Film Insutry Case Study 4: Killing Your Darlings

1) UK release date?
6th of  December

2) Institutions behind the film's production and Distribution?
Production:

• Killer Films
• Benaroya Pictures         
• Outpost Studios           

Distribution:

• Future Film (2013) (Finland)       
• Lumière (2013) (Netherlands)        
• Sony Pictures Classics  (USA)       
• Sony Pictures Releasing  (Australia)       
• Works UK Distribution, (UK)       
• Paris Filmes (Brazil) 

3) What's the film's production budget?
N/A

4) Nationality of the film?
American

5) What kind of production is it?
Low Budget indie Film

6) Any connection with other films?
No

7) Who's the director?
John Krokidas

8) Any star names in the cast?
Daniel Radcliffe- Allen Ginsberg
Dane DeHaan   - Lucien Carr
Michael C. Hall- David Kammerer

9) What's the film about?
A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.

10) Who will this film appeal to?
It is a drama/ romantic/ mystery genre. Therefore anyone interested in this genre or anyone interested in the 1940's and beat poets.

Film Industry Case Study 3: The hobbit: Desolation of smaug

1) UK release date?
13th December 2013
 
2) Institutions behind the film's production and Distribution?
Producers

       ·        MGM

       ·      New Line Cinema 

       ·      WingNut Films

 

Distributors

       ·      Warner Bros

       ·      Cocinsa

       ·      Forum Hungary

 
3) What's the film's production budget?
$250,000,000 by MGM and New Line Cinema.
 
4) Nationality of the film?
American
 
5) What kind of production is it?
Big budget Hollywood film.
 
6) Any connection with other films?
-It is a sequel to the other Hobbit film: An unexpected journey, the second film to the three part series.
-It is also a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy
 
7) Who's the director?
Peter Jackson
 
8) Any star names in the cast?
Benedict Cumberbatch - Smaug/ The Necromancer

Evangeline Lilly - Tauriel

Richard Armitage - Thorin

Orlando Bloom - Legolas

Hugo Weaving - Elrond

Ian MacKellen - Gandalf

Martin Freeman - Bilbo

 
9) What's the film about?
The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring
 
10) Who will this film appeal to?
-People who have previously followed the Lord of the Rings trilogy and are fans of films of this style, and have either already watched the first part of the Hobbit or who now intend to.
-People that are interested in adventure and fantasy films, and enjoy fiction stories.

Papa and Sons, Q&A review

When Marcus Markou came in to talk about his film a lot was brought to my attention.
The whole of Marcus' talk really emphasised the success his film endured, although it was an independent film. This really emphasised that the independency of a film only needs a little more determination, effort and persistence that a normal film in order for it to be successful.
A lot of the methods Markus described that he used to get the film to where it is really opened my eyes to how active, persistent you have to be to make a film of a lower budget successful. This required working first hand:

-Marcus gave out leaflets for his film in cinemas directly promoting his film to the public.
-He developed a large support group through social media, Tweeting chip shops and Greek churches to tell them his film was coming out.
-He managed to get Greek Priests to announce that his film was being released at the end of the service.
-He worked hard to get  the actors he wanted with the budget he as working with, this even included posting scripts through their doors to avoid their agencies.
-He used his own money from his own business to give himself a direct loan for the film.
-He pinpointed every Greek church in London and finding a nearby cinema for it to be in, as "where there were Greek churches, there were Greek families."

Marcus had it all planned out, he knew what audience he wanted to aim for which was in this case the Greeks. By pinpointed greek churches, and making sure this audience knew about his film he managed to make his film more successful that big budget films. Not only did he plan out his marketing well, but he planned out how to deliver the film that would make the Greek community want their friends and family to also see it. Managing his money well to an extent that he could still create the film he had first pictured is very inspiring to other people that you don't need to spend millions of pounds to create a good film that can be successful and appreciated.

Accident continuity sequence analysis

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4yAn8jrjwE&list=PLuboFoQeI7ki-DbwVm8PGC7IdmbKf_JOs&index=3

What techniques did you specifically use to create (narrative flow) in your accident sequence?

