Drafts

 



Today I drafted up my two ancillary tasks.  I produced the layout and colours schemes for each to give me a rough guide to how I should construct the layout, which should be conventional to that of the industry. For my poster, it needs to resemble the conventional layout of modern posters today and for my magazine cover it needs to follow the common layout for a magazine cover. The one on the left is the draft for my film poster, whilst the one on the right is the draft for my magazine cover.

POSTER DRAFT

The draft on the left is the draft of my film poster for one of my ancillary tasks. The first thing i did was to roughly sketch the contents of my layout which required the text positioning such as the title and the actors name. In addition to this I drew up where I would place the image of my poster. I decided to use black as the background colour of my poster I think it is a very easy colour to work with and is a colour where it sets the background for a psychological thriller. All the text apart from the title I have planned to have white as it is the stand out colour against the black and therefore the text will be noticeable. The lifeline will also be white to give the title a ghost-like feel and works very well against the background and compliments the red glow I am hoping to create, giving it a defining colour and it will suit nicely with my psychological thriller. This all comes form the mock up title I created and I believe I will be sticking with. The title font of PARADOX is going to be black with a white glow so that the title itself looks like its part of the background and has been defined by the glow, giving the title as a whole a a suitable look for a psychological thriller title. the main image will be drawn from my poster photoshoot I will be taking and I will choose the image that I believe suits this poster the best.

One thing I should of mentioned in my drafts was the text size, but now I believe that you cannot define a font or size in a draft and is more a process of experimentation and seeing which fonts and lettering look better and suit the poster the best bearing in mind the genre of my film. 

MAGAZINE DRAFT


For mt magazine draft I also decided to to follow the conventional layout for a magazine with key things such as the name of the magazine being at the top of the page. In addition this the positioning of the price and issue would be here as well. In order to maintain the holistic approach to my print production I am looking for the font colour of the title to be black as the background colour is also black. To make the title stand out I am looking to make a whitish glow of outline around it so the magazine is based on a special issue just for my film PARADOX. I was thinking of also making my front cover of my magazine to have a certain theme and what better theme to have for my film than Halloween. 'Halloween special' will be in orange, giving it that autumn ghoulish look, and the red glow should also enforce this. Again in terms of layout i have   decided to included a bar at the bottom of the page to show what other films are included in this issue. Again i am looking to make the text white as it will stand out against the black background and have red dashes to make my front cover link to my film. The main image of my image of my magazine cover will be one from the product of my magazine photoshoot, which will take place after the construction of my poster. I am looking to included the character of patient 13 on both my poster and magazine cover to make it look  as professional as possible holistically. Although, i have to make sure that the images are not similar in any sense and look like two completely different images, through lighting and depth of field, but at the same time give the sense of mystery and ambiguity. Other attributes of my draft such as the lettering for paradox will be red. In a nutshell, all the title and sub titles apart from the magazine header will be red whilst the text underneath shall be white. This will work very well in linking my two print productions together in order to make my work integrate with each other and relate to each other. I also had an idea i could include a red sticker on the front with white text on it promoting a special article on it, making my work look a little more conventional to the industry standard.


Again the font size and style of text is something I am looking to experiment with as I think that in order to get this element right so that it works with the rest of the page it needs to be tested with several fonts and different font sizes so that I can take ideas and edit it accordingly. Also this is where feedback of different versions of my work will come in handy as i can take the best element of all the different versions and bring them together in one final piece that will have the best of everything.


NOTE: the drafts I have drawn out have all come from the ideas of my research into the media industry conventions. All my research has helped me into making these drafts and further research and process will also help to make my work excel and maximise my ideas potential.




 will be constantly interlinking my ideas and implementing, so in hindsight I will be applying ideas to the drafts.

Casting....

Today I decided to cast for my teaser trailer to get everything ready and the people involved wouldn't be in any confusion about the events of the planning of the shooting and process of the teaser trailer. The location for casting happened in an empty classroom during one of my free lessons and I hand picked a few people to come in and speak to me about the availability and willingness to help me with my project. In the discussion I had with the candidates I explained the idea and plot of my story and how I am going to fit it into a teaser trailer. Another key factor I explained to the candidates the kind of things they would be doing, just in case they were uncomfortable with anything. At the end of the casting session I went home  thought about everything and decided it was suitable to get everyone I spoke to involved in my teaser trailer one way or another.

