Sound Research (By Hubert Osinski)

Slide Set created by Hubert Osinski with GoConqr

Research into existing website (Hayden Woodcock)

Influential Film Posters (By Hubert Osinski)

We like the use of the low-key lighting on the character, supposedly the 'Dracula' due to the stereotypical make-up and hair-style, in creating secrecy and representing a Propp villain. Also, we like the elaborate 3D typography, conventional for Film Noir.

We like the use of red and white fonts, common in Horror posters, as well as the use of the one main image surrounded by darkness.

This poster is very colourful and unique, whilst obeying conventions such as: the main cast names at the top of the poster and 'a film by...'

Again we like the use of the main image. This poster effectively represents the possible Propp hero of the Detective, and the green, yellow and red colours all blend together nicely to create a hot atmosphere. This may connote the pressure within his profession.

Top Opening Shots of All Time

What have I learnt?

• Symmetry between the opening and the closing shot makes the shot notable, perfectly sandwiching the film and underlying the extent of its journey
•  Slow motion works well
• Spoilers that we do not pick on until the end because it begins with a flash forward
• Opening long takes are always more impressive, but not always effective
• Shot reverse shot/cross cutting between an object creating tension and another scene (perhaps completely different) 

Affect on our production:

This research has been quite interesting and influential upon any styles we should consider when deciding carefully upon the shots we should include in the trailer. Symmetry between the opening and the closing shot will work well in our Film Noir/horror to link to the themes of menace and stylistic conventions include flashbacks or forwards, since they will provide audience engagement through the tension and information. However, because we are creating a trailer instead of a short or feature film, we will have to consider this with detail as it may be quite confusing. Instead, our trailer needs to be easy and quite episodic. Furthermore, we are planning to use cross cutting to cut between the tension of the Detective's telephone with the killings to connote that he will shortly be needed. This will represent his importance and his character type in terms of Propp's theory.

                                            

Codes and conventions of Film Posters(By Hubert Osinski)

Poster Conventions from Hubert Osinski

Codes and conventions of Film webpages (Hayden Woodcock)

Directing a Film Noir/Horror (By Hubert Osinski)

Font research (By Hayden Woodcock)

The font for the film 'The Honesman' is Cheltenham Bold Extra Condensed. Saban Films have likely chosen this font for this hybrid Drama/Western because it creates a sense of roughness and violence, perhaps connoting the conventional sand and desert settings within mise-en-scene. The font is large and bold, attracting audience attention, increasing the likability of interest. The added detail to the font (serif) relates to the harshness of the Drama genre, as well as allowing a space between the letters. This makes the title clear, preventing misinterpretation of words. Due to violence within Westerns, in response to the binary opposites including Indians vs Cowboys, the primary target audience would be male. This is considered throughout the text because of the sharpness of the serif's and the scratches on the white letters. However, since the target audience is very wide for Westerns and as Dramas specifically attract female audiences, i think that the white colour has allowed the title to be mix-gendered and less specific. We personally like this font because it looks classic, whilst there are added modern details, allowing the fact that we are creating an old fashioned stereotypical Film Noir in a modern day society to be noticed.

The font here is Times™ Roman. This choice of font is used in Lucas Film Production in order to provide intertextuality and audience recognition within this iconic franchise. The font is large and bold, attracting the audience in the way that it stands out. The serif font relates to the Science-Fiction genre, also connoting the themes of menace and representing the Jedi iconography. The font of the words 'OF THE' is smaller in size, providing unity to the other films in the saga. I think that this layout is effective because it provides a balance, being parallel to the use of mirroring in this poster as the lightsaber acts as the mirror. This is likely used for juxtaposition. Additionally, the light green colour is used throughout for identity and an essential organisation. This particular colour may symbolise safety and growth, connecting to the alliance and the rebellion forces. As this is opposed to a black background, this could relate to the binary opposite of Jedi vs The Sith. However, this chosen colour is a polysemic reading because green is also traditionally associated with greed and envy, perhaps insinuating that the narrative consists of jealousy. Lastly, the bright green colour and the serif font will particular suit the demands of the male audiences, which is positive since Sci-Fi movies often attract males. From this typography, I am keen on the bold presentation mixed with the serifs, as well as the use of mirroring within the title and the poster itself.

