Final Task

Preliminary Task

question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt from it to the final product?

Since making my preliminary task i think i have improved in all areas of the film making process through theoretical and practical work. Our preliminary task required that we create a short scene that included a match-on-action shot and shot-reverse-shot without breaking the 180 degree rule.This taught us the complete basics of how to use a camera and how to create scenes with it.
As well as this we also created a short film entitled "The Package" which we designed and filmed ourselves. This gave us a flavour of what film making was like and it also allowed us to test out editing for the first time using Final Cut Pro X. It was these base skills that i developed and furthered through practical work that lead me to create my final piece.

For my piece I decided to work on my own as i felt that nobody wanted to create the same style of piece that i did. This meant that I was involved in every aspect of making my film from planning to construction. 
In terms of planning I learnt a great deal; previously for our preliminary task and the short film task called "The Package" we had done minimal planning other than an extremely basic, rough and brief story board. When planning my film i learnt to make a detailed and clear storyboard that displayed camera movements, the framing of the shot and also denoted any sound effects or movement withing the shot. As well as this i learnt how to create a 'shot-list' which told me the type of shot, the content of the shot, the type of cut between shots and the actors on screen during the scene. 
These were exceedingly helpful in the filming of my piece as it allowed me to work efficiently on location, organize my actors effectively, get the footage i needed and, most importantly, produce a high standard of work.

After all the planning had taken place the next area that i moved on to was the filming. I feel that I have improved a huge amount from my preliminary task when comparing it to my final piece; for a start the camerawork in my thriller opening is vastly more developed than in my preliminary task. In my opening i used a variety of different shots to create certain moods and to give my piece a certain style. One thing that i feel i used effectively and to a great extent was the use of manual focus. I wanted to use manual focus because it gives footage a unique quality that makes it appear very professional. It also distinguishes itself from the highly stylised hollywood definition of  an"action-thriller" which often look like the frames have been meticulously crafted piece by piece, creating a more slick film. This is not want i wanted to achieve when filming and so i used this technique.  I did not use manual focus in every shot as i did not want to limit the type of shots i could achieve but it was an integral part in making my film look the way it does.
I also learnt to use camera levels and angles effectively to shift the balance of power between characters, thus building a more interesting scene.As my filming was outside i found trying to attain certain shot compositions, in particular closed, very difficult as i was not able to control the general public moving in and out of my shot. This was one limitation that was not easy to overcome however  i overcame this by making that anything moving in and out of shot was in the background away from the main focus of the scene. I feel that i have developed my skills in camerawork ten-fold since my preliminary task.

In terms of using Final Cut Pro X, i have feel that i have become reasonably adept in the skill of editing. For my preliminary task the only editing that took place was cutting the length of clips and putting them together. This was not the case for my final piece as i used a number of different techniques when editing. The first is the titles that appear during my opening; this was the first time that i had attempted using titles in any media piece and i had to make sure that the font, the way they entered and left the scene and finally the placement of the titles in the scene. I think that i pulled this off very well as they are clear but don't detract from the story on screen.
A second element of my film that i utilised was the use of sound. This was an extremely complex aspect of my film as i used multiple types of sound; I included some copyright free music that built tension and gave the piece a creepy feeling, i used a voiceover to explain the backstory of why the main character was out for revenge and in the scenes that required ambiance i took recordings of the surroundings and looped them so that there was diegetic sound in the scene and it wasn't silent. I also used the directional microphone to record dialogue which i then synced to the video footage and also added effects on the narrative, such as a bass amplifier to make the voice more masculine.

Overall i think i have developed my skills as a film maker and editor to a great extent. I feel the area that i progressed most in was sound as i had minimal knowledge of how it worked and how i was able to manipulate it. I also progressed on the editing and camerawork side of the task and i thoroughly enjoyed making my film. I am happy with my title sequence and it really displays the amount i have learnt since the preliminary task.

Evaluation question 6

http://prezi.com/slhyh3clh1ei/untitled-prezi/

Evaluation Question 5

How do you attract/ address your audience?

