RESEARCH: (BIFA) BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS

With interest, I have been following the recent BIFA nominations and awards for the UK Independent Cinema. The BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) represent the British Film Industry and give awards in recognition of the challenges facing independent, low-budget cinema in funding, distribution and marketing. American Honey is an example. It didn't gain success immediately after being distributed and promoted/presented to the public. The director Andrea Arnold cast an almost unknown cast (with the exception of Shia LaBeouf), using found locations (rather than expensive studio sets) and a low budget.

https://www.bifa.film/

The Director named Ken Loach is very well known for his real and current situations occurring around the country. Using issues and problems in the UK, Ken portrays his views through the eyes of the less fortunate because they most likely aren't addressed in the News.

On the BFI Study day, I learned that the film 'American Honey' is classified as a British film because of the cast and director as well as the key organisations involved. Andrea Arnold is also known for 'Fish Tank' in 2009 which had a budget of £million. Compare this with Star Wars with £230million. American Honey is an example of a BFI/Film 4 funding model.

American Honey's key themes involve adolescents along with their lifestyle which are themes and issues which are not usually featured by mainstream cinema. In addition, there was no expensive sets because it was shot on location - just like how my film/title opening will be produced.


Part of how the social reclaim was achieved within American Honey was through the handheld camera work which gives it an element of 'cinema verite'.

In both production values and budgets, my own production has many similarities as it is very low budget, only unknowns in the cast, and shooting on location.

PLANNING: INTERVIEWING OUR CHARACTER

Open source here

In the screenshot above, it shows a part of the blog written by Charlie Sierra whom explains a great way of building characters. Charlie wrote about a very good book entitled "Riding the Alligator" which was written by the Author 'Pen Densham'. Pen is a very sophisticated and professional filmmaker.

We have decided to interview our character as it is a good technique to get to know the specific character alone as well as their part in the film. In my film-drama, we are going to interview the police officer during an interrogation after his incident in the opening.

PLANNING: THE TOP LINE AND THE BIG QUESTION

I watched a video on Frank Ash who is the creative consultant for BBC Films, who has taught storytelling and creative techniques to people and film crews across the BBC and beyond.



THE TOP LINE: The story is about police discrimination towards adolescents, who are placed into police custody. However one day the tables turn... The policeman hits a adolescent and he happens to be related to the two discriminated adolescents that are put in police custody. The next day the two adolescent people confront the policeman, they are now in control.

THE BIG QUESTION: What will happen to the policeman? Will justice prevail?

TREATMENT: The scene is set at a local bakery. Inside the bakery, a smiling assistant is serving cupcakes. Close up of cupcakes. The atmosphere is light-hearted and relaxed. In the shop, 3 teenagers are looking at the cakes. They leave and hang around the door of the shop. Meanwhile, a middle aged customer emerges fro the shop and bumps into one of the teenagers. A few minutes later, the shop owner behind the cashier tries to find her purse but realises she has lost her purse. The teenagers exchange glances and deny the theft but make a run for it.  A middle-aged policeman, who has been staring into the shop window, turns, hails at them and goes after them.
Cut to interview at police station............
Cut to teenagers being released and greeted by friend who is waiting for them, wearing a distinctive hat.
Cut to scene in which the policeman receives a call from his superior................
Cut to scene in which the policeman is driving home from work and pulls out onto a path in front of a cyclist - the cyclist turns out to be the friend of the teenagers.

RESEARCH: BUSINESS OF FILM

What is the cultural value of film?

An economist named David Throsby bases his point of view on a definition of value that encompasses cultural value.

Studies on cultural impact of films have shown how films apart from being popular leisure activities, carry very powerful and political messages for the audience/viewers, presents insights of other cultures and also our own culture too.








What film matters to the economy/Why is it important?


The graph to the left displays the amount of money the UK have spent on the production of feature films over the last 20 years.

As everyone knows, the Film industry matters hugely to the economy as it is entertainment which interacts with the audience. In the UK, film was the first creative industry to be supported by film incentives in recognition of its importance.

Approximately £840 million of tourism spending by overseas visitors can be attributed to film-induced tourism. Film is often regarded as a driver of the other creative industries, in that it is high profile and often makes use of the highest design and creative skills.

The UK make many independent films due to Curzon cinemas. They are identified as British films. For example, Paddington, The Imitation Game and The Inbetweeners.

On the other hand, the UK films only took 16% of the box office takings in 2014. As the UK make many independent films, there is no large British film production or distribution company based in the UK. Like most other countries in Europe and considerably around the world, the American films take all of the money from the Box Office because they have bigger production and distribution companies than any other country including the UK.


The benefits of inward investment
Alongside the BFI Film Fund, there are 2 other important public organisations that provide support and stability to British Independent Film Industry. The following are the organisations: BBC Films (main part of the BBC) and Film 4 which links with Channel 4.


Thinking about the value chain

In the film industry, the term ‘value chain’ is used to describe the series of steps.

