Film noir are particular types of film in which were made in the 1940s to 1950sduring the clinical depression period after the First World War. The term film noir means ‘black film’ in French. This is as the cinematography of these films are set in black and white. Film noir in this era is usually connected with low key lighting or black with a visual style. As Black and white films were, I think used to bring out more of its features to the audience as you can see a lot more with the contrast of light and dark lighting. Films in this genre in the 1940s to later dates consist of ‘Double Indemnity’ and ‘strangers on a train’.
Film noir the genre is based on the usual story lines of crime, murder, mystery, betrayal etc. The reason why noir films are based on this is because it interests the audiences by building suspense and making it more of an up beat tempo to it. There are differences even between the character genders in film noir to films these days. The male characters seem to be more dominant playing the main characters like the corrupt policemen or just in crime in general. They are also seen as imperfect people and are shown to have weak points.
The female characters are seen to be less dominant and more vulnerable and innocent in the film noir genre. The ‘femme fatale’ statement is used to judge what the female gender is like in film noir. This is concluded on the fact of the females being more seductive and dangerous which attracts the males in the film.
Another part of the film noir character is antiheroes. An antihero is a person who lacks the attributes or characteristics of a typical hero. They can often display vulnerable or weak traits as well as can be often classed as a villain or bad guy. The anti hero with some of its qualities of a villain, up to and including brutality and Ruth fullness, but with a soul or more motivations of a conventional hero. In film noir films the audience often identifies who the anti hero is straight away. The anti hero can be though yet sympathetic, and the anti hero often functions outside the mainstream and challenges it.
The lighting in film noir films is very important. The use of chiaroscuro which is the contrast of black and white in the mise en scene dictates who or what is good or bad in the film. This also heightens the sense of alienation felt by the viewer which is mainly used in this genre of film. The darker shadows and not much use of light represent darkness and evil. In some noir films the lighting can be used intentionally or sometimes it is just natural light. Lighting that has been used intentionally is called ambient lighting whilst natural lighting is called non-ambient. Ambient lighting is used to help lighten up the darker areas to set the scene to control the contrast of dark and light.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
Evaluation Question 7) Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?
From the preliminary task to now i think that i have learnt a lot about producing a film. It was more complicated doing our own thriller as we had to take in more what everything meant in the scene, the mise-en-scene.
This included like camera shots and angles, costume, locations etc. This also varied from the preliminary task as we didn’t have anything set that we had to do e.g. someone sitting down and having a conversation. Where as in our thriller production we had to come up with a story line and plot and make it from scratch.
In the preliminary task we were allowed to use whatever sound track we liked whereas in the production we were not allowed to use any copyrighted music which took quite a while to get the right soundtrack that suited the opening.
The casting of the actors was very different as well as we did not have a lot of time to get people in the preliminary task so we had to use who was in our group where as in the production we had a lot more time for planning and to get our designated look alike for the part.
Editing was a big difference between the two as we didn’t know anything about the software as it was the first time in using it during our preliminary task, but as we gained experience for our main thriller production we knew a bit more about it so we could edit our film easier and quicker.
This included like camera shots and angles, costume, locations etc. This also varied from the preliminary task as we didn’t have anything set that we had to do e.g. someone sitting down and having a conversation. Where as in our thriller production we had to come up with a story line and plot and make it from scratch.
In the preliminary task we were allowed to use whatever sound track we liked whereas in the production we were not allowed to use any copyrighted music which took quite a while to get the right soundtrack that suited the opening.
The casting of the actors was very different as well as we did not have a lot of time to get people in the preliminary task so we had to use who was in our group where as in the production we had a lot more time for planning and to get our designated look alike for the part.
Editing was a big difference between the two as we didn’t know anything about the software as it was the first time in using it during our preliminary task, but as we gained experience for our main thriller production we knew a bit more about it so we could edit our film easier and quicker.
Evaluation Question 6) What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?
In the process of making, editing and finishing our thriller we had to use a lot of technologies to help us with our research and planning as well as actually constructing our production. This included using certain websites; the main one that I used during all of this was YouTube as it helped by looking at other thriller clips to help with planning and research. (www.youtube.com)
We also used a site which helped us with choosing the suitable soundtrack for our thriller. This was a site made up of artists whose songs could be used and not subject to copyright. (www.unsignedbandweb.com)
Also to get quick and easy results off your friends for research in to your thrillers are to use social networking sites. This helped me when doing my audience research as i needed quick and easy results and most of my friends are from the target audience. e.g. Facebook,Myspace etc.