I looked at a number of techniques to attract and address the audience that i wanted for my film. I did not want an extremely niche audience as that severely limits the number of people who may want to watch my film (e.g. making a film specifically for those going through marriage difficulties-teenagers would most likely not want to see this thus the audience is greatly limited).
I classified my film as a 15 due to some of the key themes that are present in the film. One major part of the film is the violence in it which appears glorified by the main character as he seeks vengeance and retribution. I felt that this attracted a teen and young adult audience as many teenagers in our society today feel a lot of pressures as they grow up; There may be times where they get angry but can't express it. I wanted the teen and young adult audience to use my film as a form of escapism as they get lost in the story of vigilante justice and they can pretend to be some being of great power for a little while. Through this escapism the teen and young adult audience can use my film as a stress release that will ultimately leave them thrilled and satisfied.  So the glorification of violence was one way in which i addressed my audience however i had to be careful that i wasn't emphasizing mindless beatings, i had to make sure that i made the purpose of the violence clear which i think i achieved.

Another way in which i attracted my audience was through the location and setting. When looking at my questionnaire the main cinemas that my sample audience visited were either art house cinemas (ie Clapham Picture House or Brixton Ritzy)  or multiplex cinemas (such as the Odeon). This gave some insight to where i wanted to set my film and ultimately i chose the slightly rough and ready areas of South West London. I chose this location because of the great gritty and realistic feel of the surroundings; there is nothing out of the ordinary in terms of location which meant that it was more relatable to by the audience. This added another element of 'thrill' and tension as in my film the main character is approached by muggers which would allow the audience to infer that crime is rife in urban environments and they may not be so safe after all.

So far the audience that i have addressed and attracted are those of age 15-25 possibly 30. The range of this audience is reasonably limited to those who enjoy thrillers, so i wanted one more aspect of my film that would hopefully attract somebody who may not enjoy thrillers but would be willing to see my piece as it interests them in some way. I think one way that i did this was through the voice over; you learn that the backstory for the vengeance was because his daughter was killed this implies that the main character could actually be reasonably old, possibly even middle aged, which would attract an older audience.
I also did not clarify the gender and age of the main character in my 2 minute opening which allows the rest of the film to be open to interpretation. The main character could be a woman or a mercenary for somebody and may not be the main character at all. Through this technique i think i broadened my audience rather than lessened it.

evaluation 4

Who would be the audience for your film?

When looking at my film there are a few conventions and themes that would suggest that my film is not for the younger generation.
In a previous piece of work i defined what criteria a 15 film must have which included: 

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• 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
• drug taking

Within my film you can see a few of these themes occuring; within the first forty seconds of my film there is a scene of a women being grabbed and through the sound of this scene, the implications are that she is stabbed and killed in a very brutal manner.

Later on there is another scene of violence where two youths, who approach the main character with intent to steal his wallet, are struck down and the film ends with the main character raising his fist and bringing it down very fast. Just before it hits the mugger, the film cuts to the title.

There are also instances of strong language being used within my two minute opening which allows the audience to imply that this will be a recurring theme within the piece. It also gives some insight into what the film may be like; the frequency of swearing may also be linked to the amount of nudity/ drug use/ racism or discrimination and portayals of sexuality. 

It is for these reasons that i have decided to classify my film as a '15'. I also think that these attributes that i have applied to my film, are appealing to people of the ages 15-30. I feel that people of these ages will watch my film as a way to escape from reality and immerse themselves in a tale of violence, loss and revenge. Seeing as there is so much violence displayed in the media today, especially through the rise of First person shooter games (Call of Duty), i thought that i would apply this to my film in order to appeal to my target audience.

I feel that my audience will be inclined to watch my film for a few reasons. The first is the genre itself, thriller is a very popular genre among the younger generation. This was shown through my questionnaire as those who viewed my film were pretty much all of the ages 17+ and of the 14 people who took part, 10 ticked the box thriller as a genre they liked. 

Another thing that supports the idea that 15-30 year olds are my audience is the criticisms of my film itself; in fact there is a distinct lack of criticism, many said they felt that it didn't need to be changed/ improved however in my opinion the voiceover is too cliché.
Oddly enough many about 7 of the 10 females ticked the thriller box in terms of genre they liked, and all the males ticked thriller. I was surprised by this as i thought among the females that thriller may be a genre that is unappealing, however this is evidently contradicted by my questionnaire results. I can now broaden my audience from mainly males aged 15-30 to males and females aged 15-30.