To the left, is the image of 'Main stages'. The main stages of the film value chain are: Distribution, Concept Origination, Development, Finance, Creative Packaging, Production, Exploitation which will be explained later on.

In general, the film producer is the one filmmaker that accompanies the film on its entire journey through the value chain until it is safely in the hands of the distributors.

The Film Business value chain

Development is the first step where people come together and produce ideas which is a crucial part of the process (value chain) as it all starts here.

Finance for big companies like Universal Studios in America for example have no problem with this as they have the money to fund for their own films however the independent film making companies (such as, in the UK) mainly struggle as they haven't got the funds which is a big concern.

Pre-pre-production (Pre-prep) is the preparation before the production process. This stage is concerning for some films being created as some have tight time frames.

The film is not yet officially financed. However, money needs to be spent in order to secure key cast and crew, and start to find locations, and so forth. Someone needs to fund pre-prep, but this is a highly risky investment, because the film might collapse at the last minute.

Production has it's uncertainties and high risks however known to be the simplest stage in some respects because of the difficulties with the others. It is divided into pre-production, the official ‘prep’ period, principal photography, when the camera is rolling, and post-production when the editing and sound and visual effects (VFX) and music aspects are incorporated.

Distribution is the process of getting the film into the hands of the theatre chains, broadcasters, video stores and video on demand (VoD) operators; The companies that do this are called the Distributors.

Exploitation is the process by which consumers actually experience the film (films are screened in cinemas and other platforms that may be recreational or not). Furthermore, films are being more and more consumed in different ways with the growing importance of digital technologies.

What happens along the value chain?

Development - Secure Rights, Hire Director, Option Agreement, Hire Casting Director, Secure - Development Finance, Preliminary Budget, Secure Key Cast, Secure pre-sales, Hire Writer. 
Finance - Broadcast License, Certify as British, Prepare Estimates. 
Production - Pre-production, Principal Photography, Post-Production. 
Distribution - Video/DVD/VoD licensing, Cinema Exhibition. 
Concept Origination - Find Ideas. 
Exploitation - Download to Own, DVD Rental and Sales. 
Creative Packaging - Marketing Campaign.

RESEARCH - ANALYSING DEADPOOL TITLE SEQUENCE

Art of the title 4 - Deadpool (2016)

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/

"The opening notes of Juice Newton’s adult contemporary classic “Angel of the Morning” drown out what are sure to be the final screams of some extremely unlucky hired goons. Here, frozen in time, in the back seat of an exploding Cadillac Escalade, a hyper-violent tableau takes shape. In what can only be described as some unholy marriage of the Three Stooges and a Michael Bay movie, battered bodies fly in all directions, engulfed in a shower of spit, blood, and broken glass. Guns are fired. Eyes are gouged. Tea is bagged. This is Deadpool… or rather it’s our introduction to Deadpool, the masked mutant in the middle of all that death and debris — the guy deftly executing the wedgie to end all wedgies.

From the moment the first credit appears on screen, it’s clear the Deadpool opening title sequence is designed for one thing and one thing only: to gleefully take the piss out of the entire proceedings. In a world where star Ryan Reynolds is at once People’s 2010 “Sexiest Man Alive” and Wade Wilson — the chimichanga-craving Marvel Comics antihero with a penchant for breaking the fourth wall — it’s appropriate for Blur Studio’s opening to acknowledge the fact that it is a title sequence in a movie. Full of sly (and not-so-sly) nods to comic book fans and self-reflexive title cards that say what we’re all really thinking, there is no way to come away from the Deadpool opening sequence without knowing full well what you’re about to get into."

- This shows that the director/producer has deliberately created this 'piss take' to be    original and witty. As the director/producer has said it in the paragraph above, it is    not something people will expect... it is definitely portrayed as a unique and                spectacular super hero movie.

This film is about a normal man who somehow has his life taken away from by getting summoned to be experimented on which makes him immortal... He is conceived as a cocky but dangerous and specialist type warrior who lives his short but heroic (in his own way) life defeating the 'bad guys' finding a cure to turn him back to who he was to resume his life with his Fiance.

The credits has been displayed in a very unique and creative way; as Deadpool is a very different film to others, the director has used his comedic side to him by using witty captions instead of the actors' names. For example, rather than "Ryan Reynolds" the animator used 'A British Villain' which in my opinion is very unique and used intelligently as it matches the comedic moral of the film. 

•      Director: Tim Miller

•      Studio: Marvel, Twentieth Century Fox

•      Producer: Abbey Keller

     The Mise en Scene of the film opening displays the wittiness of the whole film by using a creative method of descriptive captions and also the extreme slow motion frames. The frames presents a small picture which moves in slow motion with calm and traditional music which could be classed as classical. This completely contradicts what the film is about which makes the film significant; It couldn't be more unique.

      The audience is attracted mainly because it is seen as a spoof of hero films which contradicts Marvel although it is a change and many people like this (including me). Also, the fact that Ryan Reynolds is playing the main actor - which is DEADPOOL Himself - draws the attention of the audience as supporters (of him as an actor) which gets many people to watch it due to him being a very famous actor.