My blog helped with all the thriller planning, research and constructing as it is easy to go back and look what you have done and what there is to do next. With my planning i have uploaded essays, storyboards, treatments and proposals as well as audience research tasks. It keeps all your work in place so there’s loose sheets in folders which you need to keep look out for as they may be important. It also allows for fellow class mates and teachers to give feedback nice and quick so you know what to do next.
The editing software we used was quite hard for me as i had never used it before, but gladly my partner in my group did know. We used quite an amount of editing to our thriller to help with what we wanted our thriller to look like as well as what our audience wanted it to look like. We used a darker tint on the train station scene to help it look like the day was a lot drearier as it was quite a sunny day when we shot the scene. We also used some fade to blacks and some white screens for the flashbacks which also look very good. The titles and sounds took quite a bit of time as the opening credits had to match with the person on screen and also the voice over needed cutting and putting in the right places as well as sound.
We also used a site which helped us with choosing the suitable soundtrack for our thriller. This was a site made up of artists whose songs could be used and not subject to copyright. (www.unsignedbandweb.com)
Also to get quick and easy results off your friends for research in to your thrillers are to use social networking sites. This helped me when doing my audience research as i needed quick and easy results and most of my friends are from the target audience. e.g. Facebook,Myspace etc.
My blog helped with all the thriller planning, research and constructing as it is easy to go back and look what you have done and what there is to do next. With my planning i have uploaded essays, storyboards, treatments and proposals as well as audience research tasks. It keeps all your work in place so there’s loose sheets in folders which you need to keep look out for as they may be important. It also allows for fellow class mates and teachers to give feedback nice and quick so you know what to do next.
The editing software we used was quite hard for me as i had never used it before, but gladly my partner in my group did know. We used quite an amount of editing to our thriller to help with what we wanted our thriller to look like as well as what our audience wanted it to look like. We used a darker tint on the train station scene to help it look like the day was a lot drearier as it was quite a sunny day when we shot the scene. We also used some fade to blacks and some white screens for the flashbacks which also look very good. The titles and sounds took quite a bit of time as the opening credits had to match with the person on screen and also the voice over needed cutting and putting in the right places as well as sound.
Evaluation Question 5) How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?
Our thriller attracted our target audiences by the editing and title of our film.
The editing shows binary opposites like good and evil and also plays a big part with the scene changes and flashbacks. I think that the flash backs helped our film with the target audience as not a lot of films out at the moment are physiological thrillers.
I think this is because these are relatively hard films to make as well as choosing a target audience for it. The title is also a big help as its new and it stands out with the name ‘infatuation’.
The editing shows binary opposites like good and evil and also plays a big part with the scene changes and flashbacks. I think that the flash backs helped our film with the target audience as not a lot of films out at the moment are physiological thrillers.
I think this is because these are relatively hard films to make as well as choosing a target audience for it. The title is also a big help as its new and it stands out with the name ‘infatuation’.
Evaluation Question 4) Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?
Our target audience for our thriller film is males and females around the ages of 16 to 20 from no particular social groupings or class, who also like physiological thrillers like ‘se7en’, ‘the butterfly effect’ and ‘saw’.
The majority of my audience research showed that questions asked about making our thriller have been put to mind and now have been used in the production to help us give what the audience want.
The audiences will be drawn to the eeriness of the music and what’s actually happening in the thriller opening as it’s a relatively new idea and may not have seen anything like this. Also the enigma of what’s actually happening in each scene is sure to grab there attention.
This is shown in my audience research.
The majority of my audience research showed that questions asked about making our thriller have been put to mind and now have been used in the production to help us give what the audience want.
The audiences will be drawn to the eeriness of the music and what’s actually happening in the thriller opening as it’s a relatively new idea and may not have seen anything like this. Also the enigma of what’s actually happening in each scene is sure to grab there attention.
This is shown in my audience research.
Evaluation Question 3) What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Film And Why?
As our film production thriller is aimed to be more of an independent thriller, i think it is more likely to be exhibited by places like cinema city and the play house.
I also think that smaller companies like pathe and working title 2 are more likely to take interest into this thriller rather than the big companies such as universal as our thriller is based on independent films.
YouTube and other websites like film festivals and film competition websites are most likely to be interested to distribute our film as its not likely to be a big mainstream film which is going to cost a lot of money to be produced, marketed and distributed.
