Unit 26 - Assignment 2 - task 2 - Conecting with films

The films I connect with the most would be the Star Wars saga. I interact with them and the films' genre is, I watch the films I listen to the sound tracks, By reading the genre I know that the star wars franchise while the films may appear to just be Science Fiction it is in reality science fantasy due to the presence of the force which is a mythical energy field.


Others may interpret Star wars just to be Science Fiction but as stated before the franchise is science fantasy due to the mystical presence of the force.
The attraction of Star Wars I suppose is the escapism which is apart of uses and gratification model, the ability to see new vast worlds, the characters, the battles and the music, and the ability to interact with others about theorising about future releases. 

Star Wars' online presence is massive with social media, games, videos on YouTube such as trailers interviews with cast and crew. The fandom is also represented via cosplay which is where people dress as their favourite characters from films. And then there are the fan made productions, there is even a yearly competition for the best lightsaber choreography in a fan film I am not even joking. A competition winning example is below.

Active spectatorship is where a member of the audience actively agrees with preferred reading of the film an example of this would be the film "Avatar" which has the message of that we shouldn't interfere with indigenous species and their natural resources. Passive spectatorship is where an audience member just watches the film for what it is or could be influenced by it such as the James Bolger incident where 2 young children brutally murdered  an even younger boy after watching Child's Play 3. This was seen to have an effect on their psyches this event allowed people realise that some films may have an adverse effect on certain members of audiences. I would say that when it comes to Star Wars I am a mixture of both because when it comes to watching the films, I just that but I also research the expanded universe material to learn more about the franchise.

Before the Latest Star wars film came out I interacted with the online media by watching the trailers or interviews with the cast and crew.

I own at least three releases of the original trilogy one was the 1997 VHS special editions, the 2004 DVD release and 2011 blu-ray release. and I have two versions of the Prequel Trilogy.  

Star Wars has Several Facebook pages for it's various things Such as it's main page for Facebook and twitter, Star Wars Rebels, and for the charity events that Disney and Lucasfilm has set up for advertisement. I prefer to watch the saga on Blu-Ray due to the Better quality of visuals and audio.

Unit 26 - What is Queer Theory and What is Genre analysis

Queer theory is built upon the challenges of feminism to the idea that gender is apart of oneself as well as gay/lesbian studies' examinations of the constructed nature of sexual acts and identities.



The tern 'gay' normalises homosexuality however the term 'queer' is a break with the belief that gayness arises from gay liberationist  and lesbian feminist models.


Queer theory is based in sexuality and gender, due to this association a debate often arises weather orientation of sexuality is natural or if it is essential to one's person or if sexuality is a social construction that can change.
Queer theory was originally associated with radical gay politics and that the term 'queer' became an identity label.
Two examples in films where Queer theory is used is Brokeback mountain which is set in the 1960's where homosexuality is seen as wrong and vile and the two main characters have to hide their sexuality. A second example is in X-Men: The Last Stand however this is more of an comparison as Sir Ian Mckellen who plays one of the films antagonists compares the cure to mutations in the film like a cure to homosexuality which is like removing a part of who you are.


Genre Analysis
Genre analysis is the academic subject which studies genre theory as a branch of general critic theory. literary genre studies is a structuralist approach to the study of genre in film theory and other cultural theories. Genre is used by audiences and production staff to match a film with a set of conventions. Audiences expect certain things from different Films. And production staff use it as a set of rules to know how to create the required elements of certain genres and how to much to spend.
For example Science Fiction often abbreviated to Sci-Fi. Science Fiction often features aliens, spaceships, advanced technology, moral and ethical issues. the expected conventions are

• Aliens - independence day, Star trek Star Wars, Doctor who these films show that the sci-fi genre of Aliens either they be invading the earth or just part of a cultural menagerie.
• More advanced technology then current human technology such as faster then light travel, the ability to destroy a planet in a single shot for Example Star Wars
• Another convention of the Science Fiction Genre is the moral and ethical questions which asks she would we let technology replace what we are as humanity's core, and what it means to be human, like Blade Runner which had replicants for example or Transcendence which dealt with downloading a human mind into the internet.  

