Monday, 22 October 2012

Film Development

The film community is waiting with anticipation for the announcement from the British Film Institute (BFI) about their five-year plan to develop the UK film industry, film culture and film going. Following their consultation document New Horizon's for UK Film, many believe the BFI's proposals will include a call for a "UK-wide network of virtual and physical film hubs." If this is the case it has to be applauded. The devil will be in the detail as to what these hubs will deliver, but I think the notion of a UK-wide network is a major step in recognising that film in its many manifestations – producing, making and watching – is a national activity. It's always been easy to think of the film industry as London-based, with the gravitational pull of the capital as a natural phenomenon. Historically that has always been the case. Yet a major shift is possible. Digital formats and the internet has fundamentally changed and challenged that assumption of the "centre" – work can now be made and distributed from where you're based; they can come to you, rather than vice-versa. I was struck by a recent profile on Paignton-based singer, songwriter and film-maker Cosmo Jarvis, who as well as having released three albums and numerous singles at the age of 23 has also made short and feature films. For me he exemplifies the new phenomenon of talent coming from outside of the centre and establishing their creative profile without taking the traditional London apprenticeship.

Monday, 15 October 2012

TV Drama Sequence


Analysis-In our TV drama sequence we ensured that we contained the use of Levi-Straus' theory of 'Binary Opposites' as the two main protagonists (characters) showed the opposing characteristics in which one was well behaved and portrayed innocence however the other  was portrayed as the bad girl type. The bad character was starred by Megan Brant and the innocent well behaved character was played by Hannah Alley.

Megan illustrated the signs of bad behaivour and awful attitude by her actions and her body language. This interpretation is caused even in the first scene when Hannah walks past Megan and politely waves. This is because Megan showed attitude by her glance looking up and down on Hannah. She looked in disgust as Hannah didn't belong in the school. Even her stance being slouched and chewing gum illustrates to the audience that Megan does't care and that being in school is the last place that she wants to be.

The opposing character showing all different aspects of being the innocent good girl type (Hannah) portays all these features by her body language, facial expressions and actions. Throughout the whole clip Hannah is constantly being polite being well mannered and just generally trying to fit in being the friend type that she is. However everything that she does has a tendency to not fit in with Megans expectations and always ends up getting on the wrong side of her.  When the camera pans over to Hannah it allows the audience to get a full image as it shows both characters on the screen at the same time. From this we can see that the completely different postures the two characters have emphasising the differences that run throughout. In the first scene the audience can clearly see from Hannah's stance that her behaivour is alot better and is the behaivour that you'd expect a pupil to have while attending

Sunday, 14 October 2012

Disney-Independent Research


China denies pressuring Disney over Dalai Lama film

The Chinese government... has never put pressure in any wayon the Disney Co., Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofangtold a news briefing. We only hope the Disney group will be able to bettercooperate with China in relevant areas, he added without elaboration. Shen made his statements after reporters asked about a film industry letter that criticized Beijing for what it called attempting to impose worldwide censorship on Chinarelated films. A group of 41 movie actors, actresses, producers and directors including Paul Newman and Bernardo Bertolucci sent the letter on Wednesday to the Chinese ambassador to the United States.

Last month, China reportedly blasted Disney for moving ahead with the production of the film Kundun, based on the Dalai Lama. Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting unrest in the region. Despite Beijings objections, Disney said it had no plans to cancel the films release.
In Wednesdays letter, the film industry personalities said Chinas warning to Disney was the latest incident in a persistent effort by Beijing to censor the film industry. The letter cited 12 incidents, in which the film industry believed China has interfered with production.
Disney is eager to expand into Asia, particularly China, where demand for U.S. products is high. It remained to be seen if Disneys involvement in Kundun would hurt its ambitious business expansion plans in China.
The Dalai Lama fled his Himalayan homeland in 1959 after afailed uprising against Communist rule and won the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years later for his nonviolent campaign for autonomy for Tibet.
Reuters contributed to this report.
1996 Cable News Network, Inc.All Rights Reserved.
Exiled Tibetans sustain culture from afar December 7, 1996Dalai Lama calls for pressure on China over Tibet July 16, 1996Dalai Lama arrives in Australia amid Chinese warnings September 14, 1996
Disney Home PageKundun Rumors, facts and infoInternet Movie Database KundunDalai Lama

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Film Industry Article

UK film industry worth £4.6bn in 2011, report suggests

It said the industry has "grown significantly" in the last 20 years.
The number of UK films has grown from an average of 43 in the 1980s to 136 in the 2000s, according to report author Oxford Economics, a global forecaster.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsThe economy was worth about £1.5 trillion in 2011, with UK film accounting for 0.3% of GDP last year.
The GDP is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in the economy.
The report said UK box office receipts hit a record high last year of £410m, boosted by films including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, plus independent films such as The King's Speech and The Inbetweeners Movie.
'Long-term growth'
The most recent previous report on the film industry, also by Oxford Economics found that, in 2009, the core UK film industry contributed £4.5bn to UK GDP.
The 2012 report suggested the 2011 figures demonstrated that "despite the on-going recession the UK film industry is thriving".
It also stated the number of jobs the industry sustains has risen from 100,000 in 2009 to 117,400, while tourism generated by films depicting the UK was estimated to have contributed about £1bn to UK GDP.
"With a significant upward trajectory over the last 20 years, the overall picture for the UK film industry is of continued long-term growth," said the report, adding: "Growth outstrips the UK economy as a whole; there is significant and continued investment in infrastructure."
By comparison, another major contributor to the UK's creative industries is the music industry, which last year made £3.8bn, according to PRS For Music, which represents songwriters, composers and publishers.