I also think that smaller companies like pathe and working title 2 are more likely to take interest into this thriller rather than the big companies such as universal as our thriller is based on independent films.
YouTube and other websites like film festivals and film competition websites are most likely to be interested to distribute our film as its not likely to be a big mainstream film which is going to cost a lot of money to be produced, marketed and distributed.
Evaluation Question 2) How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
In our thriller production the representation of gender was used by the male having more dominance than the female. Reasons for this are her being killed and the use of camera shots like high angles and low angles to show dominance and vulnerability.
The female is wearing something lightly femme fatalist and the male wearing a strong suit which also can show more dominance. The characters social class and groupings, I think comes from the modernization of the location in the kitchen scene and the characters costumes. I think they are towards the top of the middle class group.
We represented good and evil in our thriller by editing and also the use of camera angles and shots. The kitchen scene shows the male character when he grabs the knife to be very sly and deceiving by using darker and negative effects and low angled shots. The female character is shown by a higher angled shot as she is the victim in this scene and also the use of when the negative fade turns back to normal at the title screen.
The female is wearing something lightly femme fatalist and the male wearing a strong suit which also can show more dominance. The characters social class and groupings, I think comes from the modernization of the location in the kitchen scene and the characters costumes. I think they are towards the top of the middle class group.
We represented good and evil in our thriller by editing and also the use of camera angles and shots. The kitchen scene shows the male character when he grabs the knife to be very sly and deceiving by using darker and negative effects and low angled shots. The female character is shown by a higher angled shot as she is the victim in this scene and also the use of when the negative fade turns back to normal at the title screen.
Evaluation Question 1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In our group’s thriller production ‘infatuation’, it shows us reference to many different thriller films we have look at in class in how it has influenced our thriller. For example the costumes are reasonably smart and sleek with the male character wearing a suit and the female wearing a dress which we got the idea from the opening scene of ‘sin city’.
Other thriller films also influenced us on numerous occasions like the idea of locations of ‘the third man’ at the beginning in the train station.
We also used the location of a train station as our thriller’s sub genre is more of a physiological than anything else. This essay suggests that train stations serve as a psychological metaphor and have a psychological role: the empty space creates a sense of psychological panic, of isolation, of vulnerability, of being watched, etc.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wt3S-kVtmzoC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=train+stations+film+noir&source=bl&ots=1d-S2z44O1&sig=d4EwrmNsTTm9BxbNtCKNHABk9g0&hl=en&ei=wNYxS_LuN5TU4gbB9t2qCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCwQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=train%20stations%20film%20noir&f=false
The use of our soundtrack was to try and make the film production seem unsettling and eerie but as well as fitting to the shots. We had done this by using an instrumental song with quite a depressing tone and which then fits in with the plot of the film opening.
The story name is called ‘infatuation’ which is also another name for the word passion. We chose this to be our title as it goes well with the whole thing as the plot of the story is that the male character played by Cameron Button has murdered his wife out of ‘passion’.
In our thriller there are three different types of characters. There is the main male character who in the scene of the murder seems to be a dominating, powerful character where in the second scene is the opposite with him looking more vulnerable and weak.
The second male character only appears in the second scene near the train station. This character seems a lot more controlling when he’s talking on the phone to the other character and darker and mysterious.
The female character only appears in the first scene where she plays a reasonably small part in getting murdered. This makes the character seem more like the male in the second scene (vulnerable and weak).
The titles and fonts that we used come from many thrillers that we have seen. The fonts that are used are more like the font used in the film ‘se7en’ which is quite un neat and co notates a typical physiological thriller opening.
Other thriller films also influenced us on numerous occasions like the idea of locations of ‘the third man’ at the beginning in the train station.
We also used the location of a train station as our thriller’s sub genre is more of a physiological than anything else. This essay suggests that train stations serve as a psychological metaphor and have a psychological role: the empty space creates a sense of psychological panic, of isolation, of vulnerability, of being watched, etc.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wt3S-kVtmzoC&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=train+stations+film+noir&source=bl&ots=1d-S2z44O1&sig=d4EwrmNsTTm9BxbNtCKNHABk9g0&hl=en&ei=wNYxS_LuN5TU4gbB9t2qCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCwQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=train%20stations%20film%20noir&f=false
The use of our soundtrack was to try and make the film production seem unsettling and eerie but as well as fitting to the shots. We had done this by using an instrumental song with quite a depressing tone and which then fits in with the plot of the film opening.