The font used here is Industria™. This font is used for classic crime films, and I think that the size and the tightness appropriately reflects the 'silence' and the eerie atmosphere (both being Horror conventions.) The font is small and not in capitol letters, emphasising the silence, connecting to the themes of mystery, innocence and guilt. The colour red symbolises murder and death, as well as passion and love. Therefore, this typography is stereotypical for both genders, establishing the wide range of audiences interested in crime films. Furthermore, the letters are quite tight, again causing the title to be discreet and less important in terms of focus here. Therefore, the audience may gain interest as they will want to pursue their bewilderment why the font is so small, especially when it stereotypically relates to the plot structure. Finally, the fact that it is sans serif makes it seem more friendly, which is ironic considering what conventionally happens within this film. I am fond of title because it visually emphasises the silence and creates ambiguity.

This font used is called Egyptian Bold Condensed, commonly incorporated in a Warner Bros production. This was effective for the Romance/Drama genre. The white colour signifies the wind and it effectively juxtaposes the flame colours. Whilst, the serif's create a precise style, linking to the speech marks and the strong and firm lexical choices. The fact that the typography is bold and quite large, this aesthetically stands out as well as blending in with the colour scheme of the poster nicely. In terms of this film, the colour white may symbolise innocence, perfection and purity. This is connoted through the use of rule of thirds in this poster, as she appears hot like the flames and one of the main focal points. In this case, the white title seems to highlight the poster even more, which is one of the reasons why I like it. To continue, this relates to Mulvey's male gaze theory because the white from her clothing draws attention to her breasts, acting as dismemberment. Overall, the title here is effective because it draws the main positives out of the poster and also reflects the style and connotations of wind.

This font was used by United Artists in 1988. Caslon 540 Roman is suitable for a Drama with a melodramatic style. This font is effective because it is synchronised and neat, perhaps suiting a straightforward idea. Also, the use of the white colour adds to the simple and clear typography, as well as connoting the whiteness and bleakness of rain. In terms of the colour scheme, the white works well with the blues from the jeans and the pathway. The font is not the biggest in the title, instead the name of the actors is the biggest, perhaps being the main marketing tool since they are well-known and mainstream actors. The title again uses serif font which is more complex than sans serif because of the fancy additions and lack of boldness and simplicity, this is conventional for Drama. Since this genre is specifically aimed at the older demographic, this relates to the choice of typography. Despite the small size, the capitol letters create attraction, suggesting the importance of the title. Overall, I am keen on this blank and clear title because it signifies the boring emotions we feel when it rains, for recognition and pleasure. However, as we are doing a Film Noir/Horror I think that it is necessary that we use Sans serif font with alterations inside the letters rather than on the ends, for the horror style.

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Linking main production to ancillaries (By Hayden Woodcock)

Elements for creating an effective movie poster and web page

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/7-elements-of-a-great-movie-poster-design/

This link has been useful in enabling us to understand a focus and how we can achieve a successful Film Poster without complicating anything or money.

http://www.raindance.org/5-tips-for-building-a-filmmaker-website/
This link has been very useful in helping us understand the process of building a filmmakers web page successful, without complicated and unachievable methods.

Cohesive Marketing Campaign (By Hayden Woodcock)

Branding=process of creating a unique name and image for a product e.g. Adidas. Brand Image=the average impression on behalf of the primary target audience and potential customers. Synergy=the interaction of two or more organisations or media levels, to produce a combined product greater than what each of them could have managed individually. Convergence=the combination of companies in order to achieve a main goal more effectively. 360 degree branding=when the brand is displayed and advertised on a variety of different platforms so that the audience are enhanced and immersed by the product metaphorically everywhere they go.

