Planning and Organisation

As it is the half term and we have about 6 weeks until everything has to be handed in, we have come up with a list of things we need to before we can actually start creating the poster and website and before we can finalise the teaser trailer. Our aim is to get most of this done throughout half term and the first week we get back to school;

After creating this list decided that as there of 3 of us in the group and 3 tasks to complete, each member of the group will take lead on one of the tasks. As leader we must ensure every bit of research relating to our own task is done and must organise who is doing it. We decided that Daisy will be in charge of the poster, Thea in charge of the teaser trailer and Jodie in charge of the website. Once we decided this, as a group we organised our to do list into who is doing what according to the task we are in control of;

Although the delegation seems unbalanced and that there is more in the teaser trailer column, this does not mean Thea will be doing all of these tasks. It just means she'll be organising who in group will completing them and she'll also ensure they will get done.

Music Research; Audience Suggestions

After conducting our audience research survey and receiving the responses we now have an idea that our chosen music is expected to be of the Grime or Indie genre. However as part of our research we have looked into songs which our respondents suggested who selected the "other" option to the question "In a social realism film based on homelessness, which genre of music do you associate with this". Here are our findings;

Said the People by Dinosaur Jr

The main part of this piece of music which stands out to me are the lyrics used. The constant repetition of the phrase "save me" greatly compliments the feeling our protagonist feels throughout the trailer. Also other lyrics such as "I've been staring into space" could be be placed parallel to the shots in the teaser trailer of the protagonist doing this action. The slow but heavy drum beat gives the song a melancholy and sluggish feel which could be used to represent how our protagonist is feeling when living on the streets. I also enjoy the gradual build of the guitar riff as it becomes louder and more powerful which could give impact to the trailer as pans out. The only downfall to this piece of music is that it does not sound very modern or from the Grime or Indie genre as it seems more Alternative Rock. However we could still try and overlay the vocal track from this song over a more modern sounding piece through the use of GarageBand to still incorporate the impact of the lyrics.

Street Spirit - Radiohead

The guitar riff played through this song mixed with the slight drone to the vocals gives the song a somber feel. This ties in well with the overall impression we want our trailer to give the audience about the terrible effects of being homeless. However this song may not create such an impact as we wish as the song remains the same tempo and volume throughout whereas we plan to have the pace of our trailer speed up as in progresses.

Tightrope - Janelle Monae

Although an excellent song, we feel this particular structure of track would not work well in our teaser trailer. This is because the song is an upbeat catchy song which would put the audience in a happy, celebratory mood. As our trailer is about negative impact of homelessness, the music would be in great contrast of what is being portrayed on screen. However one aspect of the song which we are considering incorporating in our own non diegetic music track is the quick drum beat as it makes the song fast paced and inevitably quite modern.

By looking at the songs which our audience has suggested, we have taken great inspiration for our own piece of music for our coursework. However we also need to take into consideration that we are not allowed to use copyrighted music and therefore if we were to take any vocals from the songs above then we would have to greatly edit them or create our own cover.

Female Representation within British Drama; Shameless Analysis

Shameless is an "offbeat drama about the roller coaster lives and loves of the dysfunctional Gallagher clan" based in Manchester on the 'Chatsworth estate'. It is an excellent example of British Drama within television, with a mixture of comical and hard-hitting storylines.

I have looked into how the females are portrayed within this drama, as it will help us to develop our character representation for our film.

The character profile pages on channel 4's website for shameless describe one of the main female characters, Karen Maguire as 'famous for her sexual skills'. Throughout the series, Karen is displayed as being a strong yet very sexual character. Karen has various sexual liaisons especially at the begin of the series before she is married. The most controversial is where she has a sexual affair with her boyfriends father. This is shocking for the audience as, generally speaking, it is unacceptable and immoral to behave in this way. The audiences sympathy is then very much not with her character. However, Karen later is diagnosed with Bi-polar disease and the audience are shown the deteriorating process that she is led on. The sympathy is now thrown back to with Karen. Her mother-in-law Mimi Maguire tries to cover it up and begins telling people that instead of Karen being in rehab that she is in prison for assault. Karen stands up to Mimi and says that she has nothing to be ashamed of by her illness and that its a mental health disorder but that she still a person. This reflects to the audience that Karen is a strong woman when independent. But as they see throughout the series, is easily tempted by men.