The story name is called ‘infatuation’ which is also another name for the word passion. We chose this to be our title as it goes well with the whole thing as the plot of the story is that the male character played by Cameron Button has murdered his wife out of ‘passion’.
In our thriller there are three different types of characters. There is the main male character who in the scene of the murder seems to be a dominating, powerful character where in the second scene is the opposite with him looking more vulnerable and weak.
The second male character only appears in the second scene near the train station. This character seems a lot more controlling when he’s talking on the phone to the other character and darker and mysterious.
The female character only appears in the first scene where she plays a reasonably small part in getting murdered. This makes the character seem more like the male in the second scene (vulnerable and weak).
The titles and fonts that we used come from many thrillers that we have seen. The fonts that are used are more like the font used in the film ‘se7en’ which is quite un neat and co notates a typical physiological thriller opening.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Film Distribution In Norwich
1. How many films in total were being exhibited from vue and cinema city?
Vue has 26 films currently showing on screens whilst cinema city have approximatly 29films showing.
2.Select a range of 3 different films for each cinema. How many times is each filmed screened? What does this mean for audiences?
VUE (Wednesday 31st March)
'Shutter Island' - Showing 5 times
'Kick-Ass'- Showing 8 times
'Shank' - Showing 4 times
CINEMA CITY (Wednesday 31st March)
'A Single Man' - Showing 1 time
'A Girl With The Dragon Tatoo' - showing 2 times
'Kick-Ass' - Showing 1 time
This means for audiences that they are more likely to go to places like vue who play more 'mainstream' films as they are advertised more and are shown on screens alot more.
3.Identify the % of Hollywood films Vs British films for each cinema.
VUE - 66% were Hollywood Films
Cinema City - 30% were Hollywood Films
5. What conclusions can you draw about how different audiences are catered for in your local area?
Audiences are more likely to go to Vue cinema as they have 'big' mainstream films, more showing times with bigger and better screens. Whereas people are less likely to go see a small independent film at rare times which has barely been advertised due to lack of budget.
Vue has 26 films currently showing on screens whilst cinema city have approximatly 29films showing.
2.Select a range of 3 different films for each cinema. How many times is each filmed screened? What does this mean for audiences?
VUE (Wednesday 31st March)
'Shutter Island' - Showing 5 times
'Kick-Ass'- Showing 8 times
'Shank' - Showing 4 times
CINEMA CITY (Wednesday 31st March)
'A Single Man' - Showing 1 time
'A Girl With The Dragon Tatoo' - showing 2 times
'Kick-Ass' - Showing 1 time
This means for audiences that they are more likely to go to places like vue who play more 'mainstream' films as they are advertised more and are shown on screens alot more.
3.Identify the % of Hollywood films Vs British films for each cinema.
VUE - 66% were Hollywood Films
Cinema City - 30% were Hollywood Films
5. What conclusions can you draw about how different audiences are catered for in your local area?
Audiences are more likely to go to Vue cinema as they have 'big' mainstream films, more showing times with bigger and better screens. Whereas people are less likely to go see a small independent film at rare times which has barely been advertised due to lack of budget.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Audience Profile Thriller
My questionnaire and results has helped me with the way that our thriller film will be planned and made. This is because the questions answered are for the thriller genre and show how a thriller should be made.
Our target audience is intended for the audience asked which is male and female from the age varying from 16 to 18 years old. We can make sure that we cover most of the audiences answers on these questionairres by putting these in our film. Our thriller has a physiological subgenre which came second in the list of answers given. We thought this would be a good sub genre as there arent many around at the moment as they are being over powered by other genres like action and crime.
Our film will also be a mainstream film as this is what the audience seemed to like over the independent option. The audience that answered this questionnaire showed us that most people go to see a thriller film on the basis of the storyline. This means that our thriller film production must have a good storyline for people to see it.
In the results in shows that the best place to have a thriller is a place which is dark, either alleyways, undergrounds, train yards etc. This is good as we can use many of these in our thriller film.
Our target audience is intended for the audience asked which is male and female from the age varying from 16 to 18 years old. We can make sure that we cover most of the audiences answers on these questionairres by putting these in our film. Our thriller has a physiological subgenre which came second in the list of answers given. We thought this would be a good sub genre as there arent many around at the moment as they are being over powered by other genres like action and crime.
Our film will also be a mainstream film as this is what the audience seemed to like over the independent option. The audience that answered this questionnaire showed us that most people go to see a thriller film on the basis of the storyline. This means that our thriller film production must have a good storyline for people to see it.