Evaluation question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

In terms of media institutions looking to distribute my film i would hope that my film is distributed by Film 4, TriStar Pictures and Sony pictures entertainment. I have chosen each of these distrubutors for a
number of reasons:




I have chosen Film4 because they tend to release more up and coming, indie/ documentary style films. I think this relates to my piece well as i wanted to stick to the story of a classic revenge thriller with a modern twist, however i didn't want it to be too stylised like most Hollywood thrillers. For example one thriller released by Film4 was Shifty, an interesting thriller that follows the story of a drug dealer. Film4 tend to release films that are similar to 'Shifty' in that they often have slightly controversial or unique story lines which is why i feel my film is suited to a distributor like Film4 as it has an original concept and has an indie feel about the film as it has a low budget. If the budget was to be extended i would aim to try and keep the gritty nature of the film so that it doesnt contrast with the urban environment however i would try to sharpen and stylise certain characters in it such as the main protagonist could be slightly exaggerated in his power.


I have chosen TriStar pictures as they are a distibution company that released the film District 9. Although the film had a relatively high budget the style of filming was unique in that it started as a documentary and then migrated to a constant story of the main character. I feel that my films style of filming is (especially later on in my film) similar to 'District 9' which is why i think company like TriStar Pictures would distribute my film. This would be the ultimate goal as initially this film would not have an american audience. However through distributors such as Film4 and Film London, as my film gains notoriety i would hope that it is recognised as a well made piece of film that would attract a diverse audience that is not exclusive to the UK. 

Although my film might start out in small arthouse cinemas, with a possible american company backing, a larger budget could be allowed and the film could be produced on a new scale, allowing the extending of storyline, characters and action, making the film far more thrilling and exciting to watch.

Evaluation question 2

Evaluation question 1

week 5 blog entry (what needs to be done etc.)

I have completed a number of things since the start of this term which i am extremely pleased with. So far i have completed:

• Completed a shooting schedule
• Filming and listed missing scenes
• done any reshoots and that were required
• Almost finished my rough cut which is planned to be finished by the deadline (Feb 15th)
• Most of my sound has been recorded aside from the narration which will be finished and applied to the video rough cut shortly
• i have started my question 7 evaluative essay

Things that i need to do:

• I Must complete my ident which will be filmed over half term
• i need to source some music and SFX
• I need to remake my titles and some of my graphics as i am extremely unhappy with what i have produced and thus not uploaded it.
• Polish my film and make it look proffessional.

Edit: unfortunately i ran into a little bit of an altercation with filming yesterday. Filming will take place on tuesday the 12th of february.

graphics planning

for my piece i want to create a very dark feel. I will achieve this in a number of ways by utilising elements such as fonts, filters, images and other various factors at my disposal.

Firstly there is one font which i am particularly keen on which is used in the woman in black:
as you can see here the font is white and placed on a dark background. The font is also distorted slightly to make it look as if there is light shining behind it. This also makes the font appear very "spooky" and scary.

Unfortunately i feel that this font is more reminiscent of a 'pure-bred' horror film rather than a thriller which is why i want to use a font that is similar to this although not exactly the same.

week 4 diary entry

Over the past week I have dfilmed almost all my shots for my piece. I need to film 1 more scene which I plan to do this weekend and it should not take more than an hour. Luckily the shots are not forming a constant narrative so continuity with the snow is not a problem.

As well as this I have completed a large amount of editing so far on my piece and I have already received some helpful constructive feedback from my teacher. For example a lot of my shots felt very disconnected and it did not seem like a constant narrative; it felt more like a trailer. However i have rectified this and it seems more like a story now.

I need to record the sound for it, which will not take long at all and I can do it in a lunch period at school.

After this all I need to is complete my editing and I will upload my rough cut within the next few weeks.