If we were to portray our character in the same way as Karen is reflected in Shameless, it would indicate to the audience that most women are like this. As this is not the case, we may consider aspects of Karen's personality, yet not all of them when developing our protagonist.

Mimi Maguire is definitely one of the Dramas most memorable characters. She is married to the drug-dealer Paddy Maguire and is equally as violent and ruthless as he is. She is very loyal to her family and even goes to prison in place of her son. She has very traditional beliefs about family. The family have Irish heritage and she is displayed to respect that. She is feared by other characters within the estate and can/has taken on any man just as well as a man could. Mimi is rarely shown as a sexual figure, perhaps because of her age and her motherhood, except for the short affair she has in series 7. Mimi's role within the drama is clearly as a mother and a business woman and her sexual side is rarely shown. if anything, she is viewed as equal to the men as she is feared as much as her partner Paddy.

Mimi is reflected as a much more aggressive and violent character, this could be useful as we were considering showing a rougher representation of our character. However, Mimi is shown to have very little feminine qualities other than motherhood. Her age, her size and her status in the family affect this. This would be an unrealistic way to represent our protagonist as she will be much younger and without children.

Maxine Donnelly is one of the few characters within the drama that has no blood relation to any of the characters. She is described as "saucy and full of life" and she "isn't afraid to give as good as she gets". She has only been around for the last two series yet quickly befriended Debbie Gallagher. She is displayed from the offset as being very smart and quick and knows easily how to work around people. This is displayed as her and Debbie go shoplifting regularly and Maxine is able to get the pair out of the situation quickly mainly using sweet talk. Maxine is well aware of her sexuality and in early episodes, uses this to her advantage. For example, showing her boobs to bouncers of a club to let her in for free. At first she is shown as care-free with little to tie her down. She later develops a relationship with local 'stud' Karl Gallagher. After a while, she secretly aborts a baby that was fathered by Karl. When he finds out the deceit he ends the relationship. This reflects Maxine as being a deceitful person that is inconsiderate about her loved ones feelings. This is further mirrored as she then begins to have a relationship with Karl's brother; Ian Gallagher. The relationship tears the brothers apart and after a number of events, Maxine calls off the relationship due to this. this gives her character some redemption and the audience are subverted to feel that she is not such an immoral person.

The contrast between Maxine's carefree nature and the seriousness of the issues she faces have been very well done by the Shameless directors. In our film, it could prove very effective to have a stark contrast with the age of our protagonist - the fact she is young and should be care free - and the harsh situation - of homelessness - she is found in. We will have to develop ways to portray this to the audience through further research.

Having looked into the main female characters within Shameless, it would seem that the young females are shown to be strong and independent women but with an equally strong sexual desire. This desire then forces them to conflict with their morals. This may lead the audience to believe that women who are strong and independent are led astray by sex. Also, the young characters, Maxine and Karen, have both been deceitful to their partners throughout the series with little remorse. This implies that young women can be deceitful and irrational. Within our trailer, we wish to reflect realistic portrayals of women and we must consider all ways of representation.

Editing Technique Trial

As we have been uploading new footage from our filming day on Sunday, we have been trialling new editing techniques that we have seen in other trailers that we feel is effective. Below is a sample of the quick straight cuts between two shots;

We had some issues with how to re-create this effect, as we were unsure how the duration of the shots affected the overall technique for the clip. However, after practice and trial and error we finally created a transition which we are pleased with and are planning to use in our teaser trailer.

First Day of Filming

Daisy and Jodie went up to London on the 17th of October to do our first day of filming. Their aim was to get as many establishing shots of London as they could as well as footage of pigeons eating. Here are some photos from the day;

Research Plan, 18th - 22nd October

This is the third research plan we are using to structure our research and keep each team member up to date with their progress and contribution to the group.