In the results in shows that the best place to have a thriller is a place which is dark, either alleyways, undergrounds, train yards etc. This is good as we can use many of these in our thriller film.
Results For Thriller Research
i asked the same amount of people of each gender from around the ages of 16 to 18 years old.
This graph shows that thriller audiences prefer mainstream compared to independent thriller films. I think this is because the audience likes the fact of the ‘big’ budget movies and the actors or directors in the film.
In this graph it shows that the most popular type of subgenre for thriller film is action. This is then closely followed by physiological. I think action was top as most thrillers these days are based on the subgenre of action.
The audience that answered this questionnaire showed us that most people go to see a thriller film on the basis of the storyline. This means that our thriller film production must have a good storyline for people to see it.
This graph shows that thriller audiences expect thrillers to be located in dark and dreary places, more like train yards, dark streets and alleyways.
Questionnairre For Thriller Research
What’s your gender? (Please circle)
Male Female
Do you prefer Mainstream or Independent films? (Please circle)
Mainstream Independent
What thriller subgenre do you prefer?(Please circle)
Crime
Physiological
Film noir
L.A noir
British Gangster
Action
Other
Where would you expect a Thriller Film to be located(Please Circle)
Woods
Dark alley
Dark Streets
Underground
Train yards
Other
what mainly appeals to you in a thriller film? (Please circle)
Location
Story line
Props used
Costumes
Director
Actor(s)
Other
Male Female
Do you prefer Mainstream or Independent films? (Please circle)
Mainstream Independent
What thriller subgenre do you prefer?(Please circle)
Crime
Physiological
Film noir
L.A noir
British Gangster
Action
Other
Where would you expect a Thriller Film to be located(Please Circle)
Woods
Dark alley
Dark Streets
Underground
Train yards
Other
what mainly appeals to you in a thriller film? (Please circle)
Location
Story line
Props used
Costumes
Director
Actor(s)
Other
Proposal
In my findings I would like to find out if audiences prefer mainstream or independent thrillers, what connotations of a thriller they expect e.g. locations, props, costumes. What sub genre of the thriller like crime, physiological, action, film noir etc.
I am going to find out this information by carrying out a questionnaire to a target audience of male and females of around the ages of 16 to 18 year olds. This is because I believe that this is the target audience of what most thriller films are aimed at.
I am going to find out this information by carrying out a questionnaire to a target audience of male and females of around the ages of 16 to 18 year olds. This is because I believe that this is the target audience of what most thriller films are aimed at.
Results Of Audience Research
My results for my audience research were a success as i have the results and most of them came out as i thought they would.
These are the age ranges that i asked. Majority of the people asked were in the age catagory of 16 to 20 year olds as i thought these are the people more likely to go and watch films.
In these results about 65% of the audience asked prefered mainstream to independent. i think this is because people prefer to go see a movie which has a 'big' director and actors or a fiom with a bigger budget.
In the garph it shows that the most popular genre of film is comedy which is then closely followed by the thriller genre. this is because, i believe people like to go out to the cinema or just to get a dvd and have a laugh which makes them happier rather than watching something like a sci-fi or horror film.
These results came quite a surprise to me as the majority of people chose cinema over dvd or any of the other options. This is because the cinema has extortionate prices.
This graph shows that the reason why people go to see a film is because the top two answers which were the actors and the story line.
My last results were to do with where the audience saw the advertisment for a film or where they are most likely to see it. By far the most common answer was television.
These are the age ranges that i asked. Majority of the people asked were in the age catagory of 16 to 20 year olds as i thought these are the people more likely to go and watch films.
In these results about 65% of the audience asked prefered mainstream to independent. i think this is because people prefer to go see a movie which has a 'big' director and actors or a fiom with a bigger budget.
In the garph it shows that the most popular genre of film is comedy which is then closely followed by the thriller genre. this is because, i believe people like to go out to the cinema or just to get a dvd and have a laugh which makes them happier rather than watching something like a sci-fi or horror film.
These results came quite a surprise to me as the majority of people chose cinema over dvd or any of the other options. This is because the cinema has extortionate prices.
This graph shows that the reason why people go to see a film is because the top two answers which were the actors and the story line.
My last results were to do with where the audience saw the advertisment for a film or where they are most likely to see it. By far the most common answer was television.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
‘Moving Image Production Has Always Been Lead by the Audiences Demand for New Sensation’
Tom Gunning’s quote explains how audiences only went to the cinema due to the ''attractions of the spectacle'' rather than the desire for narrative engagement. He says, ’It is the direct address of the audience, in which an attraction is offered to the spectator by a cinema showman that defines this approach to film making.’I disagree with this assesment of todays audience on the basis of the reasons said.
