Planning For PT 2

Planning For Pill Productions Pt2 

Moodboard and script by Luci

CONCEPT 

THE TITLE OF MY FILM (what is it called and why – justify your choice?):

Vengeance. It is about a man whose loved one had been murdered and so he searches for the killer.

MY TARGET AUDIENCE:

For mature audiences (16+) contains graphic violence.

THE 6-15 INSTITUTIONAL / GENRE CONVENTIONS I WILL INCLUDE IN MY FILM ARE (with detailed explanations): 

1. Darkness. This is often used as a thriller convention because darkness has a lack of light, and represents evil and the unknown. Our video will be mostly in twilight so that it adds a mysterious vibe to the clip. 

2. Shadows. Shadows are like masks in thriller films, and they hide the identity of the bad guy which makes their identity unknown which adds an extra feel of eerieness. Our characters will all be in the shadows to some degree which shows the audience what they are doing is secretive and they don't want anyone to know about it.

3. Envelope. They often represent the pass over of money or important information that is needed or wanted by both the good and the evil sides. Our character Declan receives an envelope from Simon, and it obviously has something important in it because he gets chased for the information that is in the envelope.

4. Silence. There is going to be a lack of noise which creates an eerie feel as we have shown that this guy is secluded and by himself, so no one is around to save him.
5. Hidden identity. We are gonna do a shot where it looks like it was the stalker knocking on the door, but we discover its the pizza delivery. The people will think its the guy about to kill him so we can play on that effect by adding creepy music in after.
6. Door knob. We are going to show the door knob being opened from the outside as to show that the house is being broken into. it will be quiet so Declan doesn't hear.
7. Non-diegetic music. When the music is added at the end, we can add suspense onto the moments like the pizza delivery, and the door knob opening to show something bad is happening.
8. Diegetic noise. The kettle in the video is loud and screechy, so when we see the guy running out into the pizza girl, and she opens he mouth to scream but Declan doesn't hear because of the kettle it adds suspense into the clip- the audience knows Declans in trouble when he doesn't, so they sympathize with him.
9. Isolation. One of peoples biggest fears is being isolated and having no help, and since we show that Declans family has died by the picture on the fridge we can see that no one will hear him when this guy gets into his house.

A PLOT SYNOPSIS (your storyline – 200-300 words):

·      The film starts off with an extreme wide shot/establishing shot of the house which sets the scene and shows the type of people they are.

·      The pace of the film is quite fast paced as Declan is under time restraints such as being hunted down, he knows there isn't much time but time catches up to him and he has to accept the reality that he isn't going to escape.

·      The camera focuses a lot on expression. This is shown through close ups and extreme closeups which really get in close and show how the person is feeling. The non diegetic use of music will be a lot more intense that in my previous film. There will also be more of a variety so instead of intense music all the time i will try and include soft music that still adds tension.
     There will be parallel editing to show that the people who are inside the house are having a conversation and at the same time there is someone on the outside lurking and the editing will cut between the two of them to add tension because the motive of the lurking man is not made clear until we see him pull the gun out.

·    

CHARACTERS AND NAMES with detailed explanations about their purpose in the film and their background/relationship with other characters: [read treatment blog] 

by Priscilla 

• The symbolism attached to the characters

Costume

l.  The main character wears black rugged clothing including a jacket. Black represents strength. For example, in the movie ‘prisoners’ the character Keller Dover wears dark coloured clothes. He also wears a watch to give the impression that he is in control and intelligent similar to James Bourne’s character.

James Bourne' s watch

2. The ‘doner’ is the person who gives the note to the main character which helps him on his journey. He wears a plain t-shirt, sweater jacket and glasses which gives the impression that he is a smart ( stereotypical characteristic). He is the owner of the house

Oliver Hampton from How to Get Away with Murder (TV show) 3.  The antagonist wears an oversized hoodie which hides their figure.  This parallels to him being afraid to be caught because of his illegal activities. The antagonist is actually sidekick of the true antagonist who knows about his illegal activities and uses it to blackmail him into doing his ‘dirty’ work. For example, in the movie ‘In the Shadow of The Moon,’ there is a mysterious figure who wears a blue hoodie the face is not seen.

Iconography/ Props 

The message written on paper. It is folded four times and the handwriting is small and it makes the audience wonder what the message is.  There are numerous sets of words and numbers which the audience can’t understand only the main character. This is a secret important message.  Right at the beginning of the opening scene, a sense of mystery is created to keep the audience interested in the movie.

Gun.  It is a common thriller convention used during shooting scenes. The sound effect is loud and booming. It is associated with death which makes it terrifying. It disrupts the peace of a place. It has contrasting ideas as it can save and take people’s life. When it protects the main character's life a positive connotation becomes attached to the weapon.

