I can use these ripped paper effect videos for my contents page which includes use of this effect.
I could utilise this video to help create the diseased look that Abdullah will have.
This could be used to help me create the front cover in which Maya and Eden's faces are merged together.
Print Images
I need to retake my side profile for the front cover and and I need another image of me holding paper to my face because the previous one is not as sharp as I would like it to be.
Research Key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and ensure you can confidently identify the key aspects that are found on a magazine cover.
1) Write an analysis of this BFI Film Festival programme front cover.
To begin, this front cover has several key conventions yet breaks others. Most jarringly, the title of publication. It is placed in the centre of the cover so it is very easily obvious. This conforms to the key conventions. However, the specific placing of the title breaks convention as they have placed the title in the centre rather than the top right. In addition to the title of publication, they have superimposed a face with eccentric, warm colours to make it stand out and appear striking. The central image has been overlayed into title of the publication acting as the foreground, this again is solely habitual of art house work yet entirely breaks convention of regular magazine covers because they tend to employ one strong, central image to 'anchor' the image.In terms of the use of colour, this cover does stick to conventions by using little colour and a set colour scheme in order to avoid becoming too bombastic or pompous and subsequently difficult to 'decode.' The colour scheme here creates a warm, cheerful yet mysterious and intriguing appearance. This appeals to individuals who perhaps are interested in film. Furthermore, this cover has omitted any slogans, free offers, name checks, excessive use of language, competitions, bar codes, prices etc. This breaks typical convention but is congruous in the genre of arthouse work.
2) Find at least 5 arts centre or cinema programmes/brochures aimed at a similar target audience to your project (arthouse cinema). For each one, pick out one design idea that you could use in your own print work.
I like the use of side profiles here within the central images as they create ambiguity and this is appropriate in art house documents.
Again, the focus image of the document s looking away from the camera. I also like the simple colour scheme and typography/hand lettering employed here.
I really enjoy the creepy, sinister image used here as it creates an overall dark, eerie impression very well.
Again, the use of side profiles is employed and the focus of the document is not one consecutive image which appeals to me and the art house genre.
This image appeals to me strongly and it is appropriate for arthouse because the focus is not looking at the camera and is covering her face. Again, the colour scheme is very minimal and lacks vibrance or saturation which is what my genre of film fits into.
3) Find at least 5 contents pages from arts programmes or magazines. How are contents pages designed? How do they use a combination of text and images to create an effective design?
This contents page is slightly pompous with several typefaces used. It appears quite 'busy' which I dislike but the strip of images is very interesting as well as the vertically aligned text. What makes this effective is the colour scheme which is quite fundamental yet manages to capture and strike viewers. The fonts however, vary immensely which makes it an eyesore to some extent.
Here, the table of contents is split by an image that is cut into by titles. I feel that this is very effective because of its minimalistic yet striking feel that it captures.
This contents page works well because it uses a simple colour scheme, as to not overwhelm viewers and instead effectively capture the impression they intended to create. This impression is that this magazine consists of interesting content that the viewers must read. On another note, i like the use of the hand over the main focus and will consider employing it in my print work.
The use of the dot-to-dot is most striking to me as it is quite a unique concept and often considered quite childish yet it works here superbly. Again, the simple colour scheme helps contribute to the highbrow content.
This is perhaps the most effective contents page and the most fitting to the genre of arthouse. The use of a sans serif font creates a modern feel and makes it very easy to decode. The use of vertical text again is striking as it creates an impression of ease. The images before the text enables viewers to gather a feel of what the films consist of, again meaning it is very easy to decode.
Planning and sketching 1) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of all the things your target audience might be interested in. How can you use this information to create a main feature about your film that will appeal to your target audience?
4) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of ideas for your double-page spreadfeature. Write a list of potential headlines and sub-headings for the article you choose to go with.
Sketching
Produce an A5 sketch of your front cover
Produce an A4 sketch of your double-page spread contents page.
Produce an A4 landscape sketch of your double page spread design
Photoshoot 1) Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your programme? Eden, Rapist (Abdullah), Maya (Gifty) 2) What image or images do you need for the contents page? Several side profiles of Maya, Eden and the rapist as well as several front facing shots. 3) What image or images will you use for the double-page spread? Front facing shots of the rapist and on the other a front facing shot of Eden. 4) Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.