Firstly I don’t know about everyone else, but when I go to the cinema I go because either the story line or plot in the trailer looks good or sometimes because of the director. Many people these days have different reasons for seeing movies or films at the cinema like, the actors or directors and storylines and sometimes just enjoy going out and seeing it on a big screen. The quote above suggest people go to the cinema based on the fact that audience because it’s something new. In some aspects this is true like when ‘Toy Story’ was released it was one of the first CGI (Computer-Generated imagery) or animation films. It was a big success as this was something new and the audience had never seen anything like it before.
In the last fifteen to twenty years of the film industry, there have been many films which have been more than successful and have had record breaking profits. Some of the films we look back to like ‘Titanic’ and ‘Toy Story’ and more recently the new hit box office of 2009 and continuing into 2010 ‘Avatar’. The main reasons why these films have been so successful over these past years is the exhibiting of the films to the audiences and persuading them into going to see the ‘hits’ at the cinema.
‘Toy Story’ was one of the first ever animated film or movie to be released at the cinemas which brought huge success to the producers and makers of the film. To make the film only had a budget of $30 million and a staff of only 110, in comparison 'The Lion King' the year before and a budget of $45 million and 800 staff in Pixar’s animation studio.
The film first was released and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures to the cinemas on the 17th of November, 1995 in the United States. In the first weekend of the release the film had made over $29 million which made it the highest grossing film of 1995. To this day it still is in the top 100 for all time domestic grossing. Just in the United States the film had made over $191 million and worldwide around the sum of $361 million.
Audiences were attracted to this film as it was child friendly; it was mainly parents taking their children to these ‘new’ animated films as they seemed more based at the younger’s. ‘Toy Story’ also had some big stars back in the day, like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen which may have attracted some of the older generation. People went to the cinema to watch this film as it was something relatively new and the start of something new to the film industry. As the film had a massive success they Pixar and Walt Disney made a sequel ‘Toy Story 2’ in 1999 and the new ‘Toy Story 3’ is to be released later this year around June.
Another Film which has very well over these past years is the film ‘Titanic’. The director James Cameron with this film had a record breaking highest gross film of all time at $1.8 billion but which then was later broken this year by another of his own films ‘Avatar’. Titanic was based on a real life tragedy which may have driven most of the audience wanting to see it. At the point of its production it was the most expensive film made costing approximately $200 million with the funding from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. The film was finally released in December 1997 but meaning to be out in cinemas earlier that year except delayed by post-production delays. Another reason why people may want to see this film is not only James Cameron was an excellent director making big films in the past like ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Rambo’ but also the main characters where played by two well know up and coming actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
The main reason why this film was so successful in my opinion was because as it was so well made and back in its day it was such a tragedy about the real story people wanted to see it. It also had a reasonably good story line based on the truths on the segregating classes on the ship and how the two main characters are from two very different classes.
The end of last year, James Cameron released his newest film ‘Avatar’. This, after 15 years of development defiantly paid off as it broke several box office records including beating his past film ‘Titanic’. The plan of release of the film was meant to be in 1999 but Cameron explained that the technology was not made for his vision of the film.
A reason for why audiences want to see this film is as it is a Computer-Generated Imagery and also was out in cinemas in 2-D and 3-D using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D and IMAX 3D formats. This draws the audience in wanting to see this new movie as there are not many 3-D films around anymore. Also after ‘Titanic’ fans of James Cameron’s may want to see his progress after amazing reviews for the film.
‘Avatar’ was officially budgeted at a massive $237 million but other estimates put it at $280-310 million to produce and $150 million for marketing. As the film was so much to make there were reasons. It was a breakthrough in film making technology with Cameron having cameras specially made for the film’s production. This is for the development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic film making which he owns the copyright patent.
In December 2009 the film was premiered in London and then later on in the month in the United States. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and over took Cameron’s previous film ‘Titanic’ in 1997 in global grossing. ‘Avatar’ made just over $1.8 Billion in gross revenue. Due to the success of this film James Cameron has announced there will be a sequel.
These films in this sense are testament to the audiences don’t go to the cinema for just one reason but for many reasons. Depending on whom the film is aimed at whether it’s at families or an older generation. Even if it’s for the bigger screen and the surround sound or may just be interested in the film itself, with the plots, directors, actors, award nominees or the way in which it was advertised through a trailer or advert.