For the main role of the patient I decided to assign the role to myself as I believe it is suitable for me to have this role as if its the main role I can work around it for things like the photoshoot and the construction of the ancillary tasks.

I assigned the Dr Jones role to James Glover because i thought he fitted the role perfectly. These are the two main roles and i decided to use everybody else in the casting session as the hospital members. this casting session was very important as to the continuation of my project

The purpose of casting for my teaser trailer is a conventional part of the pre-production stage of project. The implementation of casting into my project also adds the professional touch I'm trying to achieve in every aspect of my project. My next steps would be to do a photoshoot in order to get material for my poster and magazine cover. To do this I will have to book the photography dark room in school to be able to do this. The photoshoot will revolve around the main character of my idea, which is patient 13 (who is played by myself)

Objectives to be completed in the next week:

- Photoshoot for poster and magazine

- Draft layouts and design of my magazine and film poster

- First draft of both magazine and film poster

My idea...

' The single most important fact, perhaps, of the entire movie industry that nobody knows anything'- William Goldman.

This quote form William Goldman defines one of the aspects I must cover for this to a succeed in what I am trying to create. This quote will be one of the driving forces of the my project as it will give me the confidence I need to go ahead with my project.

'We were born in an analogue era, we shall die in a digital one'- Paul Schrader

This also defines the era of the world we live in today and everything is constantly advancing and the whole concept of web 2.0, where the Internet is ours to control and we control everything that goes on there. This helps my projects as the main theme of the project is creating a promotional package and the digital factor of it is key to my project as my research has guided me to know that today's movie industry heavily relies on global digital mediums.

After about a couple of days after coming up with my brainstorm of ideas and choosing what idea i was going to use to concentrate on and build a detailed narrative and story. So I will start by writing a synopsis of my idea and then a pitch for it.

Synopsis of my film

The setting of my film is an Asylum for the worlds mystery patients and there's one patient who is the biggest mystery of them all, Patient 13. Apart from the obvious white hospital clothing he wears a distinctive bandage around his eyes, as he is blind.  Patient 13 is a quiet and obedient character, but after the staff discover weird drawings in his cell and the head of the hospital gets a specialist doctor, Dr. Jones, who sets out to investigate the mind of Patient 13. Patient 13 is told by Dr Jones to draw what he thinks he looks like and what he thinks Dr Jones looks like. Patient 13 draws himself as an angel and draws Dr Jones as a demon. This leads to a number of weird deaths of the staff of hospital and No one knows what has happened. Dr Jones eventually finds more drawing of plans of the deaths of the staff members in the cell of patient 13 and finds out, through a letter in his cell,  that Patient 13 has been possessed by the devil to believe he is an angel and everybody else is evil and it is Patient 13's duty to rid the world of evil, ending in a mass killing spree which Dr Jones needs to sort out.

Characters

Patient 13: Patient 13 is a ambiguous character who does what he is told and doesn't cause much trouble, just mystery. He wear a white stray jacket and a distinctive white blindfold, suggesting he is blindfold. he wears this blindfold as he was blinded at a young age and was admitted into the mental institute because he believed he could see after he had his eyes removed. his calm obedient character breaks as he is possessed by the devil who is timing everything to unleash his wrath by using patient 13.

Dr Jones: Dr Jones is a recently divorced specialist psycho analyst who is struggling to get over his divorce and loss of custody of his two little girls. Along with these stresses comes his job which adds to his depression as he never was confident in his abilities until he studied Patient 13, who the doctor realises is any ordinary mental patient and embarks on a dangerous investigation investigating him. Apart from all his problems he still dress smartly in a suit.


Female Doctor: This character is that of a previous doctor that was looking into the case of Patient 13 and unbeknown to Dr Jones no one has told about her as she failed in attempting to solve the case of Patient 13, resulting in her death form the wrath of Patient 13 himself.


Locations

Hospital: The hospital is the location for the whole film and is the centre of the chaos. All investigations, interrogations and events occur at this hospital. The appearance of the hospital is a big complex which looks like a very well run and sharp system which reflects  the persona the head of the hospital has.

