender, location, job, and even what they talk about a lot to their friends; as well as this you can now also make a page for the stars of your film so that fans can interact with them and keep up to date on the film. I believe that linking this to your website is a brilliant idea as it raises more awareness of your film. They also have a link to iTunes where you can buy the albums from the films and where you can buy audio books and other apps, I think that this is another really good form of promotion and shows that they are up to date with today’s technology and using everything that they can to use the right forms of promotion. They also have a link to their YouTube channel in which you can watch the trailers and T.V spots as well as subscribe and comment about it, I believe that this again creates excitement for the film.
The New Moon website like many other film websites has a photo as the background, I believe that this photo is very relevant to the film and shows you how Jacob is going to stand in between Edward and Bella and it also shows how Jacob and Edward don’t like each other, the picture has low key lighting which shows us that it is going to be quite dramatic yet the contact with Bella and Jacob shows that there is going to be some romance in the film. The music that is played when your on the website is very creepy and quite tension building which also gives you the feeling of the film, I believe that the picture and music have been very carefully thought about and planned for this website and this is something that I think we really need to do as well.
The New Moon website also has three sections where you can either enter the Cullen House, La Push reservation or the Volturi Estate, in each of these sections you can interactively look round and find out information about each of the characters and download their wallpapers, I believe that this is very good and shows how well marketed this film is however I think that it would be very hard to make a website this good.
This is the New Moon website: www.twilightthemovie.com/
The Time Travellers Wife is another good website as although it doesn’t have an entrance page like many others it does have a tool bar at the top and the background is animated as he disappears and reappears which I think really attracts the viewer’s attention and helps you to understand what the whole film is about. I believe that this website has a lot of information on in which is very helpful to potential viewers of the film. Other film websites that I have looked at like The Proposal (http://www.theproposalmovie.co.uk/) and Valentines Day (http://www.valentinesdaymovie.com/) don’t have any information on them other than the synopsis which I think is not very good and when making our own website I think the we should consider what The Time Travellers Wife has got on their website to help us to make sure that we put all of the information needed. On this website there are six main headings: about the film; video; photo gallery; downloads; soundtrack and promotion. Under the section about the film they have another four headings which are: the synopsis; cast; filmmakers and production notes. Under the heading downloads you can download wallpapers and screen savers which I believe is an easy way to help promote your film and would be good for our film. You can also listen to and buy the soundtrack under the soundtrack heading.
This is The Time Travellers Wife website: www.thetimetravelerswifemovie.com/
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Location Change
Props
One of the main props in our feature is the mobile phone. It is featured in one of the most important shots, when the girl gets bad news about her mother, and suddenly drops the phone. This is very effective as it shows the character is distraught about they have heard. Another prop that we will use is a ‘high-end’ car which will clearly illustrates her family hierarchy in the London society. The differences in class are very important in our teaser trailer, as this is the core of our storyline.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Costume
William (the posh boy) is also going to have a very sophisticated style so as to make sure that the audience get an immediate visual image showing them that he is of wealth, upper class and from a high status background. He is going to wear neat blue jeans, shirts and a black suit jacket. We have chosen to put him in jeans instead of a full suit as we thought that a full suit would look to over dressed and unrealistic for a boy of 17 years old, this is why we have chosen to dress it down with neat jeans, however he still looks very sophisticated and wealthy. We have also decided that the suit jacket is going to be black as this symbolises sophistication.

Williams’s style is going to be a contrast against the boy that has a lower class and lives in Basildon as we have chosen to put the boy of lower class in scruffy jeans, trainers and either a hoody or zip up jacket. All of these items of clothing show that he doesn’t care about how sophisticated he looks and also gives the audience an idea that he is not as wealthy as William and is from a lower class. The scruffiness of his jeans and trainers are going to show that they are very old and the worn and that he cant afford to keep buying new clothing as regularly as an upper class person. However his relaxed style will reflect the fact that he is a very easy going person.

Monday, 23 November 2009
Drawn Storyboards
Monday, 9 November 2009
Location
We chose to set part of our trailer in greater London as there are many famous and recognizable landmarks, which symbolizes wealth to live in this area it is very pleasant. We will also film in Bond Street to show the shops which the character is surrounded by to signify that she is upper class.
Baslidon
We chose this location as it shows a big contrast between a regular working class town and a high-class area, which are basic and ordinary. There are no famous landmarks to show how simple and unexciting it is. This is key in showing the characters misplacement in the area.
A park
We have chosen to film in different parks on numerous occasions, as this is a romantic setting. There is many romantic features such: greenery, plants, lakes and wildlife. It is also a very peaceful and private place, so therefore there will be not interferences.
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Synopsis
Immediately, it is clear that she doesn’t fit in, in the area and is having a hard time adapting to the new setting. Despite this, in time she becomes very close to a boy from town and begins to fit in more and more. Meanwhile back in London her boyfriend is still missing her and has become totally unaware that his girlfriend is in love with someone else and distant in her memory.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Shot List
Shot two: establishing wide shot of London eye
Shot three: establishing wide shots of designer stores
Shot four: establishing wide shot of London Bridge
Shot five: establishing wide shot of Harrods
Shot six: establishing wide shot of Leister Square fountain
Shot seven: establishing wide shot of car show room
Shot eight: establishing wide shot of house one
Shot nine: car door shutting mid-shot
Fast shots (flashbacks)
Shot ten: Mid-shot of flipping a pancake – with mum
Shot eleven: blowing out candles – with friends
Shot twelve: Hugging her mum – long shot
Shot thirteen: her and her friends on the sofa eating popcorn – mid-shot
Shot fourteen: long shot from the back of her holding her boyfriends hand
Shot fifteen: tug of war with her dog – mid-shot
Shot sixteen: up the tree or at the bottom of the tree with her boyfriend – long shot
Shot seventeen: up the tree or at the bottom of the tree with her boyfriend- close-up
Shot eighteen: kisses her boyfriend – close up
Shot ninteen: close up of pan round her head – extremely fast
Shot twenty: dropping phone close up – Slowed down
Shot twenty-one: dropping phone mid shot – Slowed down
Shot twenty-two: high angle of the car driving away
Shot twenty-tree: train station Basildon sign establishing wide
Shot twenty-four: Primark
Shot twenty-five: priceless shoes logo
Shot twenty-six: establishing wide shot of the market
Shot twenty-eight: Mary Poppin’s café logo
Shot twenty-nine: Basterable school
Shot thirty: establishing wide shot of the small house
Shot thrity-one: long shot of her walking past people (on the phone)
Shot thirty-two: close up of her walking past (on the phone)
Shot thirty-three: high angle of the girl swinging on the swing (on the phone)
Shot thirty-four: long shot of her on the swing him coming up to her, framing of trees (on the phone)
Shot thirty-five: side close up of the posh boy putting the phone down
Shot thirty-six: quick pan of him looking at her
Shot thirty-seven: mid shot of her sitting on her own and he comes and sits with her. (in two shots from different angles)
Shot thirty-eight: split screen, posh boy looking alone and miserable – mid shot. Girl with other boy at a party mid-shot
Shot thirty-nine: long shot of them sitting on the bench together from behind
Shot forty: over the shoulder shot of their hands on top of each other
Shot forty-one: match on action of posh boy looking miserable at his desk checking his phone
Shot forty-two: looking miserable – no text message, no calls
Shot forty-three: Ariel shot of them lying down
Shot forty-four: over the shoulder of them leaning in to kiss
Shot forty-five: mid shot of them kissing
Shot forty-six: mid shot of them pulling apart posh boy in the background with present
Shot forty-seven: close up of shocked posh boy