Below is the research plan for the week commencing 18th October 2010;

Typography; Film Posters.

This poster opted for a simple style of typography ensuring that it is clear for the audience. The title is positioned at the bottom of the page in the centre, because of its bright white colouring it contrasts with the dark background making it obvious and attracting the audiences eye. 

This font is not as clear as the kidulthood poster. The whole poster has a war/archaic theme, the typography reflects the theme of the poster as it is made to seem like it is made out of old stone. This effect is interesting to the reader as it makes the typography more interesting and appealing. Although it looks as if it is made out of stone the font is very simple and easy to read for the audience however, it does not stand out very well compared to some other posters as it is not contrasting with the image on the poster as it is in the same colour scheme. It is positioned in the centre at the bottom of the page, it is not the first thing the reader looks at but the image of the 'warlord' draws the eye down to the title. Positioned above the title is three Japanese symbols, this makes it more appealing as Japanese people can read the title as well, however the audience has to look close as they are very small and they do not stand out.

The typography on this poster is a simple yet effective style, they have made sure that is is clear for the audience. The colour of the title ties in with the colour scheme of the entire poster, this attracts the audience as the yellow contrasts off the black background and allows it to stand out, it is also very basic and gets straight to the point. The title is positioned so that the eye looks from the left downwards so 'the godfather' is the first thing read. 'Part ii' is in a bigger font, this is to emphasise that it is the second part to the godfather, this makes it stand out and makes the audience realise. The subtitle 'its coming for Christmas' also stands out to the audience, although it is in a much smaller font the reader has to get closer to see it, the colour scheme makes it stand out and easy to read.

Flickr

Media Group 8 have set a Flickr account so they can stream any photos taken through out the development, production and editing of their teaser trailer. Click the picture below to check it out !

Second storyboard

Whilst working through the ideas and changing some elements of the narrative for our teaser trailer, we have changed a number of ideas and shots.Therefore, we decided to create a second storyboard. This will be invaluable to us as a group combined with a shooting script when we begin to film moments of our trailer.

We hope it will enable us to be more effective and efficient with our time when filming and editing. As you can see it is a bit shorter than our first storyboard, this is due to us being more realistic about the time restraints of creating a one minute teaser trailer.

Shooting Sript for the 17th of October

Below is the shooting script for our first day of filming in London. By creating a shooting script it helps us organise our filming by setting us a plan of where to go, what to film and how long for.

Criteria for a Successful Web Design

Aspects we dislike about other websites.

- Obsessive amounts of animation

- Too much on the page makes the page load slowly

- When you scroll down to see an extra sentence or two

- Lots of different bright colours

- When its disorganized

- Music and trailer plays automatically

- When links don’t work anymore but still on the website

- Clutter

- Scrolling horizontally

- When there isn’t a link straight away to something quite important

By identifying what we don't like about other website will help in the development of our own. This is because we'll ensure that none of the above will appear in our in own design.

Below is the criteria for a successful web design which we discussed with a professional who works in this area of the media;

Functionality

- Cultural awareness

- Text (download order)

- Interaction times

- LEGALITY (copyright), (intellectual property)

- Graphic design (typography, clever visual elements e.g. something to draw you into the website)

- User friendly

- Aesthetics

- Professionalism

- Use of colour

- Layout (attention to detail)

Content

- Purpose (your intentions)

- Interactivity

- Verbal expression (use of language, clarity of grammar)

- Core issues (what we decide to put about our film, essential bits)

Originality

- Creativity (trying unusual things out, being experimental, making it different to others)

- Distinctiveness (individuality, making it unique so it stands out)

- Multisensory

- Emotional expression (something to build up and tie in to whole design)

- Predictive research (what we hate about other websites, what attracts us, what do we like)

Overall Effectiveness

- Operational effectiveness

- Communication effectiveness

- Does it do the job you wanted it to do?