Scott Bailey Notes

Editing and Sound

• In the first scene the conversation we are listening to is quite loud in comparison to the diegetic sound of the restaurant. This creates the sense of intimacy between the man and the woman as if they are close.
• As the man starts to talk about the relationship ending, the diegetic music in the background reaches the chorus. It highlights the ending of the relationship by being contrapuntal to the situation as the music being played is a love song.
• When we first hear the man speak his voice is quite deep and low which implies authority, however as he speaks he stumbles a lot causing his air of authority to degrade and making him appear weak and 'flimsy'.
• Once the women in the scene has had enough of listening to the mans petty excuses for why he wants to call it off she bangs the table in anger, stands up and leaves. This is interesting for a few reasons: The short flash of anger as she bangs the table in frustration makes the women appear more masculine. She is also very composed and appears strong as she leaves the table. This composure is not how a stereotypical heart-broken women are often portrayed, showing that this women is authoritative and robust in emotion.
• The screech of the chair is accentuated by making the noise slightly louder. This creates an awkwardness about the scene.
• In one of the scenes a leading police detective asks the heart-broken women if she had a "late night last night?". She responds by saying yes and the scene instantly cuts to a flashback of the previous night which appears to be what she was thinking about.
• During the flashback the women asks her 'lover' why he wanted to call it off as she is angry and confused. As she realises he was having an affair she begins to leave and says "don't worry i wont let your tyres down...". The scene then cuts to her in a work bathroom and she says to herself in the mirror "i might slash them though." This script bridge between scenes shows the slightly two-sided nature of the women as when in the company of someone she says she wont do something however on her own she is genuinely thinking about doing so.

week 2 diary entry

Over this past week i have achieved a few things:

• I have sourced equipment for shooting this coming sunday.
• I have created a time management schedule which has organised my actors.
• I am ready to film!

However i was not able to complete most of the things i wanted to complete. I still need to think about:

• Some more graphics planning including creating a prototype ident/logo
• completing my media essay on what i have learnt since filming my preliminary task
• Once my filming is completed I will also need to begin editing to create a rough cut and if needed i will need to reschedule some reshoots

Although this doesnt seem like much, when put in practice there is alot to be accomplished. I am a little fazed by the amount of work but i think everything will completed by the deadlines.

Time management schedule

This is the time management schedule for the weekend i am filming:

• We will be filming on the 27th of january from 10am-4pm (this may be shorter or longer depending on whether all the shots are achieved.)
• Luckily locations are very close to one another (within 500m of eachother) so travelling to each location will not prove a hinderance.
• Equipment needed on set will be: A camera and tripod, a directional mic and finally battery lights and power-packs for when it gets slightly darker.
• Costume will be provided for Radriar-Tristan Carmen. For Francesca Forristal playing the daughter, she will need to bring her own costume consisting of a coat and party atire. "Hoodies" for the muggers will be provided if they are not obtainable. They should wear sweat pants (or jeans if they don't have any), any informal shirt and trainers.
• Filming will proceed as follows.

1-1:30 quick briefing on what is going to happen, shot brief, setting up at locations, costume change etc.

1:30- 3:00 All day shots whilst the light remains.

3:00-3:30 Lunch break! Possibly for a refreshing beverage or healthy snack (apples!)

3:30-5:00 Night shots, ‘Francescas demise’ scene. The ‘Redemption’ scene with Tristan and Conrad. This time frame may be longer or shorter depending whether all the shots are obtained

Equipment will be obtained from Josh Bailey on saturday afternoon after helping him with the filming of his media piece.
Hopefully all the shots will be obtained in one afternoon, i look forward to the filming!

Film interviews

When analysing the information from these two interviews we learn a number of things.

• They both find out about films through the internet and other visual means such as posters.
• They go to films fairly infrequently so the film they are going to see must be appealing to them in certain ways.
• Although both of these interviews are from students, psychological and action thrillers seemed to be the more appealing genres.
• The certification for all the films mentioned is a 15 which does give me some insight as to the certification of what my trailer should be.

Sound Research/planning

For my piece i want to use a specific style of music to create a dark unnerving atmosphere. Hopefully this will work in harmony with my style of filming and editing.
A piece of music that is similar to the one that i would use in my piece is;

Venetian Snares - Öngyilkos Vasárnap

A hungarian piece that translates to "gloomy sunday".

The dark, slightly dreamy feeling of this piece is something that i would like to try and emulate on screen with the story that i'm telling. With music similar to this i think it will create a gloomy and thrilling piece riddled with an air of uncertainty
The thing i like most about the piece is the combination of mild drum and bass with violin. It creates an epic feel that also makes this piece relatable to present day with the "electronic" style of the music.