Research into Acting Skills (By Hayden Woodcock)

Research into 'Touch of Evil' certificate

'Touch of Evil' 1958, is a fine example of a Film Noir: a stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town. By the MPAA it was rated as a PG-13 for some violence and drug content. In further detail, it includes:

Sex & Nudity  

A woman is implied to be nude in bed, but fully covered

Violence & Gore

A car is destroyed by a bomb. You see the driver and passenger engulfed by flames. While this is not particularly graphic, this second part is a little disturbing.

A man is strangled

A man is shot off screen and blood is seen dripping from his body.

Another man is shot off screen with no blood.

Throughout the film there are numerous fist fights in which people are thrown into walls and such.

Profanity

Mild use of profanity.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking

A large amount of the plot is about drug smugglers.

A woman is framed (falsely) as a heroin and marijuana addict.

Men smoke marijuana briefly.

A man is an alcoholic and is shown very drunk

Characters smoke in a manner accurate to the period.

Frightening/Intense Scenes

There is a sudden close-up to the face of a strangled man (with popping eyes and his tongue sticking out) that is likely to startle viewers.

Even though, our Film Trailer will not include as many of these aspects, we have set our target audience as a 15 because of the use of the Vampire, and as we will also incorporate Horror conventions.

'Touch of Evil' trailer does not obviously include as much intensity as the overall film would, but the beginning scene and the medium shot of the female character dancing on a table in tights creates a representation of a stripper and sexual incorporation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311/videoplayer/vi33489177?ref_=tt_ov_vi

Technical research: Editing (Hayden Woodcock)

We are not fully dividing roles because we are keen on exploring each of the areas in order to get a better practical understanding. Therefore, we are all responsible for everything: filming, directing, editing, acting and producing. However, Hubert has asked to be involved with the filming and directing more this year because he took on the role of the actor last year, so it is clearly fair that we edge towards this. In light of this, I have decided to focus my research upon photography, editing and acting. Following this, here is my research into editing techniques and considerations:

• At this level, it is preferable to edit on Final Cut Pro because it provides a clean finish and provides the editors with more software and techniques to use compared to IMovie. As well as this, this editing software is quite easy to use once you have a basic understanding. Within Final Cut, it is essential that I always consider: transitions, colour, sound and continuity.
• Transitions: These can be used during the cuts between shots to make the film to look more professional and to enable a continuation or lack of continuation (depending on genre requirements or conventions.) It is vital that the transitions relate to the genre conventions in the way that old fashioned films, in this case Film Noir used wipes and iris' because of the technology and consistence dominance during this period.
• Colour: The colour of the film can accessibly and easily be altered to suit our ideas and Film Noir/Horror look: black and white. This will enable the overall trailer to appear recognisable and stereotypical for this particular film.
• Sound: Due to piracy and downloading, I can access sound from iTunes or other uses sound on Final Cut. Although, it is necessary that the sound within a trailer is balanced between diegetic and non-diegetic and in particular, contrapuntal and parallel for tension, juxtaposition and to anchor the footage.
• Continuity: This can be achieved via the colour matching tool in Final Cut Pro, ensuring that it is the same throughout. Additionally, continuity is essential in editing techniques, depending whether it is linear or non-linear narrative and in typography (since the font should be the same size and the same font unless a reason against this is clear.)

Film Noir (By Hayden Woodcock)

•       Strictly speaking, Film Noir should not be clarified as a genre. Instead it is rather the mood, style or tone of various American films that evolved in the 1940s, and lasted in a classic period until about 1960. However, it has not been exclusively confined to this era, and has re-occurred in the form of Neo Noirs.
• Noirs are usually black and white films with primary moods of melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, guilt and paranoia.

Sub-genres of Film Noir:

1. Detective and Mystery-focus' on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft). The central character is often a hard-boiled and serious Detective in the form of a protagonist. He/she will complete various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal to a crime.
2. Thriller/suspense=Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorisations. They are promote excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and tension. The acclaimed Master of Suspense is Alfred Hitchcock (previously considered as my Influential Director.)