The way in which the audience’s demand for new sensation in the moving image is shown in the box office success of the new hit ‘Avatar’. This is as there is no film to compare it to as it mixes between both the Computer Generated Images (CGI) and the real world, as this has never been done before you can see why it has been so successful. ‘Avatar’ is set in the year 2154 which represents the film in being futuristic and its more likely in which other films in the future, not just from James Cameron are going to be set out in this fashion.
These three films all show how audience viewings have changed over the past fifteen to twenty years. ‘Toy Story’ was somewhat new back in its day with the animation as not many films had been made like that and aimed at youngsters and families made it very successful. ’Titanic’ was record breaking due to its audiences on the basis of a true story and audiences finding it interesting on one note and making it apart of history on another. I also believe that people may have seen this film as James Cameron had made previous successful films and wanting to see his progress in the film industry as well as hiring big names as we know now like DiCaprio. ‘Avatar’ was incredibly successful due to the many reasons of new age of film with the animation and realism and the award nominees and again the director James Cameron.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cameron
Firstly I don’t know about everyone else, but when I go to the cinema I go because either the story line or plot in the trailer looks good or sometimes because of the director. Many people these days have different reasons for seeing movies or films at the cinema like, the actors or directors and storylines and sometimes just enjoy going out and seeing it on a big screen. The quote above suggest people go to the cinema based on the fact that audience because it’s something new. In some aspects this is true like when ‘Toy Story’ was released it was one of the first CGI (Computer-Generated imagery) or animation films. It was a big success as this was something new and the audience had never seen anything like it before.
In the last fifteen to twenty years of the film industry, there have been many films which have been more than successful and have had record breaking profits. Some of the films we look back to like ‘Titanic’ and ‘Toy Story’ and more recently the new hit box office of 2009 and continuing into 2010 ‘Avatar’. The main reasons why these films have been so successful over these past years is the exhibiting of the films to the audiences and persuading them into going to see the ‘hits’ at the cinema.
‘Toy Story’ was one of the first ever animated film or movie to be released at the cinemas which brought huge success to the producers and makers of the film. To make the film only had a budget of $30 million and a staff of only 110, in comparison 'The Lion King' the year before and a budget of $45 million and 800 staff in Pixar’s animation studio.
The film first was released and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures to the cinemas on the 17th of November, 1995 in the United States. In the first weekend of the release the film had made over $29 million which made it the highest grossing film of 1995. To this day it still is in the top 100 for all time domestic grossing. Just in the United States the film had made over $191 million and worldwide around the sum of $361 million.
Audiences were attracted to this film as it was child friendly; it was mainly parents taking their children to these ‘new’ animated films as they seemed more based at the younger’s. ‘Toy Story’ also had some big stars back in the day, like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen which may have attracted some of the older generation. People went to the cinema to watch this film as it was something relatively new and the start of something new to the film industry. As the film had a massive success they Pixar and Walt Disney made a sequel ‘Toy Story 2’ in 1999 and the new ‘Toy Story 3’ is to be released later this year around June.
Another Film which has very well over these past years is the film ‘Titanic’. The director James Cameron with this film had a record breaking highest gross film of all time at $1.8 billion but which then was later broken this year by another of his own films ‘Avatar’. Titanic was based on a real life tragedy which may have driven most of the audience wanting to see it. At the point of its production it was the most expensive film made costing approximately $200 million with the funding from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. The film was finally released in December 1997 but meaning to be out in cinemas earlier that year except delayed by post-production delays. Another reason why people may want to see this film is not only James Cameron was an excellent director making big films in the past like ‘The Terminator’ and ‘Rambo’ but also the main characters where played by two well know up and coming actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
The main reason why this film was so successful in my opinion was because as it was so well made and back in its day it was such a tragedy about the real story people wanted to see it. It also had a reasonably good story line based on the truths on the segregating classes on the ship and how the two main characters are from two very different classes.
The end of last year, James Cameron released his newest film ‘Avatar’. This, after 15 years of development defiantly paid off as it broke several box office records including beating his past film ‘Titanic’. The plan of release of the film was meant to be in 1999 but Cameron explained that the technology was not made for his vision of the film.
A reason for why audiences want to see this film is as it is a Computer-Generated Imagery and also was out in cinemas in 2-D and 3-D using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D and IMAX 3D formats. This draws the audience in wanting to see this new movie as there are not many 3-D films around anymore. Also after ‘Titanic’ fans of James Cameron’s may want to see his progress after amazing reviews for the film.