Another piece that is similar to what i would use in my piece is Requiem for a Dream- Clint Mansell

In my opinion this Clint Mansell is a genius. The cadences, climax's, transitions from slow and sombre to fast paced and epic are just brilliant. This is a perfect example of music that i would like to use as it would create so many brilliant contrasts between the reminiscing of the main characters death and the violent retribution that takes place. 

I intend to find something very similar with a slightly more modern edge.

Diegetic Sound

In terms of diegetic sound i will not use a huge amount. I want to create the effect that the main character is so focused on what he wants to do that the sounds of normal every day life are drowned out until only his heartbeat is heard

So for example i will take some recordings of a busy street ie. cars and buses screeching etc. Then i will  layer this with the sound of a heartbeat that will grow louder and louder as the street sounds become quieter and quieter.

This is just one example of some sound i will use. Other diegetic sound i will use is:

• The sound of a knife unsheathing
• The sound of footsteps
• the sound of someone breathing nervously

All of this sound will be layered and crafted to hopefully create an intriguing and thrilling piece of film. 

Week 1 diary entry

Over this week i have researched and completed a few things:

• I completed my sound planning which is under my research and planning labels
• I have started a short essay of what i have learnt since my preliminary task called "The Package".

This is the stuff that i need to think about:

• I need to plan when i am going to film.
• I need to write up a schedule with timings for filming, locations, which scenes will come first etc.
• Equipment needed etc.
• I also need to do a prototype ident/ logo ( this should be fairly easily achieved)

All of this will definitely be completed within the next week or so, if a problem occurs a may need a little bit more time. However I'm feeling positive about my work so far and i think it will prove to be acceptable.

Plan for the next few weeks

First week back after the christmas holidays and i realise this term will be pretty hectic. There is a lot to get done, a lot to polish up and a lot to look into:

First and foremost my filming needs to be completed by the first of February and so that is my top priority at the moment. There are a few holes in my blog which i will need to fill in, mainly concerning some graphics and sound research that was not completed in enough detail. Although this is not urgent, it is definitely necessary otherwise my blog as a whole will feel unfinished.
Another deadline that must be stuck to is completing the majority of my editing by the 15th of february. This is at the end of half term which i think is achievable although a lot of effort will be needed to complete this especially with the workload from other subjects.
Over the next few weeks i will be doing weekly blog entries to document progress, hinderances, thoughts, ideas and anything else that may be relevant to what i am doing.
I am looking forward to creating some interesting and enjoyable work!

The British FIlm industry part 3 questions

Question 1 Why do you think 3D takings went down when the number and variety of 3D films increased in 2011?

There are a number of reasons why 3D takings have gone down. The first is that the “hype” around 3D films has dissipated. When 3D first came out, it was a huge novelty. However now 3D films are very common and not as desirable as they were before as the experience is only marginally different than that of a 2D film.

The other reason that 3D takings may have gone down is that they are more expensive to produce in comparison to a 2D film. And due to these 3D films not making great money as people don’t mind what they watch, the film producers decide to make 2D films instead, thus decreasing the variety.

Question 2 Where do you think these films end up being shown?

In terms of 3d films, they are shown almost everywhere. Buying 3d film reels is now common place as they are widely available. They are shown in many small theatres as they can charge a higher price for the 3d film ticket, thus they can make a larger amount of money for a reasonable cost.

Question 3 Why do you think there are more people going to the cinema mid-week? Who are more likely to attend the cinema outside of opening weekends?

Many people find that the opening weekend is very hectic; there is a very high demand for tickets and those who prefer comfort and space may not wish to buy tickets for the opening weekend. So when all the ‘hype’ about the latest film has subsided, many people go during the week.

I feel those who are ‘middle-aged’ will prefer to attend the cinema outside of opening weekends. This is mainly because teenagers as an audience are reasonably unperturbed by a small amount of discomfort and stress affecting their movie experience and thus they go on the opening weekend.

Question 4 Why do you think there has been a decline in dvd sales in the last few years?

I feel one of the main reasons for this is the digital film market. Over the past few years, digital film providers and piracy has rocketed with the technological age. Thus people don’t bother to go out and buy hard copies when they can download a film permanently to a hard-drive which can hold more films and takes up less space. Thus Dvd’s are now becoming slightly redundant.

Question 5 Summarise what has remained the same about the Uk film market over the last ten years and what has changed dramatically?