Types Of Camera Shots

Camera Shots: Audiences Attention.
Close ups.
Mid shot.
Long shot.
Establishing shot.
Extreme close up.

Angles: Audience Feeling.

Eye level.
High angle
Low angle
Birds eye view.
Worms eye view.
Canted (distorted)

Movement: Audience Involvement.

Zoom
Pan
Track/Dolly.
Stedicam:
Crane.
Wire Cam.
Heli Cam.
Static.

Other terms-depth of field:

Shallow focus- limited area of photo depth.
Deep focus- wide area of focus.

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Camera Angles

  Birds Eye View: I decided to take this picture in this particular angle to engage the audience with certain feelings. The bird eye view allows to make the audience feel that they have more power and are higher up in the case of a hierarchical structure. This camera angle allows the audience to interpret how the character is feeling and how intimidated they feel.

Long Shot:This is a typical camera shot where the character is standing directly in the middle of the image. The scene would catch the audiences attention due to the camera shot as everything has been set up for perfection. There is a character in bang in the centre, pictures lined up at the back neatly and chairs set up in a particular way.



Long shallow focus shot: The shallow focus contained within this image allows the audience to draw all their attention to the main point of focus which in this case is the character sitting on the chair. This emphasis' the main props and objects that are most important and the out of focus items illustrating that they don't need to be seen.








Close up: The close up allows the audience to focus on a certain section of an object, place or person. In this shot the audience can tell that the character is trying to express his emotions as the camera is up close and can pick out certain facial expressions that highlight how he may feel.






Worms Eye View: In this camera angle the audience start to feel less important to what may be on the screen as they may feel intimidated by looking up at whatever may be above them. Therefore this could be linked to the theory of Levi-Straus' binary opposites 'power vs weak.'


Sunday, 23 September 2012

The Sweeny (2012)

The Sweeney Poster
The film was based on the 70's UK TV show and directed by Nick Love starring:
  • Ray Winstone
  • Damian Lewis
  • Hayley Atwell
  • Ben Drew
  • Allen Leach and many more.
Details:
Genre
  • Action
  • Crime
  • Drama
Language-English
Release Date-12th of September
Filming Locations-London, England,UK

Budget:

 £3,000,000 (estimated)

Main Tagline:
'Act like a criminal to catch a criminal.'


Friday, 21 September 2012

Media Mock 'Monarch of The Glen'

Notes:

Amy:

  • Bright Colours, casual everyday wear.
  • Body language-slouched.
  • Given her manly props such as driving the car.
  • Digetic sound of crash.
  • She's always a lower level, looks up to headteacher.
  • She has less power and control.
  • Close up zoom on teddy's illustrating inner touch with childhood. Low level of maturity.
  • Outsider shot of women from outside the window.
  • When teddy's appear they stay on screen for a long duration.
  • Stereotypical teenager.
Headteacher:
  • Smart traditional headteacher suit.
  • Stronger tone of voice.
  • Hierarchy-always looked up to.
  • Drink- brandy emphasising a mature older taste of drink.
  • Lighting- natural working colours.
  • Directed to a wooden panelled room demonstrating freedom, open, spacious.
  • Tie- business wear, wise, traditional, office, stereotyped headteacher.
  • Responsible.
Mock Exam:

In the viewing of 'Monarch of The Glen' the audience begin to explore the ways in which the extract constructs the two opposing representations of age between the two protagonists by anaylising mise-en-scene, editing, camera and sounds. Furthermore I will use the theory of Levi-Straus 'binary opposites' to illustrate the differences that exist between different ages. I will discuss how 'youth' in the clip is portrayed as vulnerable and naive whereas in the older generation 'maturity' is conveyed in a more powerful and aggresive tone, whilst still being responsible and caring.

The two protagonists I have decided to study and analyse are Amy and the headteacher as they are clear opposing representations of age. Both characters are key and everything that they have been set up to do is vital when backing up the narrative.

The director of 'Monarch of The Glen' then presents the audience with a series of close up shots of Amy whilst being in her bedroom. These shots allow us to interpret Amy's characteristics and props which are directed to catch the audiences attention such as the teddy bears, love hearts and keep sakes. One very important scene is when the camera zooms from a mid angle to only focusing on the bears placed on the bed. This shot emphasises how that Amy still has an inner touch of childhood and highlights her low level of maturity. Furthermore the non-digetic sounds that only the audience can hear highlights her thoughts and emotions as the music is slow paced and has a soft sad tone which links into the long lasting duration that the camera stays on the bear, to really engage the audience.

This scene can be compared to another key scene however containing the headteacher as the main point of focus, which brings the theory of Levi- Straus' 'binary opposites.' Binary opposites exist as the audience now can interpret the theme of mature vs childlike, and youth vs elderly . The audience can see the level of maturity once the headteacher enters the office/'work room from just the props and surrounding. The theme of maturity can be illustrated through the wooden panelled room surrounded with books, and a tidy professional environment. The midshot of him consuming brandy creates a huge picture and interpretation of the professionally stereotyped headteacher. The audience straight away picks up on the drink that he has been offered as the connotations of a man to be drinking brandy is very sophisticated, old fashioned, traditional etc portraying his high level of maturity. Levi-Straus' theory of binary opposites is present as clearly you can see that it would be unlike the generation of the youth to be seen drinking brandy. Similarly the clothes the headteacher was presented in was chosen for a reason by the director as he wants the headteacher to be conveyed as smart, professional and business like, therefore leading to another interpretative binary opposite of power vs weak as Amy is presented in a casual everyday style and looking up to someone can be very daunting and intimidating.