PRACTICALITIES OF FILMING/CONTENT (All considerations should include detailed comments): 

Examples:

·      How realistic is your idea?

·      Will you have any health and safety issues?

·      Locations and any necessary permission (ie. Filming at a local iwi’s marae)

·      Timing (Weekend vs available hours during / after school)

·      Weather and back-up options

·      Equipment

·      How-To’s in getting any difficult shots

A

TREATMENT

FOR VENGENCE

______________________________________

Prepared by (group name and names of who prepared the treatment)

18.4.20

…

The clip will be 2 to 3 minutes. We have chosen to film at Luci's house because her house has the ability to give it that open/ creepy vibe. And at the bottom of her driveway she has a road which at night time gets very dark and creeepy.

This film will include the following conventions of thriller films (details of why these are chosen [what effects they will help you achieve] and how they will interest your target audience): 
(Luci)

1. Darkness. This is often used as a thriller convention because darkness has a lack of light, and represents evil and the unknown. Our video will be mostly in twilight so that it adds a mysterious vibe to the clip. 

2. Shadows. Shadows are like masks in thriller films, and they hide the identity of the bad guy which makes their identity unknown which adds an extra feel of eerieness. Our characters will all be in the shadows to some degree which shows the audience what they are doing is secretive and they don't want anyone to know about it.

3. Envelope. They often represent the pass over of money or important information that is needed or wanted by both the good and the evil sides. Our character Declan receives an envelope from Simon, and it obviously has something important in it because he gets chased for the information that is in the envelope.

4. Silence. There is going to be a lack of noise which creates an eerie feel as we have shown that this guy is secluded and by himself, so no one is around to save him.
5. Hidden identity. We are gonna do a shot where it looks like it was the stalker knocking on the door, but we discover its the pizza delivery. The people will think its the guy about to kill him so we can play on that effect by adding creepy music in after.
6. Door knob. We are going to show the door knob being opened from the outside as to show that the house is being broken into. it will be quiet so Declan doesn't hear.
7. Non-diegetic music. When the music is added at the end, we can add suspense onto the moments like the pizza delivery, and the door knob opening to show something bad is happening.
8. Diegetic noise. The kettle in the video is loud and screechy, so when we see the guy running out into the pizza girl, and she opens he mouth to scream but Declan doesn't hear because of the kettle it adds suspense into the clip- the audience knows Declans in trouble when he doesn't, so they sympathize with him.
9. Isolation. One of peoples biggest fears is being isolated and having no help, and since we show that Declans family has died by the picture on the fridge we can see that no one will hear him when this guy gets into his house.

Jason Bourne has inspired me to make a moving title Which i will make in after effects

  

We havn't encountered any problems as of now except for the delays due to the corona virus and the inability to actually be at school and planning together.

This film will include the things specified in the brief such as and establishing shot, extreme closeup, closeup etc. and it will include non diegetic and diegtic sounds there will be a healthy mix and both of them will be used to enhance the tension between the audience and the thriller.

(1) Character names with detailed explanations about their purpose in the film and their background/relationship with other characters in the film:

The main character- the ‘hero’ – Declan Hunt

motivation: justice. searching for the person who murdered his loved one. He is an acquaintance of Simon Owens. He represents a dominating emotion in the movie and shows the fruit of nurturing this feeling.

The ‘doner’- Simon Owens

motivation: money. He wanted to help out an acquaintance. He failed to realise the impact of his actions in aiding Declan Hunt in his destructive path of vengeance, nor did he care as much. He got the job done and got out of Declan’s situation. To be blunt, he only thought of what he would achieve out of the bargain.

The antagonist- the sidekick of the ‘villain’- George Wayne

motivation: fear 

(2) Ideology (incl. message of the film, relevant representations and any commentary on supporting or challenging representations as well as representation theorists)

 The message of the film is inspired by the movie ‘Prisoners’ (2013) which is about the consequences of violence. This movie shows the length a person would go to for revenge.

Supporting or challenging representations:

The characters Declan Hunt and Simon Owens are strong and intelligent and support the representation of the male gender.

The character convention is challenged because the antagonist had a selfless motive- to protect his family after being blackmailed. The purpose of this character is to show that a person is complex and cannot be labelled into one category. George doesn’t know Declan; he only knew that he was sent to kill him.  He let his terrible mistake become a permanent consequence in his life. He let fear dominant him.

(3) Mood and Tone:

The mood of the Thriller is mysterious in a way. There is a lot the audience doesn't yet know and makes them want to know more or see what comes next but they don't get to see, which increases the anticipation.