Genre Research: Horror (By Hayden Woodcock)

A horror depicts the audience emotions, worst fears, disgust and nightmares. This genre often includes scenes that scare the viewer, through macabre and the supernatural, as a result of intense imagery and sound. Most horror plots involve an antagonist trying to cause havoc or mayhem, often succeeding at the end of the plot, allowing the style and conventions within this genre to be clear. Elements that feature in this genre include: gore, weapons, dilemmas, enigmas, ghost, supernatural forces, serial killer and a lot of darkness.

Famous horrors include: The Exorcist, The Shining, The Babadook, It Follows, 31, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Psycho, Halloween, The Conjuring. The Descent, Saw and Evil Dead.

Theoretical Research: Representation theories (By Hayden Woodcock)

Theoretical research: Auteur Theory (By Hayden Woodcock)

The Auteur theory originated from France in the late 1940’s within filmmaking, used to describe the Directors distinctive style. It states that the Director will be considered as the ‘Author,' responsible for the audio and visual elements including: blocking, lighting and camera placement. As well as this, it addresses a certain theme and a recurring visual style that helps to return to similar subject matters.
A popular director who can be established as an 'Auteur' is Quentin Tarantino.

As a writer-director, Tarantino’s trademark style roots from his talent with dialogue. Within this, he is well-known for pop references. Whilst, Tarantino uses visual flourishes too, to make his films distinctive. The influences of Hong Kong films, Japanese films and homage to 1970's Kung Fu films are apparent. For example, 'Django Unchained' pays homage to the spaghetti western genre. His style can be linked to Martin Scorsese, with the use of long tracking shots and crane shots tracking above his characters.

Tarantino’s love of music often plays an essential role in his films. In the booklet that comes with 'The Tarantino Connection', a collection of soundtrack songs from Tarantino’s movies, are involved. He describes his musically inspired method of film conception as follows: “One of the things I do when I am starting a movie, when I’m writing a movie or when I have an idea for a film is, I go through my record collection and just start playing songs, trying to find the personality of the movie, find the spirit of the movie. Then, ‘boom,’ eventually I’ll hit one, two or three songs, or one song in particular, ‘Oh, this will be a great opening credit song.'”  (From http://www.openculture.com/2014/09/quentin-tarantino-the-art-of-the-music-in-his-films.html)

Tarantino is also known for his stylised and exaggerated violence. All of his films include some detail of death and gore.

Additionally, strong female leads are also predominately used throughout Tarantino’s career, thus he does not follow stereotypical 'Damsel in Distress' Propp character types. For example, Jungle Julia (In Death Proof), Bridget Von Hammersmark (Inglorious Basterds), Alabama Whitman (True Romance), Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction), Zoe Bell (Death Proof), Santanico Pandemonium (From Dusk Till Dawn), O-Ren Ishii (Kill Bill), Jackie Brown (Jackie Brown) and The Bride (Kill Bill). All of these characters require aid from other characters at some point in their films, representing that they are not all typical protagonists. However, The Bride is the strongest and the most represented 'hero' within his movies because she has an ability to portray an assassin when necessary. This is unique for many films because we find that the protagonist is often male, however it is positive for post-feminism and the modern day that female characters are playing the main hero roles.

Narrative: Quentin Tarantino follows a non-linear structure, due to flashback's. In this case, 'Kill Bill' is presented with a series of flashbacks explain Beatrice's circumstances and how she became jilted and desperate for revenge. Whilst, in 'The Hateful Eight' the ending is altered to connote that the whole plot was a plan, on behalf of Jody (played by Channing Tatum.) This provides variance and a twisted format, to tell the plot uniquely and with tension, to enhance the audience.

Trademark shots:
1. Trunk shots and point of view cinematography. These provide the characters with power, and cause the audience to believe that we are in the trunk looking at them.

2. Close ups of human features or objects for verisimilitude and fine detail, creating audience information and a sensual mood. Furthermore, the extreme close ups connote emotions and create intimacy between the audience and the action, as well as occasionally being used for dismemberment and audience pleasure.

Link: https://vimeo.com/124258143

Theoretical research: Narrative theory (By Hayden Woodcock)