EDEN
MAYA
RAPIST
Medium close up side profile eye line
Medium close up side profile eye line
front facing long shot (waist up)
Medium close up side profile upwards
Medium close up side profile upwards
Medium close up side profile eye line
medium close up front facing hand holding sheet.
medium close up front facing hand holding sheet.
Medium close up side profile upwards
front facing, eyes closed, looking upwards, rapist holding her.
5) What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot? Backpacks, worn down traveller clothes, fake blood, fake vomit.
‘because of the BBFC 15 rating [we are aiming to meet,] we won’t be showing sex explicitly’
‘we chose this post-apocalyptic theme as it is very popular e.g the walking dead, the 10 etc.’
‘we chose to discuss sexual disease as this isn important issue for our teenage audience’
‘’we will being using several props to implicitly show the disease being contracted"
"How will you show the dystopian place”
"I don't think succeeders would be advisable. I think maybe more explorers or reformers would be better. I feel like this challenges people’s assumptions "
"When showing the disease, maybe have it be only contracted by teenagers to help with the audience you are directing this at"
"To show what the disease is use like propaganda or someone handing things out"
"For exposition maybe use titles on the screen or a voice over. Social media will be of great use as it will be for the youth and be a way to make it more realistic”
"use real life news outlets, edit in rallies, VICE news as they are a more youth based news”
‘we will be breaking some conventions such as when the woman will be spiking the mans drink which subverts from typical gender roles’
‘We were talking about three colours blue and we would like our extract to rumble three colours blue stylistically’
‘Look at online tutorials to make it as believable as possible’
‘its going to be more politically dystopian’
‘things routed in whats familiar are more successful than big hollywood stage films’
‘very futuristic’
‘We are linking it to our target audience through portraying relevant themes such as date rape and date rape’
‘could argue the woman spiking the man’s drink, brings awareness to date rape’
‘cinema has found countless ways of showing sex implicitly’
‘suggest this encounter is a subtle way yet give the audience the information needs’
‘the underlying moral tends to be promiscuity leads to death.’
"if the disease effects this particular age group it is more likely that your audience will be able to identify to the film."
"With this may we see a rise in Homosexuality... such as this is prominent in prisons...I think your idea is open to many topics"
“You didn't refer to the Hunger Games which is one of the most successful dystopian, hollywood movie also with a female protagonist. I would definitely would recommend watching it again over the holidays and borrowing the best ideas in terms the cinematography, script, narrative etc.’
“Diversion is a good one"
The ending: ’It gets worse”
“There will be no new equilibrium”
Our focus group consisted of three group members: Gifty, Muna and I pitching in front of a group of seven people. Our pitch included discussions of our narrative and other ideas for our three minute production.
To begin, our initial idea was a horror, thriller film based on a dystopian, post-apocolyptic world in which there has been an outbreak of a sexually-transmitted disease amongst the community. This subsequently leads to a mass pandemic and resorting to the separation of genders in order to decrease the amount of people contracting it. This leads to the evicting sex. Our initial antagonist and eventually protagonist will be a female, trying to find a way to minimise the epidemic by experimenting on others. The main focus in our video will initially be seen as the antagonist as she ends up spiking the male characters drink and then takes him to a place in order to test on him. This subverts gender roles and how females are usually portrayed in the media as being the vulnerable, and susceptible to date rape drugs. However, this label of being an antagonist changes rapidly once we realise her true intentions.
Our target audience will be targeted at young adults in the age range of 15 to 25. This is due to the fact that the characters will be of their age so they were created in order to enable for them to identify with them. Our audience is likely to be split 60/40 female to male ratio, as it will most likely appeal to a female audience since the protagonist is a female. An interesting point was brought up within our discussion. Mr Bush suggested "When showing the disease, maybe have it be only contracted by teenagers to help with the audience you are directing this at" and that "if the disease effects this particular age group it is more likely that your audience will be able to identify to the film." This is a very good idea will will definitely be considering and taking on board. Moreover, earlier in the discussion, we mentioned that in order to meet a 15 certificate, we will be avoid "showing sex explicitly."