Unit 26 - American film industry vs British film industry

British films are generally a smaller scale in production then most American Movies with much smaller budgets. This can be seen with smaller scale stunts and effects as well as lesser known actors.




A co-production is where a larger company mainly American provides funding and is the company that distributes it, however that only happens if 10% of both cast and crew are American. The UK uses these to allow for greater tax returns which are used by the larger American companies to get interested in the production of any sequels.


the factors that influence production are finance/budget. most British film productions either get funding from either the BBC, the BFI film fund, Film 4 or as stated previously funding from the larger American companies.




The tax incentives for Shooting a film in the UK is that there is 25% Tax return from the British Government for shooting in the UK, this would interest the overseas production companies because it means they can make more money out of the film's production.




The technologies used in production that influence production have differing effects such as filming and presenting the film in either 3D or Imax increases cost because of the equipment. DVD's are cheaper to make and purchase then Blu Ray disks which is due to the fact of it having more behind the scenes features then ordinary DVD's


Films are exhibitioned usually at cinemas or at film festivals. the reason that most of cinema chain lines present the larger films is because the larger production/distribution companies have got shares of that company meaning they can exhibit their films easier then the smaller companies. Films are usually distributed by one of the film's main production companies. The marketing plan for the film like the Avengers (Assemble) they had several solo films to build up to it, trailers, posters video games and cartoon shows. In America film promotion is massive, posters everywhere in towns and cities on giant billboards at the side of the roads, race tracks and Comic Cons. In the UK however it is slightly smaller scale.


Vertical integration is where one Company handles all three stages of the film's life which are Production, Distribution and Exhibition. Horizontal Integration is where different companies handle production, distribution and exhibition.


The regulatory issues of film distribution and exhibition is that it means that only a certain audience can see the movie for example the film Deadpool was rated R in America by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America, but in the UK it was rated 15 by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification

Unit 24: Short Film Self Evaluation

The two weeks we spent filming were long and tiring but the end result I'm sure will be worth it. The first week of filming was probably the most difficult especially the first day of shooting due to lack of communication between the director and the rest of cast and crew. allowing us only to wrap one scene and only film part of another. The rest of the week actually quite fun to do.


The second week I think went much better because we mostly didn't have to work on heavy make up and most of the scenes were shot inside (Monday at Teeside University and Tuesday we filmed at the Director's old House until 4pm. On Wednesday morning the rest of cast and crew filmed in Billingham town centre which I could not take part in due to having maths lessons in the afternoon.)
 On the Wednesday night we filmed a werewolf transformation so it was a bit nippy, and I'm pretty sure that the actor's screams for the transformation scared a few people that were walking past where we were filming because a police car passed by where we were filming several times. The day after that we filmed in an abandoned house in Ingleby Barwick where I played a dead body.


After the Half term Holidays we returned to Preston Park to shoot the fight scene for Shadows walk among us which involved fake blood, fake organs and an actor who's knee landed into a pile of dog poo during a take where he was flung over while chasing the protagonists. two days later we went to Norton high street to once again shoot several scenes which were lost due to the tape being lost or damaged I am not sure which.


once all the scenes were shot we had to edit them and compile the first cut/draft of the film by the 25th of April which was extremely fun.


Overall I enjoyed working on both short films. I did have a few problems due to the location being cold and the background noise from cars when filming in Norton High street but I enjoyed working with the cast with the jokes. In between takes. some of the crew were fun to work with the ones who did work anyway during the pre-production process.

Unit 24 - Week 2 of filming production diary

Monday - Location Teesside college, thankfully filming went well today despite the fact that the tripod didn't have a plate on it, we had no extras resulting it myself and most of the production crew acting as extra's instead.