Pitch 

One mental hospital, a possessed patient who go's on a killing spree and one Doctor who sets out to sort the problem out. Outcome? A psychologically testing and  challenging journey of stopping a ruthless character. Thrown is the gripping back story of the present, with the past heavily influencing it.

I have decided to do my two ancillary tasks first i thought it would be more effective and convenient for me to do the ancillary tasks first so it would lead up to the creation of the teaser trailer. The next stages of my process would be to cast a crew for this project in order to do photoshoots for both the poster and magazine cover and the teaser trailer itself.

Case study on Classification...

The rating 12 didn't come about till around the year 2000 as when it was being considered by the BBFC it was in response to people's complaints who felt that they would be better placed to decide what their kids could watch. This issue came along frequently, especially when a new James Bond film out.

In 2001, a survey showed that the public was only in favour of the 12 rating if under 12's were accompanied by an adult throughout the film. A year later, another survey was conducted and the results were identical, the only difference was that the survey asked about introducing a 12A rating.

In 2002, Spiderman was released under a 12 rating. The distributor did request it to be a PG but was given a 12 due to  a level of personal violence and and a revenge theme that went beyond the boundaries of the PG guidelines. This created a great disappointment by under 12's as they have been the ones that had been targeted with Spiderman merchandise and toys and the BBFC received many letters from children that were bitterly disappointed.

After the introduction of 12A, Sony Pictures decided to re-release the film so all the young fans that missed out first time round could capitalise on the classification of 12A. The BBFC announced that the decision to classify sit as 12A had nothing to do with pressure, but the realisation of children growing up and maturing along with parents being in a better decision to decide what their children should watch. Altogether, Spiderman grossed over $820 million and can be suggested that the re-release helped with this total gross figure. Many people gained the misconception that Spiderman was the first 12A film due to the uproar on the matter, but The Bourne Identity proved to be the first 12A rated film in Britain.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Classification of my film

To add professionality to my production work I decided to add a rating to my film to maintain my objective of making my work as efficient and to the best of my ability. I also decided to base my rating on the BBFC guidelines and take into account everything they would such as legalities. My film is a psychological thriller/horror and I have to be careful to not include too much gore in my idea and trailer so it does not limit my age range and so I do not have to change my marketing approach. After careful considerations, weighing up everything about my idea and research into the rating of other psychological thrillers, I decided to give my film an age rating of 15. This will allow my to effectively market my campaign around my original target audience. Additionally, I chose a 15 rating as it focuses more on psychological themes as opposed to blood and gore. After deciding on a rating I surveyed my idea and poster and asked what rating they thought it should, this was my response instead of sending it to the BBFC to rate because its not an official film and everybody said it should be a 15. I accomplished my objective of succeeding in the rating that I wanted.

Classification...

One very important aspect of creating a film idea from scratch is always thinking about your target audience. By keeping in mind the target audience, I Can ensure I am do very accordingly and effectively as it will always relate back to the market I am creating this film for. In order to put a classification onto my film I decided to do some background research on how films are classified, included the basis for categorising them as PG or an 18. I have decided to do this as it will make my research more professional and conventional; to the industry standards.

Classification is very important as it creates an idea of what kind of film you are paying to watch and the type of content it has. In Britain the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) has to classify films by law before they are shown to the audience. This makes sure that certain content isn't shown to the wrong age group. the BBFC have guidelines to classify a film and have the power to classify a film a higher or lower rating, for example if the target audience of a film was a 12A, The BBFC have the power to make a 15 if they deem it as not appropriate for a 12A. This should rarely happen as distribution companies should always relate to their target audience and judge most decisions whether it is appropriate and suits the chosen target audience as the classification of the film will pave the way for the marketing campaign of a film.

The BBFC base their guidelines on three main considerations:

1. Legal - Whether material may break the law or breach legalities of obscenity, equality, incitement and the protection of children.

2. Protective- Whether material is scrutinised  for its potential to cause harm. However this is an area of great debate.

3. Societal- When material is reviewed with broader public opinion in mind with particular regard to language .

The BBFC rating system :

U- Universal (suitable for all). Films produced by Disney are usually a U rating.
PG- Parental Guidance (general viewing, some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Example- The Simpson's movie.
12- Suitable for 12 year olds and older. Example- Pirates of the Caribbean.
12A- Children younger than 12 may only see a film accompanied by an adult. Example- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
15- Suitable for 15 year olds and older, no one younger may watch it in the cinema. Example- The Final Destination franchise.
18- Suitable for adults only. No one younger may watch this film in the cinema. Example- The Exorcist.