In terms of the physical appearance of our extract, we mentioned how we wanted our clip to resemble the opening of Three Colors: Blue. By resemble, we mean in terms of the cinematography and use of shots. The use of the specific use of shots helps distinguish this extract as being from an arthouse film. To continue, what also makes our extract an Arthouse film is the fact that it will not lead to a positive resolution as there will be no new equilibrium. This subverts from typical dystopian films such as the Hunger Games. Instead this is similar to the film 'It Follows' where there is also no new equilibrium formed and leaves the audience with a myriad of enigma codes. Ultimately, this is the main aim of our extract. We hope to evoke feelings of intrigue and confusion. To elaborate on the physical appearance, we were asked "How will you show the dystopian place." To which, we answered that we decided to use a 'near-future', rather than an entirely different world as that would be very challenging for us to show. We reinforced this by saying "it won't be filled with fly-cars and talking robots." This adds to the realism.
As the discussion went on, we were asked what other themes our film will entail. We were told our initial theme is open to many additional themes it could allude to. "With this, you could refer to homosexuality as this is prominent in prisons...I think your idea is open to many topics" This is an interesting theme that is prevalent in today's society and broadens our target audience. It would be an interesting theme to prevail as without mention of it, it would lead to asking how normal it would be in a gender separated community. In addition, another rusggestion we were given washow we could make clear that there is a disease being spread. Our audience suggested we could use propaganda in the background of our shots to portray the epidemic. As well as this, we could mimic news channels and make our own articles to show within the film.
1) Look back at the five films you have analysed for your existing product research. Find which studios made them – e.g. Film Four, Studio Canal, BFI, BBC Films etc.
i) Krzysztof Kieslowski: Three Colours Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu)
Blue was made by Eurimages, fund for the co-production of European cinematographic works and canal+. Also, the Swiss company CAB Productions and the Polish company Studio Filmowe TOR. This is because it was an international co-production.
ii) Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
An Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was produced by Anonymous Content, based in Los Angeles. They are an entertainment company established by Steve Golin.
iii) Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive
This film was made by Recorded Picture Company, an independent production company that makes films worldwide. They were also made by Pandora Film, a German film production company, founded by both Karl Baumgartner and Reinhard Brundig
iv) Ingmar Bergman: Persona
Persona was made by ‘SF Studios,’ a Swedishfilm production company. It was founded in 1919 as Aktiebolaget Svensk Filmindustri or Svensk Filmindustri. This can be abbreviated to SF studios.
v) Carol Morley: The Falling
The falling, a British production, was made by BBC Films. BBC Films is the film-making arm of the BBC. As well as this, The British Film Institute (abbreviated to BFI) is a film which promotes and preserves filmmaking in the United Kingdom.
2) What other films do these studios produce? Can you find any any other independent, arthouse or low-budget examples?
To begin, Canal+ has produced numerous films that fall under the category of art house. Asides from the trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski, they have produced films such as La Haine, United 93, Girlhood, City of God, Martyrs etc. Anonymous content is another example of a studio. They have produced art house films too such as Winter's Bone which had a budget of 2M which is significantly lower than the budget most films have. The British film production company, Recorded Picture Company have released include several independent films such as The Hit, The Last Emperor, Let Him Have It, Naked Lunch etc. Finally, SF studios (also known as Aktiebolaget Svensk Filmindustri or Svensk Filmindustri), produced a concession of Bergman’s work. A majority were considered art house such as Torment.
3) Do the studios have any notable successes? What is the most successful low-budget or independent film the studio has released?
These studios do have notable successes. For instance, Sight & Sound, published by the British Film Institute, has conducted poll of the greatest films every 10 years since 1952. Also, BBC Films published 'Africa United,' directed by first-time UK film director. To continue, Canal+'s most grossing film was 'The Pianist.' Although the genre appealed to a niche audience as it was quite specific and subverted from mainstream genres, the History genre film still appealed to a broad audience and it grossed over $120.1 million in the box office. It was so successful it even won several awards such as 'Academy Award for Best Actor', 'César Award for Best Actor' and more. Also, although already mentioned, the independent drama film 'Winter's bone' by anonymous content received widespread critical acclaim. This perhaps was due to Jennifer Lawrence's performance in which was universally important as she has a considerably large fan base.
2) Summarise the 10 steps of film distribution in a list using your own words.
Step 1:Prompted by a moment of inspiration or encouragement, perhaps an adaptation of a meaningful book, a historical figure, an event or even a moment in time, films can be devised in a myriad of ways. The first step of distributing a film is finalising the production of it.