Tuesday - Was a mild shoot in comparison. Based in Norton at one of the Production crew's house. Filming went until 4pm.

Wednesday - Filming started at the Billingham Forum theatre in the morning which I could not attend due by the time we started filming I had to be in Maths and then back to Norton in the afternoon. where we would film the werewolf transformation scene as the sun set we may have scared a few people due to how loud the screams got. we were filming under a bridge so the sound echoed slightly.

Thursday - Location, The Rings, Ingleby Barwick, Firstly when we got the first location we got everything we needed done but then the Camera Operator left to go on Holiday leaving us to get filming done on our own. the second location was an abandoned house which was used as a prison cell, I was a dead body lying against the cell wall.

Unit 24 - Week 1 filming Production diary

The Monday of the first week of filming was not very good because it took at least three hours for the actors to get their make-up done. When we got too location it took at least another hour to get anything done. due to the Director's lack of communication with the cast and crew meaning that there was a great deal of confusion and delay including the fact that we only got one scene wrapped.






Tuesday on the other hand however was much better we were ahead of schedule by at least 2 hours and we got all of the scenes we needed done except the final fight scene but we be shooting that after the Easter break. however it got to the point where it got too dark for us to film so we wrapped for the night.

 

Wednesday morning we did the narrating voice overs for both films as well as filmed the first scene of Oblivious as well. which was set in a classroom

Unit 24 - Pre-Production report

Once the finalised scripts were handed in it was a matter of selecting which ones were to be made into films. Once all nine selected films were chosen it was matter of which student did what. We were then told to write a letter asking for what position we wanted to perform during production.


Personally I requested to be a Boom microphone operator because I felt that since it wasn't my film I should stay out of the way.


My job during the Pre-Production was to create a sound folly, which is a list of background sounds in scenes or what sounds would need to be where. I also took up the task of seeing what props would be needed for which scenes they would be required in.


I was one of the first finished with my own work when I helped with the others such as filling out the risk assessments.
as soon as most of the Pre-production work was done we started the auditioning process for the actors.


Once the actors had been cast for both movies I worked on. we used several of the same actors in both films so that made it slightly easier. we needed to prepare the make-up for them which included werewolf fur, zombies (Scarred and pale skin).


The day that all of the Pre-Production paperwork was finished was on the first day of filming. because of the Director for the first film (Adam Mclean)  really didn't care about the paperwork. much to the chagrin of myself, Honey Louise Ryan (director for Oblivious and assistant director for Shadows that walk among us) and Kelsey Ellington (Assistant Director for Oblivious and Production co-ordinator for Shadows that walk among us.)


All in all the Pre-Production process was good but could have been better.

Unit 24: Script to Screen – writing a short film script: Task 1 – Working as a Writer

Commissioning a script

When a script is commissioned by a film production company for a new film a writer is selected to write it. The script then goes through several drafts before the final one is produced. Even then while the shooting of the film is taking place, there will be small changes in dialogue to better suit the setting of the film.

Writers contracts and employer expectations

When a writer is hired to write a script the production company will make them sign contracts so they won't sell the script to other companies. The production companies expectations is that the script is well written (Though sometimes it is doubtful that production companies know what a good script is sometimes) and keeps to the story of the proposed film.

 Legal and ethical expectations that concern writers.

The legal expectations for writers is that once a production company commissions a film for the script. They essentially own the script so you can’t sell it to another company. The ethical expectations are that they have to be paid well, except that they are not when they provide the skeletal structure for the film.

Unit 26 - Research for short film

For making the Eternal Wanderer I looked at the Highlander movie Franchise, Doctor Who, Dracula and Disney Pixar's Wall-E for the inspiration.


Highlander was for the story of two Immortals fighting each other across the eras. Doctor Who was for the Immortal wandering across the world. Dracula was for the Evil Immortal wanting to spread chaos across the world. And Wall-E about someone who has been alone for so long falls in love with a girl.