Generally, admissions to UK cinemas have stayed the same over the last 10 years. Even though digital film streaming and downloading has increased dramatically, it is clear that there is still a huge demand for the cinema experience.

Question 6 How does film production in the UK seem to be very different from the Hollywood model of large, powerful studios?

I think one of the main differences is budget; These large, powerful Hollywood studios usually have a very large budget and thus they can afford to use lots of special effects, props and different “artificial” sets. Where as in the UK the budget is a lot smaller overall creating a different style of film. It is less “glossy” and becomes more realistic. The films tend to be about real life situations rather than apocalyptic doomsday’s where the humble hero must save the day.

Question 7 What is the benefit to a film producer of their film being branded as British? What is it about “Britishness” that is attractive to investors from outside the UK? What is it about “Britishness” that makes it easy for Hollywood studios to dominate our film market?*

One benfit is Tax Breaks. If an outside producer is able to class their film as British, then they are liable for 20% less tax. This means the producer can make 20% more money on the film and gain a larger net profit once a smaller amount of tax has been deducted.

Question 8 How many of these films could be considered as British films? How many of them are coproductions where the majority of the money leaves the country? What does this say about the scale of the UK film market?

In my opinion I would say that 10 of the films listed could be considered British.

These include: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The inbetweeners movie, The King's Speech,Sherlock Holmes a game of shadows, Johnny English Reborn, Paul, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Horrid Henry the Movie, Hugo and The Three Musketeers could be considered British Films.

Of these 10 films, There are 7 co-productions where the majority of the money made has left the country. This tells us that the scale of the UK film market is much smaller than that of America. Admittedly this is true for a number of reasons; America is geographically much larger than the UK and has a much larger population. Thus it has to cater to a larger more varied audience causing the film market to be larger.

The film industry part 2 questions

Question 1 In the UK film market, an increase in the number of the screens available to show films has not led to an increase in the number of films being shown. Why?

Although the number of screens available to show films has increased the number of films has not increased because the film industry is a product driven industry; the films are the main reason we buy tickets. However it takes time to produce these films and it is not a process that can be accelerated. So even though viewing locations are on an increase, the number of films has not increased as they are not proportional to each other.

Question 2 In your opinion what might account for the fact that cinema attendances have fluctuated between 139 million and 176 million between 1999 and 2008?

The number of ticket admissions has fluctuated due to the quality of films distributed in cinemas. In certain years many more tickets were sold than in others (ie 2002 where 176million tickets were sold). This was due to the films being produced were huge blockbusters such as Lord of the rings: The two towers grossed close to 92 million pounds. In other years films of lesser quality, and thus less demand, were produced.

Question 3 In 2011 UK film invested £330 million in advertising their new releases and on 35mm film prints. If around 450 new films receive a theatrical release in the UK every year. How much, on average, do distributors spend distributing a film in the UK?

Approximately £733333.33 per film

Question 4 This spending stirred up enormous demand – 171.5 million cinema tickets were bought in the UK in 2011. This is great news for cinemas – what’s the downside of all this excitement generated and consumer demand for film producers in the UK.

The downside for film producers in the UK is that Hollywood blockbusters, which have huge demand, take up a lot of screens and are shown for very long periods of time. This means that UK film producers do not have a very long time period to release their films when all the commotion has died down from the previous blockbuster, to release their film before the next high-demand film comes out. Thus their film is not viewed very much

Question 5 In 2004 the average cost of releasing a US film domestically was $39m, in addition to the average production cost of $63.8m, making an overall average production/distribution cost per film $102.8m. What effect might this have on Hollywood production and distribution if these increases have continued?

If these costs continue to increase, then there will be a two main effects; As these costs increase only larger companies that produce and distribute films, will be able to afford to produce and distribute films. This means smaller companies will be slowly edged out of the business as they wont be able to make enough money.

However one strange effect of this is that larger companies will actualy make more money. Research has shown that the more you invest in a film the more profit you will make out of it. Thus larger companies will make more money and dominate this industry.

Question 6 Why are more ‘middle aged’ people going to the cinema in 2011? Who, in your opinion, are the current most bankable leading actors for the ‘youth’ market in the UK?