To create continuity we used various techniques, including the story idea. The story is a simple idea, which left the audience with something easy to follow. The audience were left with no twists or overflowing shots full a lot going on, where the audience could be left to try and figure out what’s going on.

Various shot types were used to help convey narrative flow. This included use of master shot, close ups and reaction shots. We begin with the master shot which establishes all the characters within the story, the setting, and Gavin's decision to climb the tree. This means we don’t jump into Gavin climbing the tree leaving us confused and questioning; but we are shown how he decides he is going to climb it. We used a close up of Gavin’s face to establish that he is the main character of the story.  

The reaction shots used include the shot of the two Girls’, and Gavin’s reaction when he is falling. Both reactions make the story more realistic, as we react to everything that happens in real life. The reaction of the two girls allows us to follow  what’s going on, and their worried reaction gives us an idea of what height Gavin is going to fall from.  Gavin’s reaction builds suspense for the fall itself.

We also used various angles to help emphasise certain aspects of the scene. For instance, the shot of the two girls expressing how Gavin is falling is of a high angle. This symbolises Gavin’s perspective, and emphasises how high he is in the tree and compared to their height on the ground, which emphasises the danger of his fall. We also used low angles for when Gavin is falling. When he is in the tree about to fall, the low angle emphasises the height of the tree.

The second  mid shot of Gavin climbing the tree is at an angle which comes round the side of Gavin and the tree he is climbing. This allows it to seem as though Gavin is climbing past us, and therefore shows the height in which he is climbing.  

 In hindsight, what could you do to improve the continuity (narrative flow) of the sequence?

To improve the continuity of our sequence overall we could have made the scenes flow into each other a little more, instead of jumping from angles and shots that were very different to one another. Some shots jump from a long shot to a close up which can leave the audience disorientated. We could have made the shots go from close up, to mid shot, to long shot, or the other way around.

Falling out of a tree is very difficult, and is especially hard to convey with limited shots. If it was  possible for Gavin to jump from the tree the shots could have been a lot wider instead of having to film a lot of close ups of shots that aren’t that realistic. In the falling scene, Gavin grabs back onto the tree before he falls which could confuse the audience as what the shot is meant to represent.

Lord of the Rings opening sequence-Continuity analysis

Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers.

How techniques used help establish narrative flow:
There are three main parts to the opening sequence. The first being the snow-covered mountains landscape scene, and the second being the action-filled fight of Gandalf  and the Balrog on the bridge, the third being their continuing fight while falling into the abyss. The whole opening follows the principle of continuity making sure movements and actions are followed through to create a  continuous yet action filled opening scene. The techniques used include:

PANNING CAMERA SHOT:

The opening scene begins with a continuous pan of the mountains, giving us an idea to what extent we are dealing with. The pan creates a fluid movement, with no jump cuts between displaying each part of the setting, but a continuous reveal of the snow covered mountains and their surroundings.

ARC CAMERA SHOT:

The second camera shot is a smooth arc around one of the mountains which leads us into the mountain itself.

TRACK CAMERA SHOT:

As the first shot dissolves and fades (making sure there are no jumps) the two shots merge into one another, the second being track movement of the camera.

MASTER SHOTS:

We are firstly provided with a master shot of the scene between Gandalf and Balrog, allowing us to have an idea of what is going on. This does not only establish the setting of the fight, but the characters within it and the space between them. We see the close intense confrontational distance between the Balrog and Gandalf, and the slightly more distant, sheltering from the fight, Frodo and the others.

REACTION SHOTS:

As the dialogue between Gandalf and the Balrog begins, we see the reactions of one another to each other. Close up’s between each of the characters reactions to one another allow us to believe they are in the same geographical space.

180 RULE:
The 180 degree rule is used to show the reactions between both Gandalf and the Balrog and Gandalf and Frodo while keeping the perspective the same.  This allows the audience to see different reaction without being disorientated or confused because the perspective has changed.

