Minutes 17/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 12th December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn and Daniel Parsons.
Grace absent.
Matters Discussed:
Today we carried on with our jobs below:
Georgia - Shot-listing, descriptions on the storyboard and minutes.
Alex - Drawing the storyboard.
Daniel - further plot development.


We set ourselves a target to have the storyboard and shot list completed by 19/12/14.


We also discussed the plot in more detail and decided the shots that we would use in each frame and discussed the different types of music available that would work well with our piece.


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 15/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 15th December 2014
Where: Room 201
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons, Grace Blick.
Matters Discussed:
Today we spent the whole lesson beginning to discuss our practical piece. We all had a discussion and put forward ideas relating to the plot, genre and shot/music ideas for our piece. In the end we decided on a psychological thriller, and then we discussed the ways in which we could convincingly portray this.
We then gave out the jobs below:
Alex - Storyboarding.
Georgia - Shot Listing.
Georgia did the minutes.


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Film Institutions

Film Institutions 

Warner Bros

Warner Bros, founded in 1923, is an American producer of film, television and music entertainment.  Warner Bros also has many parent companies that are as follows;

·       Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1970)

·       Kinney National Company (1970–1972)

·       Warner Communications (1972–1990)

·       Time Warner (1990–2001, 2003-Present)

·       AOL Time Warner (2001–2003)

The ‘Warner Bros’ are an influential and powerful production company in Film and this is reflected by the use of the colour ‘Gold’ in their logo. Wealth is drawn as a connotation of Gold, therefore suggesting the company are wealthy and high end. For example, the Harry Potter series and the Batman trilogy. In contrast, the background is a cloudy blue sky connoting new beginnings, dreams and the phrase ‘the sky’s the limit’. The Warner bros logo changes, however the original crest is always apparent. Depending on the film the institution are presenting, the colours and background change to correspond with the film displayed.  When the Harry Potter series was released, darker colours were used to reflect the mystery in the movies. A variation of enigma codes were also used, for example in the ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ the camera zooms through the metallic crest and we see Harry Potter's house behind it.

DreamWorks

DreamWorks, founded in 1994, is a film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming, based in California. Reliance Entertainment, (part of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group), is the parent company of DreamWorks. A moon with a little boy sitting on the edge of it, make up the institutional logo for DreamWorks, illustrating they produce films for a younger audience. The younger audience are innocent and peaceful and this is connoted through the white colouring of the title. Similarly to Warner Bros, the logo connotes ‘reaching for your dreams’ and having a dream. It connotes this through the clouds in the background and the fishing rod the little boy is holding into the clouds. Overall, the whole picture represents, finding and living your dreams. The DreamWorks logo has been changed slightly throughout the years. Firstly it consisted of the boy on the moon with the title below it, Steven Spielberg, wanted a logo that reminded people, of Hollywood’s golden age. As the company grew in popularity, the logo was given the illusion of more depth, by adding clouds, symbolising the company’s growth. The boy on the moon remained the same as this is what made the logo effective for instance it expresses the inner child that everyone holds.

Columbia Pictures

Columbia pictures, founded in 1918, an American film production and distribution studio, is part of the Columbia TriStar Motion picture group. Like the other institutions, Columbia Pictures also have parent companies, which are owned by Sony Corporation:

 • Sony Pictures Entertainment (1991–present)

• Sony (2013-present)

The Columbia pictures logo contains a statue of a woman on a pedestal, holding up a light. Due to its similarity to the Statue of Liberty, an iconographic landmark in America, the logo is easily recognized and stays in the audience’s mind. Statues represent power and authority, suggesting the institution is powerful and of high authority. To highlight the title, the statue holds a light under the ‘U’ in the title, giving the title significance. Moreover the background uses astronomical imagery, suggesting they are above everyone else. The Statue of Liberty is a respected landmark, reflecting that the company are a valued and respected institution. The logo has changed over the years, the original logo looked like this:

The statue of the torch was introduced in 1928. The first version of the logo was called ‘Columbia productions’. The statue wore a headdress, with flickering rays of light coming from the torch. The second version called ‘Columbia’ (its current state) removed the headdress from the statue and added a pedestal and the background. The logo then remained like it is today however colours were introduced.

Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios, founded in 1986, is an American computer animation film studio, based in California. The studio is best known for its CGI-animated feature films, like ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Monsters University’. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the computer division of ‘Lucasfilm’ before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986, with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006. Luxo Jr., a character from an early Pixar film, is the mascot of the studio. The company’s institutional logo consists of a blue background, ‘PIXAR’ in black capital letters and ‘ANIMATION STUDIOS’ underneath the main title. However, the logo has added creativity, as the ‘I’ in ‘PIXAR’ is a lamp, connoting the company comes up with creative new ideas, on a regular basis, like ‘the light bulb effect’. ‘The light bulb effect’ is a shorter term for when, a person feels as if, a light bulb has been switched on, when they come up with a new idea. The capital black letters standout from the blue background, connoting that the institution is a standout institution.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount pictures, founded in 1912, as Famous Players Film Company, and in 1914, as Paramount Pictures. Paramount is a film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor, based in Hollywood, California. Paramount is the fourth oldest surviving film studio in the world after Gaumont Film Company (1895), Pathé (1896), Nordisk Film, (1906), and before Universal Studios. It is the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. When distributing films from another company, the words "DISTRIBUTED BY" in white, are seen above the logo along with the by-line and the line. Usually seen at the end of 20th Century Fox films beginning in late 2006. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company. Paramount’s institutional logo has clouds and the peaks of mountains as its background, suggesting the institution is at its peak and the ‘sky is their limit’. The title ‘Paramount’ is surrounded by stars, suggesting the institution is a high end, five star company.

20^th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, is one of the six major American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio used to be a subsidiary of News Corporation, but now it is currently a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. The company as we know it today was formed on May 31, 1935  as the result of the merger between Fox Film Corporation, founded by William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck and Joseph M. Schenck. The whole institutional logo is surrounded by spotlights, connoting that the institution is constantly in the spotlight. The statuesque layout of the logo connotes power and authority, reflecting the company’s values.

http://www.slideshare.net/haverstockmedia/film-institutions-28997361

Wikipedia was also used

Created and Published by Grace Blick.

Character Types in Thriller Genre

Character Types in thriller Genre

Can be outlined for the character ideals by Vladimir Propp.

The Protagonist - Usually the 'hero'. They face death, whether is be his/hers or somebody else's. The main storyline usually involves either a quest/mission or a character that cannot be put down (villain). The plotline often focuses on a mystery that must be solved, and the narrative is usually from the protagonist's point of view. E.g. Batman.

The antagonist/The force - Usually the 'villain'. This character is at first cleverer or stronger than the antagonist, and is a 'force to be reckoned with'. E.g. The Joker.

Both of these characters are more than likely to battle, whether it each other or themselves, both physically and mentally.

Either by accident or their own curiousness, each character is dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to resolve.

Damsel in Distress - Often a female character, they are often put in danger by the antagonist and the hero must save them. The hero is often put in a compromising position while attempting to save the damsel, e.g. save the damsel or save the city. Can also be seen as the Princess/Prize and her father. The hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil (usually the villain). The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, and therefore beating the villain. E.g. Lois Lane.

The Dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

The Helper — helps the hero in their quest. Often magical.

The Donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

The false hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.


An example of Propp's theory in film is in 'Blade 2'.
Hero - Blade.


Villain - depraved and ‘experimented on’ vampire.

The dispatcher, the donor and the helper - friend and mentor 'whistler.

False Hero - Human who pretends to be on Blade's side but is secretly working with the 'baddies'.

The princess/prize - defeating all of the bad vampires.

Written by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 12/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 12th December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons, Grace Blick.
Matters Discussed:
Continued with the jobs below:
Georgia: Audience Analysis, minutes and uploading to the blog, and also given the job of Key Character types in thriller films to be completed by 14/12/14.
Alex: Film reviews.
Daniel: Font analysis, and also given the job of music analysis to complete by 14/12/14.
Grace: Institutions to showcase our product to be completed by 14/12/14.