‘Avatar’ was officially budgeted at a massive $237 million but other estimates put it at $280-310 million to produce and $150 million for marketing. As the film was so much to make there were reasons. It was a breakthrough in film making technology with Cameron having cameras specially made for the film’s production. This is for the development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic film making which he owns the copyright patent.
In December 2009 the film was premiered in London and then later on in the month in the United States. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and over took Cameron’s previous film ‘Titanic’ in 1997 in global grossing. ‘Avatar’ made just over $1.8 Billion in gross revenue. Due to the success of this film James Cameron has announced there will be a sequel.
These films in this sense are testament to the audiences don’t go to the cinema for just one reason but for many reasons. Depending on whom the film is aimed at whether it’s at families or an older generation. Even if it’s for the bigger screen and the surround sound or may just be interested in the film itself, with the plots, directors, actors, award nominees or the way in which it was advertised through a trailer or advert.
The way in which the audience’s demand for new sensation in the moving image is shown in the box office success of the new hit ‘Avatar’. This is as there is no film to compare it to as it mixes between both the Computer Generated Images (CGI) and the real world, as this has never been done before you can see why it has been so successful. ‘Avatar’ is set in the year 2154 which represents the film in being futuristic and its more likely in which other films in the future, not just from James Cameron are going to be set out in this fashion.
These three films all show how audience viewings have changed over the past fifteen to twenty years. ‘Toy Story’ was somewhat new back in its day with the animation as not many films had been made like that and aimed at youngsters and families made it very successful. ’Titanic’ was record breaking due to its audiences on the basis of a true story and audiences finding it interesting on one note and making it apart of history on another. I also believe that people may have seen this film as James Cameron had made previous successful films and wanting to see his progress in the film industry as well as hiring big names as we know now like DiCaprio. ‘Avatar’ was incredibly successful due to the many reasons of new age of film with the animation and realism and the award nominees and again the director James Cameron.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(1997_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cameron
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Shot Lists
High Angle Long Shot/Close up:
man walking, checks watch, straightens tie and stops at scheduled spot in train yard.
Mid Shot/Tilt:
man starts to pace and keeps checking watch obviously waiting for someone or something .
Close up/mid shot:
As the time passes his nerves begin to show resulting in him breaking down into a sweat (forehead).
Mid Shot:
Second person appears at the end of the train yard and slowly walks towards the first man.
Long Shot/Tracking:
A few lines of muffled dialogue are exchanged before they both exit the train yard in the direction the first man entered from.
Long Shot/Mid Shot/Close up/Mid Shot:
The scene changes and the first man is with a woman(the sound of echoed and the picture is distorted/fuzzy) he is walking with her and seems happy.
Close up:
Scene changes again and the first man is in a car with the second man, he is looking increasingly nervous.
Close Up/Long Shot:
Scene changes the man is back with the woman and he is holding a knife and looks upset.
Close Up:
Scene changes and the man is in the car looking scared.
High Angled Mid Shot:
Scene changes once more and the woman is dead with the man standing over her.
Close Up/Tracking:
Finally we see the man once more he has started sobbing, the car comes to a halt, the man waits for man 2 to exit before he slowly exits himself.
man walking, checks watch, straightens tie and stops at scheduled spot in train yard.
Mid Shot/Tilt:
man starts to pace and keeps checking watch obviously waiting for someone or something .
Close up/mid shot:
As the time passes his nerves begin to show resulting in him breaking down into a sweat (forehead).
Mid Shot:
Second person appears at the end of the train yard and slowly walks towards the first man.
Long Shot/Tracking:
A few lines of muffled dialogue are exchanged before they both exit the train yard in the direction the first man entered from.
Long Shot/Mid Shot/Close up/Mid Shot:
The scene changes and the first man is with a woman(the sound of echoed and the picture is distorted/fuzzy) he is walking with her and seems happy.
Close up:
Scene changes again and the first man is in a car with the second man, he is looking increasingly nervous.
Close Up/Long Shot:
Scene changes the man is back with the woman and he is holding a knife and looks upset.
Close Up:
Scene changes and the man is in the car looking scared.
High Angled Mid Shot:
Scene changes once more and the woman is dead with the man standing over her.
Close Up/Tracking:
Finally we see the man once more he has started sobbing, the car comes to a halt, the man waits for man 2 to exit before he slowly exits himself.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
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