MATCH ON ACTION:

At some parts within the scene, the dialogue between character to character is cut without big pauses in dialogue, this allows the dialogue to flow consistently. In this opening sequence this isn’t necessarily used for dialogue of speech, such as the one between Gandalf and Frodo at 2:34, but dialogue of actions between Gandalf and the monster at 1:50.

FOLLOWED THROUGH ACTION SHOTS:

there are no Jumps from action to action. For example, we see Gandalf going to slam his staff down before we then see it slammed onto the ground

SLOWER MOTION:

At 2:23, when Gandalf is falling, the reaction of Frodo and the other members are slightly delayed. This gives us time to grasp exactly what is going on and to allow us to understand the severity of the danger Gandalf is in.  
TILTED FRAME SHOT:

At 2:40 when Gandalf is falling a tilted frame is used to give the audience the false impression that they are also falling by disorientating their view. This makes the fall of Gandalf more realistic and effective, following him smoothly falling through the air.

AERIAL SHOT:

When Gandalf is falling, an aerial shot which runs into a track shot of following him falling down this great hole allows us to see the depth of what he is falling into, therefore establishing what kind of height he is falling into. 

LONG SHOTà TO MID SHOTà TO CLOSE UP SHOT:

When Gandalf and the Balrog are falling, the camera shots always go from long, to mid, to close up instead of jumping from long to close up. Not only does this follow the principles of continuity but it allows us to follow the movements of the characters instead of leaving us trying to work out what’s happening when the shots jump from long to close up.

ESTABLISHING SHOTS/LONG SHOTS:

When close up’s aren’t happening, long shots of the action are provided to ensure that both characters are in the same location, informing the audience of the relative characters positions to one another and their surroundings.

Near the end of the opening sequence at 3:39mins we are given an establishing shot. This is a very long shot, that allows us to see exactly what Gandalf and the Balrog are falling into, allowing us to know exactly what is going on.

Photo still analysis

 

 

 

-Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be described as representing your chosen genre?

Our chosen genre for the shot was a horror/thriller. The shot contains a dark silhouette figure in a corridor, who is leaning against the wall of the corridor. This suggests that the figure is comfortable in the dark surroundings, probing into the mystery and darkness that a horror contains. The grainy effect used heightens the light behind the figure and the darkness above and around the figure, as well as the silhouette itself. The dark ceiling symbolises the foreshadowing of the dark hanging over the silhouette and therefore the dark events to come in the person’s life; The dark corridor suggests his dark path to come. These are both themes that a horror or thriller would contain.

-What did you actually do to achieve the effect?

Not only did the location of the picture help us with the effect but the camera settings we used also contributed. The location helped us achieve the effect because of the low key lighting. Within the corridor we turned off the lights, but allowed the light coming from the door behind to continue to be lit, in order to bring contrast to the picture instead of it being all dark. On the camera we used the night vision effect, to help achieve the dark colour pallet within the shot.

-Identify what is successful about your shot.

I think the success of the shot is the uncertainty we have created. This clearly portrays our thriller genre. The blurred silhouette, darkness, and the effect used, all create a certain mystery in the photo. The fact that there isn’t much going on in the shot, draws attention to the figure. The lack of detail in the figure leaves the audience with questions of details like, who he is, what he’s doing there, and what kind of a person he is. The mystery of all of these questions creates the kind of suspense that all thrillers and horrors contain.

-What would do differently in hindsight?

I think that the shot itself could have been wider, meaning less of the shot would contain the wall. In the shot we have taken, the angle it is taken from ensures that the figure is on the left hand side, the right hand side of the picture mostly containing the wall of the corridor. When making alterations I feel a wider shot of the overall corridor would be more effective. In a wider shot this would mean the figure would be in the middle of the two walls of the corridor, creating a dramatic symmetry which the leaning of the figure would then overrule. Due to restrictions with things in the corridor this could not occur, but if It did I feel  it would bring more depth to the shot.