In comparison the the BBFC in Britain there is the MPAA in America (Motion Picture Association of America). The MPAA have a slightly different rating system and tend to be a lot more cautious in classifying a film.

G- General audiences. All audience admitted.

PG- Parental guidance suggested.

PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.

NC-17 - No One 17 and Under Admitted.

R- Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. 

Coming up with an idea...

Brainstorm of film ideas

At first I couldn't come up with a solid idea and i decided to brainstorm some to get my creative juices flowing and to try and capture the 'idea' that i am attempting to create. Along with ideas i also came up with different styles films, such as POV and a silent film. Along with the style I made thought provoking words and notes around it to produce a plot and storyline.

Furthermore, I researched what is included in Psychological thrillers and came up with a list of things that should be included in the idea of my film and the codes and conventions of this particular genre.

-Stream of consciousness : This includes me having to come up with a protagonist and describe whatever he/she is thinking and always engaging the audience with the characters state of mind being the centre of the narrative. Other techniques such as visuals and symbolic memories will help with this particular key technique of  Psychological thrillers.

-First person narrative: most films of this particular genre follow a first person narrative that follows the protagonist and he/she always talks and refers to themselves as 'I'. This technique is very effective as it develops an invisible bridge that joins the audience and the character. Additionally, it makes the audience become directly involved as a relationship is formed as the character is always talking, creating the effect that he is almost speaking to you directly.

-Back story: The past of the character (if one) that is the centre of attention as to why the narrative is. This deepens the storyline and leads to why the protagonist does what he does and why. It is important to have a back story as it doesn't leave psychological thrillers open as there needs to be some order and intrigue to build a relationship with the Protagonist.

Even though i will not be going in deep into these techniques I need to make it evident that they are not only in my trailer but in my whole promotional package.

With these techniques combined it makes the formula and skeleton of a psychological thriller and i have to flesh it out with an idea that covers all these techniques.

After some deliberation and weighing out which idea would work best with the genre codes and conventions I came to a conclusion and I decided to go with the dream/nightmare idea on the top right of my brain storm as I believe it will be the most appropriate idea to do a promotional package as I am not limited to certain rules like those if I chose the POV film. I also decided yo go with this idea as I believe it is the one that will appeal the most to my target audience, following in the footsteps of films such as Inception and Shutter island. My next steps will be creating more of a detailed story and creating a pitch for it. In addition to this, I will also thinking about additional features so I can create my promotional package and ways in which i can advertise it.

Picking a Genre...

After thinking a while about the genre I was going to try and develop an idea for, it became apparent that it had to fit in and tie in with my chosen target audience demographic. In addition to this, my research came in very useful at this point, as Cloverfield was targeted at a 'YouTube genration', referring to the increasing online age. With all this in mind I began generating film ideas and put them into categories and did a survey about what genre film is most popular amongst my age group...

Survey Conducted

With my survey I asked 37 people and gave them a list of different film genres where each person got to choose two genres that they enjoyed watching the most. From my survey I found that there was three genres that were very popular: Horror, Mystery and Thriller. With this information I decided to do some further thinking about how I could fuse these genres together and come up with a new genre that included all three. In the end I came up with the idea of  going down the psycho thriller/horror genre.

Psychological Thriller – Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller

I found this definition of Psychological thriller in the context of the typical Psychological thriller. If I am to carry out a film of this genre I will have to pay close attention to the conventions of this genre and follow the codes. In addition to this, I am hoping to mix this genre with a bit of horror to create that 'punch' factor. Even though I am only doing a promotional package with a teaser trailer I still have to bare in mine all these things, as it is the teaser trailers that hooks the audience.

I chose this genre as it is very popular with the teenage demographic with films such as Paranormal Activity and Inception generating the buzz that started from this demographic. This genre obviously captures the attention of my chosen demographic. With is, it also opens a broader field in the resources I can use and the field to paint my ideas and products. Another reason I chose this particular genre is because it is a genre that, in the past, is known for its viral marketing campaigns and would follow the codes and conventions if I chose this genre to base a viral marketing campaign around.