Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Institutions

Foundation Portfolio: Institutions












What Production Company?
We have chosen to use the American production company of Paramount Pictures. It is one of the most grossing movie studios and is in fact America’s oldest existing movie studio.

Why are they suitable?
This company is suitable because are known for producing quirky films and have produced a wide range of films in different genres.  After knowing that they are the oldest existing movie studios, this shows that they must be good at what they do, therefore it shows that we have made the right decision in choosing them as our production company.

What other films have they successfully produced?
They have produced Angus Thongs and perfect Snogging (another British Film), and Stardust, which were hugely successful, Mean Girls, Napoleon Dynamite and School Of Rock.

Why is that significant for your film?
These films are significant to us because they have the codes and convention of a quirky Teen Rom/Com genre that will attract our audience to come and watch our film. We have actually research a few of these films whilst doing our analysis, this shows that the genre that we are looking towards doing is a good genre that Paramount Pictures might take on.

What distribution company?
We have chosen to use the distributor company of Paramount Pictures. This is the same as the company chosen for our production.

It is part of a vertically integrated organisation?
Yes it is part of a vertically integrated organisation, which we have used for the production company. The distribution part of the company was in partnership with Universal studios for 25 years and this was originally how the films distributed internationally however it is now an independent company within itself.

Why is that significant?
This is significant because we are then able to make more of a profit because all the revenue from the films success is going back in the company itself.  This means that we don’t have to worry about payments to lots of different companies and people separated from this company, therefore it is easier to split money into shares and we will gain more as we don’t have lots of companies wanting the same amount.

If you are choosing an independent company, why?
We are not using a independent company because all though it would be slightly be beneficial we believe that using a vertically integrated organisation we will be able to get a wider audience because they will able to sell more of the film because cinemas are familiar with this company.   

What other films have they distributed?
The films that they have distributed are Footloose, Series of Unfortunate Events, Save The Last Dance and Mean Girls.

How does that tie in well with your film?
These films are all quirky Teen Rom/Com’s those are the films that we accept some of our target audience to have seen (at least one of them). Therefore it shows that using this distributor is the right choice as they have distributed many film of our genre. As our research includes similar codes and conventions to these films we are able to know that our idea for our film will sell well because it is a popular genre in the type of films that Paramount Pictures sell to the audience. This is what the audience expect to see particularly in this genre from Paramount Pictures. 




Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Summary of Research

Summary for full films


Codes and ConventionsFindingsTextual Evidence
Stock SettingsHigh School
Main characters house
Place of work for main character
Café
High School Musical 3
- all situations evolve around the high school.

St Trinians
- based around the school and its 'rules', the school is the characters 'home'.
Stock CharactersGeek
Cheerleader
Jock (main boy)
New girl (main girl)
Bitch
Loser
Grease -
Sandy - new girl
Danny - main boy
Roz - bitch
Eugene - geek
ThemesLove
Crushes
Jealousy
Revenge
Beauty
Rebellion
John Tucker Must Die
- He is a player - revenge on him from his ex’s.
- She falls in ‘love’.
- Other girls want him (jealousy)
- Beauty to impress him.
NarrativeEquilibrium
Disruption
Recognition
Attempt to fix
Equilibrium
A Cinderella Story
1. Girl is living her normal life.
2. She falls in love with a boy.
3. The stepsisters find out and tell everyone.
4. The girl goes to talk to the boy.
5. The boy loves her too.
IconographyMake up
Costume
Hobbies - studying, shopping, sports
Fights
The Princess Diaries
- The make-up is plain at the beginning as her as a normal teenager but she is then made up all pretty.
- The costume shows elegance as she is a princess.
- Her hobbies are reading which shows her as a geeky person at the beginning. The boy is a musician.


Summary of film openings 


FindingsExample
Create an enigmaYou see a little bit of every character to show setting, character situations. As it shows the start of a situation you want to know what is going to happen next. She’s The Man -playing football, shows all the characters. A girl playing football makes you think.
Introduce key charactersThe camera follows the main character, they are the first character to be seen. We (audience) know who they are and are aware that they are the key character. Usually starts with a hobby to that characters personality. High School Musical - The main boy playing basketball, introduces the hobby and how important it is to the characters.
Introduce key themesEmbarrassment - usually something that the main character is doing or wearing. Makes the situation awkward and uncomfortable. Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging - wearing an embarrassing costume and being bullied for it, friends have not joined in.
Introduce genreSetting - Shows the stock settings.
Music - Shows the emotions and feelings. Compliments settings through tempo.
The equilibrium is fine.
10 Things I Hate About You - settings and music compliment each other to highlight the genre.
Use of TitlesFilm name at start or in-between. See clips and the titles overlay. Distributors first. Main character actors are usually before the film name. The Lizzie McGuire Movie - animation is added to creates effect during the titles as well as clips of the main character.

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Questionnaire - Teen Drama


Questionnaire – Teen Drama (Indie/RomCom)

By Ava, Danielle, Samia and Amandeep

What age are you?  ______
Male/Female

What is your favourite teen genre of film?
Rom/com [  ]   Indie [  ]   Drama [  ]    Romantic [  ]

How many times do you go to the cinema a month?
Never [  ]  Once or twice [  ]  Three to five times [  ]  Six + [  ]

What settings do you expect to see in a teen movie?
High school /college [  ]  Home [  ]  Social places [  ] 

What type of characters do you expect to see in a teen movie? (Tick more than one)
Geek [  ]  Beautiful girl [  ]  Beautiful boy [  ]  Parents/Teachers [  ]  Friends [  ]  Popular crowd [  ]  Bully [  ]   Villain [  ]

How do you watch teen movies? (Tick one)
Download illegally [  ]  Download legally [  ]  Watch online [  ]  Rent [  ] Buy [  ] Cinema [  ]

Who do you go to the cinema with the most? (Tick one)
Family [  ]  Friends [  ]  Partner [  ]  On your own [  ]

What themes and situations would you expect to see in teen movies? (Tick more than one)
Drugs [  ]   Sex [  ]  Studying [  ] Group clash [  ]  Crime [  ] Peer pressure [  ]  Love [  ]  Bullying [  ]  Shopping [  ]

What type of music would you expect to hear in teen movies? (Tick one)
Rock [  ]  Classical [  ]  Pop [  ] RnB [  ] Metal [  ] Techno [  ]

What teenage age range would you expect to see in a teen movie? (Tick One)
Under 13 [  ]   13-15 year olds [  ]   16- 18 year olds [  ]   Older [  ]

Out of these film, which would you rather watch? (Tick one)
Juno [  ]   Camp Rock [  ]   A Cinderella Story [  ]   10 Things I Hate About You [  ]   Harry Potter [  ]   Twilight [  ]   Scott Pilgrim vs. The World [  ]

What factors made you want to watch the film you chose?
Storyline [  ]   Characters [  ]   Settings [  ]   Themes [  ]  Issues [  ]   Age [  ]

Genre

The genre that we have chosen as a group is Teen Drama. I think this is good for us to work with because as we ourselves are teenagers then we will be able to create a good opening clip for a teen drama as we can easily relate to teenagers and create a good idea.