Step 2: The creators need to submit their work to a sales agent where distributors are willing to invest in them. Step 3: Negotiating with a distributor as to the rights they claim, Step 4: Setting a date up with the distributor and getting a deal to get the right to put the work in UK cinemas. Step 5: involve groups of participants to pitch ideas. Step 6: promote the film to gain hype and increase the audience to a broader scale. Step 7: Collaborate with other companies and organisations to create a bigger production in which more hype will be generated
Step 8: Conduct market research to help establish a fan base around the genre and theme within the film.
Step 9: license film to exhibitors so it can be shown in screening. Step 10: Release the work on other formats e.g DVD.
3) Now research the distributors for each of the art house films you have analysed for your existing product research. Who distributed each film in the UK?
i) Krzysztof Kieslowski: Three Colours Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu)
This film was distributed by both MK2 Diffusion (France) and Miramax (US)
ii) Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This film was solely distributed by Focus Features, an American distribution company.
iii) Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive
This was distributed by Soda Pictures (United Kingdom) and Pandora Film Verleih (Germany).
iv) Ingmar Bergman: Persona
This film was distributed by AB Svensk Filmindustri (Sweden) and Lopert Pictures (US).
v) Carol Morley: The Falling
Metrodome UK distributed this film.
4) How many cinemas did each film open in?
i)Krzysztof Kieslowski: Three Colours Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu): Unspecified.
ii)Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Although i was unable to pinpoint how many cinemas this film was opened in, I found that there were 343 screenings in the UK, according to IMDb. iii)Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive: 4 screenings on the opening day in the UK. iv) Ingmar Bergman: Persona: Unspecified.
v) Carol Morley: The Falling: Unspecified.
5) How much money did each film make? Did it make a profit against the budget?
i)Krzysztof Kieslowski: Three Colours Blue (Trois couleurs: Bleu) Budget:unspecified Profit:$10.6 million ii)Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Budget:$20 million Profit:$72.3 million iii)Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive Budget:$7 million Profit:$7.6 million iv) Ingmar Bergman: Persona Budget:unspecified Profit:$250,000 v) Carol Morley: The Falling Budget:£750,000 Profit:£468,762
Curzon Artificial Eye is a British film distributor affiliated with the Curzon industry. They were founded in 1976 and ever since specialise in distributing independent, foreign-language (world cinema) and art house films all around London.
7) Look at the Curzon Artficial Eye YouTube channel. Watch three trailers for recent or upcoming independent films and identify something you can learn from each film to use in your own film production.
This trailer makes very interesting use of voice overs. I had not considered using voice overs until watching this as it uses the non-diegetic sound source very successfully. Moreover, the religious imagery is also a striking aspect. Making use of the shots by intentionally placing symbolic objects help add depth to the film.
I found this trailer's use of establishing or long shots especially evoking. The use of the establishing shots were intentionally included into the sequence to show the effect of destruction or to heighten a feeling of unity as there are crows of people sometimes in these shots. This contrasts vastly with the vacant areas of destruction shown later. This not only has taught me the importance of establishing shots but has also brought my attention to the juxtaposition of shots to create contrast which in turn will provoke the emotions of my audience.
This trailer's strongest aspect is the aesthetic element. It consisted of several shots of the scenery and eventually to less serene shots. The intentional act of placing tranquil shots against more chaotic shots heightened the impact of the effect they had on the audience. Moreover, the aesthetic element was also heavily aided by the gentle blue colour scheme.
Find some London-based arthouse cinemas and research the following:
1)What is the name of the cinema? Where is it?
I have selected the Arthouse Crouch End based cinema on Tottenham.
2) What type of films do they show? What films are on this week? How do their
programmes differ from the major cinema chains like Vue?
To begin, the Arthouse Crouch End shows mainly art films. These are targeted towards a niche market rather being designed for mass appeal or towards a mainstream audience. This is because art films are intended to be an artistic work, containing unconventional or highly symbolic content. By unconventional, I am making reference to how these types of films often possess qualities that distinguish them from mainstream Hollywood films as different. Unlike major cinemas such as Vue, the Arthouse Crouch End detaches from the mainstream trends in terms of film as they do not show unrefined, new films for the purpose of gaining hype. Instead, they stray away from this type of content. A good example is how the newest, most popular screenings are of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and ‘Moana.’ It is not a surprise that this cinema is not screening these films whatsoever.
3) What type of audience attends this kind of arthouse cinemas? Are there any clues on the website regarding the target audience? How can you tell?