In my opinion many more middle aged people are going to the cinema due to the experience becoming a lot more enjoyable overall. Over the past few years, theatres have developed, as have films, making the movie going experience a lot more different from ten years ago. Although many films are aimed at the younger generation, the middle aged generation go to the movies for the experience that comes with it. Another possible reason is due to the films themselves; they are now all aimed at the younger generation and thus the older generation decides to see these films as it makes them feel young again. However this is just my theory.

In terms of actors, I'd say that the most bankable actors for the youth market are Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. These two actors are in the twilight saga and they share an emotional rollercoaster of a relationship. The youth market idolises upon this, wishing they could have what they have, making their films some of the most widely viewed films across the UK.

Question 7 :

Top 10 films for the US last year; Harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2, Transformers dark of the moon, The twilight saga breaking dawn part 1, the hangover part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean on stranger tides, Fast Five, Mission impossible ghost protocol, Cars 2, Sherlock Holmes a game of shadows and Thor

Of those films only these made a profit:

Twilight saga: Breaking Dawn part 1, The Hangover part 2

Question 8 Jerry Bruckheimer is still producing films today- find some of the recent films he's produced and look at the trailers. Is he still a 'high-concept' producer? Michael Bay has taken over his mantle as the go-to man for the 'event' movie. Watch some of the trailers for his recent films- does he deserve his reputation for films that are high on effects and low on narrative ?

Some of the most recent films Jerry Bruckheimer has produced are “Pirates of the Carribean: On stranger tides”, “The Sorcerers Apprentice” and “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time”. When looking at Jerry Bruckheimer's most recent films, I would say that he is not a high-concept producer; These most recent films are relating to fantasy that don't have a chance of ever possibly occuring in real life. For example “Jurassic Park” is a high-concept film as it asks the question “what if we could clone dinosaurs?” and continues on a scenario from there onwards. With Bruckheimer's most recent films, this question is not present. Instead they are movies that rely heavily on narrative and story to grab interest and involve the audience as they can't relate to that specific scenario. For this reason I feel that Mr Bruckheimer is not a high-concept film producer.

Some of Michael Bay's most recent films are the “Transformer” series which include: “Transformers,” “Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and he also produced “I am Number Four” which is the story of an Alien hiding from intergalactic bounty hunters.

When looking at these most recent films it is easy to see why he may have earned this reputation as a producer of films that are high on effects but low on narrative. Transformers requires a huge amount of effects and Computer Generated Images. However Michael Bay has also produced films such as “The Unborn,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake),” and “Nightmare on Elm Street (remake)” which are all films that require minimal Special effects. Although these films did not gross as much as the High effects films, they were still good films. Michael Bay is most known for films like “Transformers” thus he has gained an according reputation which I think is not particularly fair. In the future I think he will produce an amazing film with a complex narrative and secure plotline that will alter his reputation from being an Effect “Junkie” to a well-rounded producer.

Look up the companies:

a) Fox searchlight

b) Paramount Vantage

Find some recent indiewood type films- ones associated to a certain “Art House” feel yet connected to a big holly wood studio- that these companies have produced. Who are their films aimed at?

Certain indie-style films that Fox Searchlight have produced are Juno and Once. The story of Juno consists of an unexpectedly pregnant girl who decides to give her baby to what she thinks is the perfect couple. However as the babys birth nears she realises that the couple are coming closer and closer to a divorce as she falls in love with the biological father of the baby.

I feel this film would appeal to anyone from the age of 15-40 as it incorporates both teens and young adults.

Once is the inspirational tale of two kindred spirits who find each other on the bustling streets of Dublin. One is a street musician who lacks the confidence to perform his own songs. The other is a young mother trying to find her way in a strange new town. As their lives intertwine, they discover each other's talents and push one another to realize what each had only dreamt about before. Once is their inspiring story.

This film is also aimed at an audience that ranges from teenager to those of middle-age as they can reminisce about love and passion.

One of Paramount Vantage's films that is an indie style picture is “the Son Of Rambow”. A charming tale of two boys, completely dissimilar in every way but both with a vision of creating their on “Rambo” movie. The movie delves into subjects such as friendship and humility. Its a fantastic story that can be enjoyed by everyone over the age of 12 making it extremely accessible to everyone and thus creating a larger margin for profit.

Question 9: Write a short essay on the following questions;

a) To what extent does Hollywood dominate the Uk Film market

b) How has it managed to retain its stranglehold?