In the interview between Tim Miller (director) and Franck Balson (from Blur Studio), Tim identified that the writers loved the clever idea of stupid titles instead of names in the Intro credits. It not only gave the film originality but was quite funny... 'God's perfect idiot' for example; Because it came across witty, it linked in with the purpose of the film very well.

THE BUSINESS OF FILM

  For AS Media, it is suggested that we do some extra work to widen our knowledge on the business of film. in this specific element of AS Media, we learn about 'The Big Six', the distribution process and the production process. As these things are covered lightly over AS, we use this course to expand our knowledge and information about the film industry.

MARK RIBOUD PHOTOGRAPH

Marc Riboud

Demonstration against the Vietnam War in 1967 by Marc Riboud

Using photographs taken by Marc Riboud, whose obituary appeared in The Telegraph, we deconstruct the representation of a 16-year-old girl holding up a flower to the serried ranks of US soldiers, taken in Washington, 1967, during the Vietnam War.

In the first lesson, we took a look at a famous photographer's photograph of the soldiers and the young girl holding the flower and started analysing it as a class. we talked about composition, expressions, background meanings and more. Here are most of the things we analysed:

Marc Riboud has taken this photograph in a mid-shot concept to not only capture the feelings – from the facial expressions of the girl – but also the line of soldiers in their uniforms holding weapons.

The girl’s hands holding the flower looks like she is in a praying stance as she is up close to the end of the soldier’s weapon (bayonet). However, it is significant how the soldiers are holding lethal weapons yet the girl is gently holding a beautiful shaped flower.

In contrast to this, the soldiers are wearing the same uniform which shows lack of identity and teamwork; But on the other hand, the teenage girl is wearing ‘hippie’ style clothing to signify peace and harmony aimed at the soldiers.

The viewers can visualise the girl’s expressions being scared on the inside due to the weapon which is pointed directly at her, but in reality, she is letting peace and harmony shine on the outside to show gratitude of who she is and what she is standing up for.

PIKTOCHART ON AUDIENCES WITHIN MEDIA

RESEARCH: ANALYSING LEGO MOVIE TITLE SEQUENCE

RESEARCH: ANALYSING CREED TITLE SEQUENCE

Art of the title 1 - Creed from Callum Drewett

RESEARCH: ANALYSING ZOMBIELAND TITLE SEQUENCE

Art of the Title 2  - Zombieland (2009)

This film is about a universe (starts off in America) which gradually increases of zombie population throughout the whole country. One of the main actors finds this out at a petrol station and his quest begins from there… He meets people along the way around the country to survive as long as possible. He describes to the viewers how to survive step by step E.G. Double tap (makes sure the zombie is dead).

In the credits at the beginning of the film, as well as having the credits of the actors, there is also step by step instructions of how to survive the zombie apocalypse such as ‘#2 Double Tap’. The producer’s names are presented first as they created the film and then follows the name of the actors. The credits physically move in the short slow motion clips as the people hit the letters which is a very clever edit.

•      Director: Ruben Fleischer

•      Studio: Columbia Pictures

•      Producer: Ben Conrad

The Mise En Scene of the film displays a very wide spread of as it varies location from buildings, to open land, to streets etc… The use of spitting blood and eating people in the opening scene gives the viewers an insight of how gory the film. In this case, Zombieland is 10/10 gore – couldn’t be gorier although it is also very comedic. The way the characters throughout the movie survive is very comedic as half of them aren't very good at it which results in them relying on one person... the country guy.

The background music is strong and bold which makes the viewer understand it is a very serious film from the start despite the comedic parts to it. Moreover, the colours in the opening scenes – too many different colours, shades and locations – already interprets how chaotic the film is and the lacking of structure due to the disruption by the zombie apocalypse.

The audience is drawn in by the famous actors (especially Jesse Eisenberg) which will get many fans of this actor to watch the film. The use of ‘Rules’ which are presented step by step attracts the audience to remain watching as it is addressing the viewer on what to do in the situation.

PLANNING: TRELLO

I have created Trello which is a very useful online organisational tool. This aids me to organise my work in a clear and orderly fashion.
I am planning to update this once a month. Here are some screenshots of my Trello:

THE BRIEF

I am doing the video brief:

Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

PRELIMINARY EXERCISE

The Consultant's Diagnosis

Continuity task: filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180% rule.

We had 3 people in our filming group. Two actors and one cameraman. One of the actors was the patient who was suffering from hair loss; The Doctor was sitting at his desk filling out paper work and updating patient documents.

The patient began to run up the stairs of the building; the 180 degree rule was used at the top of the stairs as we just filmed the patient sprinting up the stairs. We utilised the 'shot reverse shot' which is placing the camera over the shoulder of one of the actors to capture the facial expressions and dialogue from the speaking actor and same the other way.

We also used the 'tracking shot' as the patient progresses through the room to the Doctors desk - the camera follows the patient as he moves across the room.