Typography; More Film Posters

As part of our research for our promotional packaging we looked at existing film posters and analysed the typography which has been used;

The font is clear is clear and legible which makes it easier for the audience to read and be informed about the film. The colours red, white and blue are used to associate itself with the patriotic British colour scheme. Because of this, the audience would presume that it is British film or is at least set in England (this is supported by the title of the film). Also the word "England" is in a darker blue so that it stands out against the sky blue background. The font is bold and simple but the colouring appears to have been scratched out which may represent the gritty narrative or the rough characters in the film. It is has been positioned in the top third of the poster so that it is read first and introduces the rest of the poster because the audience tends to read from left to right, top to bottom



The main idea which comes to mind when seeing this font is that it appears to be under the person's skin. This would suggest that the film is of the horror or thriller genre because at first glance it appears to be a film about bugs which are able to get under the skin. This is effective because although the typography ties in with the film it also provokes further interest. The film title is positioned in the center of the page however the eyes are also drawn around the page because the images stretches over the majority of it. The front is a little shade of skin in comparison to the rest of the body therefore it is legible for the audience to read. The lighter shade also creates a 3D effect on the font which gives a further dimension to the poster.

By looking a typography on existing posters we have learnt what makes an effective and successful film poster. It has also shown us that typography can give away a lot about the film such as it's genre or the type of characters within the narrative.

Audience Research; The Survey (Open Questions)

One of the questions which was in our audience research survey was an open answer question. As we had 42 respondents, a lot of different ideas and views came up as the result. Therefore the answers below are the ones which came up most frequently;

What 3 things do you associate with the British Drama sub-genre of Social Realism?

• Tough characters
• City location
• Gritty storyline/location
• Division between classes
• Crime and Violence
• Normal, every day characters
• Gangs and gang culture
• Accents
• Depressing but relatable to storyline

Also in the question "In a social realism film based on homelessness, which genre of music do you associate with this?" we gave an answer option of 'other'. Here are the results of those who chose this option;

The overall consensus we got from this result is that our audience expects our music to be melancholic but relevant to the time and location of the teaser trailer. As a further part of our research I will look into the songs which one of our respondents has suggested to see if they are suitable or inspire other ideas.

Research Plan, 11th-15th October

This is the second research plan we are using to structure our research and keep each team member up to date with their progress and contribution to the group.

Below is the research plan for the week commencing 11th October 2010;

Audience Research; The Survey (closed questions)

As a group we conducted a survey in order to obtain research about our possible audience. We handed it to 42 people of all different ages and sexes however the vast majority of our respondents were females aged 16 to 18. We used the website SurveyPirate as our main method of data collection.

Ages

Gender

As our respondents are one particular gender and age this may create biased results. Therefore we shall do some further research into a wider range of of people.

Then we moved on to ask our corespondents about the British drama genre;

What Type of British Drama do You Prefer ?

Which of These would You like to see more in the Cinema?

From these results it can be seen that comedies are most wanted to be seen more of in the cinema. However we discussed at an earlier date that we would not like to do a comedy as it would be difficult to do so we have decided to focus on one of the second preferences; Social realism.

Then more specifically at the social realism and social realistic films;

Social realist films usually focus on a current issue in society, which of these would interest you the most?

As a result of this we have chosen to focus on the issue of homelessness. Although the most popular option is the poverty we can incorporate this within our teaser trailer as our narrative may be about becoming homeless because of the recession



In a social realism film based on homelessness, which genre of music do you associate with this?

Taking our results into consideration we shall be focusing on the Indie and grime music genres for music in our teaser trailer. This will be meeting our audience's expectations as well as looking into creating quite a modern soundtrack to our coursework because the two most popular choices can be considered as 21st century music.

Do you feel one word titled films or longer phrases are more effective?

We are going to meet our audience's needs and make sure our title is either a single word of a short phrase

As a result of conducting this research we have found out about our audience's main need and expectations. We will now use this research to create and develop ideas for our teaser trailer.

Initial Name Ideas; Considering Branding

We have begun to discuss name ideas for our film so that we are able to set up various networking accounts and work on the branding for our teaser trailer. Below are some ideas that we came up with as a group. These were mainly based on wording that came to mind when we discussed the main theme of our film, homelessness.