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 10/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 10th December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons.
Grace absent.
Matters Discussed:
Had a group discussion to distribute new jobs, to be completed by 14th December 2014. Then we started to research our new jobs:
Georgia: Writing and administering our audience analysis questionnaire.
Daniel: Font analysis.
Alex: Film reviews.


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 8/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 8th December 2014.
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum & Daniel Parsons.
Alex and Grace absent.
Matters Discussed:
Had a discussion and appointed Georgia team leader and Daniel Secretary.
Then we continued with the jobs below:
Georgia: How do films receive their certificates?
Daniel: Action and Enigma codes.


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 5/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 5th December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons.
Grace Absent.
Matters Discussed:
Continued with the jobs below:
Georgia: How do films receive their certificates
Daniel: Action and Enigma codes
Alex: Binary opposition


Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 3/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 3rd December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons.
Grace Absent.
Matters Discussed:
We had a discussion about our newly distributed tasks and then continued with the jobs below:
Georgia: How do films receive their certificates?
Daniel: Action and Enigma codes.
Alex: Binary Opposition.




Minutes recorded by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Minutes 1/12/14

Minutes Record Sheet
Date: 1st December 2014
Where: G2
People Present: Georgia DeBranco-Chessum, Alex Horn, Daniel Parsons, Grace Blick.
Matters Discussed:
Continued with jobs below:
Georgia: Thriller analysis and uploading to blog.
Grace: Thriller Analysis
Alex: Thriller Analysis
Daniel: Thriller analysis
We then distributed new jobs to be completed by 12/12/14.


Minutes Taken by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Audience Analysis

Audience Analysis

 

The results how that age range 16-20 is the mode age range who answered my questionnaire. This could have an effect on the answers to the questionnaire as there is likely to be bias.

 

This graph shows that the majority of people that answered our questionnaire were males, which could also have an effect on the answers to the questions.

 

The modal amount of films watched a week is 1-2. No-one watches either 7-8 films a week or 11+films a week.

The chart shows that the most popular genre of film is thriller, which is then closely followed by comedy. No-ones favourite genres were romance, cartoon, musical or sci-fi.

 

The most popular type of thriller film was action, which gained nearly 2/3 of the votes. This was closely followed by psychological, then disaster.

 

The most watched rage ratings of films was 15 which was the most watched of over half of the people questioned. This was closely followed by 18 films. However, this may be because of the modal age range questioned, which was 16-20.

 

 

The hero was the most popular charcter in a film, and then the comedy character. These were then followed by both the Villain and the Damsel in distress.

 

By far the most popular thriller film director is Quentin Tarantino. He was followed by Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton and finally Alfred Hitchcock. I have concluded that the most well-known and ‘legendary’ directors are of the highest opinion, however the less known have no attention paid to them.

 

The most popular thriller film among those I questioned was The Maze Runner. The likely reason for this result is that because the film is a huge new blockbuster, many of the younger generation have seen it, and the CGI effects with the real action appeals to the modern generation. The fact that most of my sample was of the 16-20 age range reflects this.

An overwhelming majority of the participants said the plot was the most interesting point of a film. This was closely followed by the actors appearing in the film, and then the genre. Of my participants, the older generation of people preferred the plot and the genre, reflecting that they focus on the actual quality of the film. The younger generation preferred the actors and the plot, which shows they are most interested on who is in the film, and clearly shows a divide.

The most popular acts were violence and fighting. Perhaps not coincidentally, the majority of people choosing these categories were male. This was followed by secrecy, and then mental challenges and overcoming a higher power/autocracy. With new blockbusters such as The Hunger Games franchise and The Maze Runner franchise, the latter 2 acts are becoming more and more power, as teens are becoming more aware that they can have a huge influence on how their world is run.

Audience analysis written, calculated and published by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.

Questionnaire written and administered by Georgia DeBranco-Chessum.