For inspiration for the characters themselves I used Connor Macleod (Highlander), The Doctor (Doctor Who), and Wall-E (Wall-E) for Nathaniel because of how they have lived their lives as Immortals who open up their hearts but when their loved one pass on they remain young except for Wall-E who is a robot that cleans up the rubbish left behind by humans when they left the planet but when a female robot arrives to survey the earth to see if it's habitable. Wall-E after centuries of being alone is instantly attracted to her.




I used the Joker from Batman and the Master from Doctor Who as well as Norman Bates from psycho for Perseus because they are insane and have grudges against their respective heroes.


I used Mary Jane Watson from Spider man because of the Damsel of distress trope and Clara Oswald from Doctor Who because of her caring nature for Charlotte.






Connor MacLeod is a Scottish Immortal born in 1518, when his Immortality was first discovered he was threatened to be burned at the stake because of witchcraft but was banished instead. Over the centuries he fought Immortals while fighting other to the death. the prize being able to die which is a desire I think Nathaniel the protagonist from my short film would have after being alive for centuries.




The Doctor is a time travelling alien who is roughly two thousand years old. During his travels he had numerous companions who are usually Human and female, however he has had several non human companions who also been female but he has had at least two mechanical companions traveling with him a dog-based robot called K9 and a shape shifting humanoid robot called Chameleon. he has had several male companions bot human and non-human the female companions hold the majority. When the doctor is mortally wounded or his physical age gets to certain point the Doctor has the ability to regenerate literally becoming a new man (Height, voice, eyes, hair, skin colour even his personality is changed.) Through varying circumstances his companions leave him either death, they walk out the doors/get left behind or they forget him. The reason I used him for inspiration for Nathaniel is for the wandering across the world. as time changes he does not.


The Joker is a psychopathic comic character that was first introduced in the 1940's and has had numerous iterations across the decades. the particular version of the Character I am drawing inspiration from, is from the 1990's batman animated series iteration voiced by Mark Hamill. He Joker while working in a chemical plant fell into a vat of chemical waste that bleached his skin, turned his hair green and his lips bright red. said disfigurement rendered him insane. The Joker is a champion of chaos and destruction willing to kill everyone on a whim.


The Master is from the same species as the Doctor. they were even childhood friends but when they left Gallifrey they chose different paths. The Doctor chose to explore the universe and to help where he could. whereas the master chose to conquer the universe. his personality changes with each iteration but like the doctor a few things remain the same. His intelligence, his ruthlessness, his complete lack of regard for sentient life and his determination to take over the universe.


Patrick Bateman is a from a wealthy American Family so he has taste for the finer luxuries of life. but he is also a psychopath who kills his co-workers just for having better business cards then him. the reason I chose him for inspiration when coming up with Perseus is because in the original novel he is slightly schizophrenic.
I used Mary Jane Watson for inspiration for Charlotte mainly because of the damsel in distress trope in which the protagonist and antagonist fight over her in a final battle. which is what happens.
I used Ashilda/Me from Doctor Who for inspiration because she is Immortal and I can't think of any other Immortal Female characters that aren't either gods, witches or demons. Ashilda was born in Scandinavia several hundred years ago in a Viking village. After the Doctor helped the town repel an attack from a warrior alien race. in which Ashilda died. The Doctor using alien medical Technology brought her back to life however doing so made her essentially Immortal.

Unit 26 - Research of a gift that is taken away and The Wanderer

The gift that is taken away and The Wanderer are two of the ten story types created by Phil Parker.


The gift That is taken Away means that someone's most priceless possession is taken away from him/her and in the case of my short film that is the main character's ability to die.




And the wanderer is about where The main character enters a new place because an event from the previous place made him leave but as he arrives something strange starts to happen that he has to solve. And in the case of my film it is where the man who cannot die has to deal with an old adversary of his in order to protect the one he cares about