We will continue to work on these names as we consider tag lines for our film and receive further audience research feedback which we will carry out, mainly in the form of polls. However, these are a good basis for us as a team to think about. We will be carrying out a poll to see which name people like most. Therefore we know we are meeting the criteria that the audience wants.

Location Scouting; Comparison of Locations

Whilst looking at various locations for a place to film our teaser trailers, we found two possible locations where we could film the shot of our protagonist sleeping in a doorway. In order to pick which one to use, we weighed up the pros and cons of each location;

Bat & Ball

Pros; if shot at night the lighting from surrounding shops could be used to illuminate the doorway, a wider doorway means bigger space for us to work with, so the protagonist could actually lay down in the larger area, doorway never used therefore filming would not be disrupted, stairs could also be incorporated in the shot.

Cons; location right by a main road so traffic may disrupt filming, location seems quite clean and tame, the door looks old fashioned and rustic which does not depict a city location, location on a fairly busy pathway therefore pedestrians may disrupt filming

Tonbridge

Pros; The graffiti sprayed on the door creates perfect the mise en scene as it is has connotations of London or another city location, the ripped sign and rusty door gives the location a grimey feel, location is in a back alley therefore traffic and pedestrians would not disrupt filming.

Cons; limited lighting around the location therefore would have to supply our own, scaffolding in front of doorway so limited space to place the camera, doorway may be on private property, location below a local night club therefore may have sound interference.



Both of these location would be suitable for the shot as they fit the requirements. However we feel that we should feel the shot in Tonbridge because the added graffiti and industrial look would create greater mise en scene and compliment the teaser trailer's location as a whole.

Location Scouting; Continued

Another town which we decided to location scout was Bat & Ball. Here are some possible locations we found around the area;

Bat & Ball

Shots of run down or abandoned shops could be Incorporated in our mise en scene to enhance the rough life our protagonist has to live in. The graffiti also adds to the city feel of the London location. We could have shots of our protagonist sitting outside this location begging or sleeping rough.

The use of a shot of our protagonist running down an alley could be used in our teaser trailer to represent the character running away from her troubled life or running away from someone or something. We could use this alley way as it's in a discrete location so members of the public or other noises won't interrupt the filming. I particularly like the wired fence on one side as it gives a prison like feel showing how our protagonist is trapped from normality. However there is a lot of greenery in the area which takes away the city look of the location but we could just film without the trees in the shot to solves this problem.

Our teaser trailer could have a shot of our protagonist using one of these wooden platforms as something to sleep on or to interact with. We could also use them in the background of our shots to show that the area our protagonist is currently in is abandoned or derelict.

The close positioning of the houses with the run down looking garages in front makes this shot look quite urban. This is supported by the grey and brown shades of the buildings and metal staircases. This location would be good to use for a shot of our protagonist running because it is a large open area with an industrial background.

We thought this location could be effective because of the size of the space as well as the run down look of the location. However it would probably would not be best to film in as it is on Private property as well as being by a very busy road with traffic lights. This may lead to the traffic disrupting our filming or being told to leave the sight.

Overall the Bat & Ball location would be good to film at because some areas of it appear quite industrial and city looking. We could definitely use it for many of our running shots because it is quite away from the busy public. However many of the places we took pictures of are private property so we would have to seek permission before hand.

Promotional Package; The Website

As a part of our research I deconstructed the website for the 2006 British Drama film London to Brighton.

The Front Page

This is the first page the audience sees when entering the London to Brighton website. The main feature of the page is to promote the release of the film on DVD so that the audience is encouraged to buy it. Also through the use of imagery it shows that there is homogeny between the webpage and the DVD cover as they use the same images, typography and layout. The only options on the front page is to enter the website or to go to Play.com (where the DVD can be purchased) which limits the audiences options and encourages them to interact more with the film and it's promotional package. The use of a red and white colour scheme suggests that it is a very English film because of the similarity to red and white English flag. This supports the films genre of British drama

The Navigation Page

The navigation page uses the same "London to Brighton" typography and positioning as the main page to create a sense of branding.The layout of the page seems to resemble a newspaper which portrays a very British feel to the website. There is constant mention of the awards the film has either won or been nominated for which is used to impress the audience. It also shows that it is a good film considering it has won awards and therefore a wider audience will be interested. The website is user friendly because it is easy to navigate around. This is done through hovering over one of the images with the mouse and the title of the page you are about to click on appears in a gold colour to stand out. The page also has a mini music player at the top which plays music relevant to the time and location of the film. With this playing in the background it sets the mood of the film, for the audience.