From my previous research as to the content shown, it is evident this cinema targets a niche audience rather than the mass market. As the content is often very meaningful and discusses themes in society, reflected upon realism within the films, it is argued that it requires a certain degree of experience and knowledge to fully understand or appreciate such content. This subsequently means that younger people are less attracted to this kind of cinema as they lack this understanding that older people are more likely to have. Therefore, the audience is more likely to be older people and as arthouse cinemas tend to be quite expensive, it is far more likely that middle class people with a solid income are going to be attracted to this cinema. Regarding clues from the website, we can easily tell by the overall layout that this cinema is quite high brow. What stood out to me most from the website was the food options. Rather than conventional popcorn being served, we can see they serve sandwiches.
Film London is one of nine regional screen agencies within the United Kingdom. This organisation is supported by the BFI, the Mayor of London and also receives significant support from Arts Council England London. It sustains London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital.
In other words, theyconnect abstractions, talent and finance to pioneer ideas to sustain the notorious creative film culture of London.
Microwave film not only funds films but also is dedicated to offering full support and mentoring toassist shortlisted filmmaking teams.. As well as this, the provide production finance and offer distribution support to the commissioned work. This is all provided within their ‘microschool.’
3) What is the London Calling project for Film London and how does it encourage independent filmmaking?
London Calling project is an annual short film scheme. They encourage independent filmmaking by providing a source of mentoring and funding. This enables individuals to achieve their full potential. Also, the idea of it being a competition and having an award, enables competitors a motive.
4) Choose three feature films funded by Microwave Film and embed their trailers in your blog. For each film, explain why it fits the profile for an arthouse or independent film and what target audience the film might attract.
i)Lifting: This is a British drama. More specifically, a melodrama in which uses plots that appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience. As well as the use of a sub-type of drama, we can also see the is an instance of 'world cinema' as the use of foreign language is prevalent. All of these factors along with the social realism and indie feel indicate this is an arthouse film. Considering arthouse films are notorious of requiring a certain degree of knowledge to fully understand the depth of these kinds of films, we cannier that the target audience are farmer like to be older people. Moreover, the fact that arthouse cinema is expensive, we can assume that they are likely to be middle class or above. However, we can also argue that the narrative subverts from conventional plots as it heavily focuses on the homosexual relationship between the lady's son and the main character. This type of sexual orientation still remains fairly controversial but predominantly with the being population rather than the younger population. This is simply due to the stereotype that the elderly are more traditional, conservative and religious making them quite close-minded. The youth on the other hand are seen as more accepting to homosexuality. This means that the film could be targeted at younger people as well as older people. I would suggest the age range would be from 16-30. In terms of gender, I feel that women would be far more likely to enjoy this genre of film as there is an aspect of romance in it and it is said to be very emotionally evoking.
ii)ill Manors: To begin, this British crime drama film instantly appears to provide a form of depth. This is quickly made visible by the still of the nurture based quotation. Instantly, this idea of our environments impact appeals to teenagers and young adults. Teenagers in specific as they are between the liminal period of youth and adulthood, where they are surrounded and easily influenced by their environment and where creating any identity for themselves. This makes it easy for teenagers relate to the themes of this film. This movie appeals to a niche target audience as they use a storyline that isn't usually applicable in mainstream films. This is conventional of arthouse film. Instead, here they discuss ongoing social issues in British society and critique the ideas of hierarchy. They explore issues that are likely to appeal to people who are interested in affairs. This trailer includes a shot of a house which is a typical, run down British home. This adds to the social realism of the film and therefore attracts those who are seeking enlightenment e.g reformers from Young and Rubicam's theory.
iii)Strawberry Fields: This psychological horror film at first glance appears to appeal predominantly towards females. This is because of the issues the sisters face which a of females can relate to (hopefully not as severe as in this case). Also, the use of binary opposition within the roles here reveals the conflict and the riveting narrative. I think that the target audience are likely to be 18-35. This is because although adults are more typically associated with arthouse film, young adults can also identify the themes of the film.
5) Watch these top tips for film production. List three things you've learned from these short videos that you can apply to your MEST2 production work.
i)Maintaining a sense of social realism by ensuring the narrative is as culturally specific as possible.
ii)Making certain that my characters are emotionally evoking, striking and that they embody the ideas of the themes I want to be portrayed.
iii) Ensuring I have a meaningful, well written narrative.
I need to retake my side profile for the front cover and and I need another image of me holding paper to my face because the previous one is not as sharp as I would like it to be. 