By deconstructing this British drama film website we can consider it as a source of inspiration for our own coursework. I particularly liked the use of the music player because it added an extra dimension to the website. This because instead of just visually attracting the audience they are being attracted through audio as well. I also liked the constant mention of reviews and awards which the film has won. I feel we should try and mention our own reviews on our website to make the film seem a lot more real rather than a A2 piece of coursework.

Location Scouting

Today we went location scouting in order to find a effective but suitable place to film our teaser trailer. We looked at the backstreets Tonbridge high street and here are some images of the possible locations that could be used;

Tonbridge

A large open area with benches could be used for for many different shots because of the space. However may not include the trees in these shots because it gives the location a rural feel which is not usually found in cities.




A bench outside Sainsburys could be used for a shot of the protagonist sleeping rough or sitting and staring into space.

A shot of the protagonist running down this alley way could be used to represent her running away from the problem shes faces in her life. The rubbish on the floor and the run down buildings gives the mise en scene a grimey feel which is effective when trying to portray the rough conditions our protagonist is forced to live in. We could also use the small cupboard on the left as somewhere for her to live.

We took this shot because the close positioning of all the buildings makes the area seem quite industrial and built up just like the typical conception of London. The over growing plants and aged wooden fences also makes the area seem quite run down which we could use to our advantage to create an establishing shot of the backstreets of London.

This shot of the back alleys of Tonbridge appear gritty and unclean which could be used to emphasise the poor quality of life our protagonist will have to live in. We could use the large bins for the shot where our protagonist finds a blanket in one of them. The location is also in a convenient place away form traffic and the public therefore our filming won't be disrupted.

Many of these location which we scouted in Tonbridge could be used within our own teaser trailer. Although our trailer is meant to be set in London, we could use this location as it has no indication that it is Tonbridge. Also filming in Tonbridge would be more convenient for our media group as it is closer to home.

Full Promotional Package Analysis; Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a dream "depicts different forms of addiction leading to the characters’ imprisonment in a world of delusion and reckless desperation that is subsequently overtaken and devastated by reality." The genre is quick confusing, yet it is most definitely a gritty psychological drama that reflects the true harshness of life and the devastating problems people can encounter.

Poster analysis;

Having deconstructed the poster, it would appear that a key aspect of which makes this appealing is the originality and contrast between the three separate thirds. The three thirds appear to have no connection and this helps it to stand out and be more memorable. However, this could easily be really clever or go very wrong. So therefore, it must be an important thing to consider when designing the layout of our promotional poster.

Website Analysis;

The requiem for a dream website is definitely unique and at times very confusing. However, it is brilliantly creative. There is not a homepage, as such, for the website but a series of part-interactive flash images. Below are a few examples;





This is just a small selection of the number of interactive pages that come onto the screen when looking at the website. It appears to have no clear anchorage but everything is relevant to the film. It would only be understood by someone that had previously seen the film. It leaves a viewer that has not seen the film before very confused and bewildered. It does not play the trailer or give any clear information about the film. Although this is very effective and creative, it may leave the viewers bewildered and confused which is not what we wish to portray to the audience. So this may not be a viable option for our promotional package but there may be some aspects of the website we wish to consider such as the interactive options.

Trailer Analysis;

The use of fast jump cut editing creates a sense of tension and builds up the emotion for the audience from the beginning. As it is a theatrical trailer, it does give away a lot in regards to the narrative, the viewer can already tell that it will not end happily for the characters. The trailer begins at a slow pace, speeds up and then slows down again. Phrases are repeated from the beginning again at the ending, reflecting the cycle that goes on throughout the film.