(4) Camera Shots, camera movement/lighting/angles, lighting:

There will be a variety of shots included in this thriller, in the brief it said we had to include an extreme closeup which we be when Declan is reading the note he has been given.
It will be of his eyes and his nose, but it will mainly focus on the expression of his eye brows.

Another part of the brief is to include a close up, this will be of George the antagonist. It will be when he is holding the gun about to shoot before the black screen.

It will show more of his face and allow us to see all his expression which are fear.

The 180 degree rule will be during the conversation and it will show the two as they exchange the note. 

This will be follow by a shot reverse shot as the note is handed to Declan which mimics out last Thriller "The Hitman".

match on action is being used when our character first walks into the house. It will be similar to "the Hitman" in that we will use the same types of shots.

(5) Themes and motifs:

Our main theme is thriller, obviously. we are playing on peoples fears of isolation, being watched, being alone, and being the dark.

(6) Narrative

See the script at the top of the page

(5) Mise-en-scene/setting:
Trying to get across the creepy house vibes, we have planned to film at Luci's house which is good because she has a lot of space and also at the bottom of her drive way she has a road that gets creepy at night time with the trees hanging over the road and it doesnt have street lights so it is really dark, and good for a thriller. The photo isnt of Luci's house but it is an example.

(6) Symbolism

by Priscilla

• Hoodie 
• Gun
• Message on paper

[see concept]

(7) Sound and music:

The sounds we will use while we are filming is dialogue, a kettle boiling, and all the diegetic sounds of walking around. Afterwards however, in the editing stage, we will put in a non-diegetic music to add to the susense. It could be something like this: 

(8) Use of credits and logos:

The logo will be made when we get back to school as none of us have any software capable of making a logo.

(9) Editing
This time i hope to take my editing to another level by implementing a lot of different techniques but not too much that everything gets lost, i am still reserarching different techniques and it will be in a separate blog post later on.

BEGINNING:

In the beginning there is an establishing shot of the house where the 'meeting' is happening. The main Character, Declan is seen walking into the house and it met by another man who hands him a note.

MIDDLE:

There is a man seen lurking around the house, he is wearing a black hoodie and the audience doesn't necessarily know what he is up to all we know is that he isn't up to any good. He looks through the window and sees the two having their meeting. He has a gun

END:

Declan leaves the meeting after having a brief discussion with this man. He walks outside and is met by the mysterious man who then chases Declan and it ends with a black screen and a gun shot.

THE MAIN CONFLICT/TENSION IN THE SEQUENCE:

The main tension starts when a man is seen lurking outside and we do not know what it properly happening until he pulls the gun. The audience doesn't know his motifs which makes his mystery even more creepy a man is holding a gun to someones head for seemingly no reason.

The tension of the opening scene will be made to seem as if something has already happened almost like the audience knows that declan has done something and that they know something bad is going to happen just like in a good thriller.

PT 2 Planning

Classwork

Working From Home During Covid-19 Lockdown

having to plan out group project from home was really difficult because it was hard to communicate when not face to face. 

My internet went down and so I missed the first day of planning and wasn't part of the original idea and this wasn't fair on my group because they had to do all the original planning.

Working from home did have the benefit of having slightly more time and less distractions to work. It was hard to communicate though, because zoom meetings aren't the best place to have to plan. 

I'm not feeling too positive with our current plan because we have no information that we are giving to the audience- it's all mysterious but they have no reason to trust our main character because they have no reason tot rust or not to trust him. However with planning we have filled out what we need to do and there isn't many gaps anywhere which is positive.

Some forseeable issues is that when we do get together to talk we might change a lot of things because their might have been some miscommunication that will effect the video. Another might be that we haven't written a long enough script for thew 2 minutes and that we don't have a specific enough shot list cos we didn't have a template for our shots.

Synergy and Cross-Media Convergence

How do companies use Cross-Media Convergence and Synergy to promote media products and to what extent does that cause a film to be successful?

Cross media convergence and synergy are two very important ways to promote any aspect of media, and because of fragmentation, this makes them two very vital ways of marketing in order to make a film successful. 

A good example of a conglomerate who uses cross media convergence and synergy is Disney. However, Disney does have an advantage over other companies because it is so much bigger, and has so much more money to afford having marketing and advertising- this would make it much easier for them to do as opposed to independent films, or even smaller conglomerates and subsiduraries. Disney also has branches of  vertical and horizontal integration. An example of vertical integration is in how Disney owns over three hundred retail stores that sell merchandise based on Disney  characters and movies. This allows Disney to retain profits that would otherwise mostly go to other retail stores like walmart and target. A good example of horizontal integration for Disney is when they bought Pixar Animation Studios in 2006 for $7.4 billion dollars. From buying Pixar, they received Pixars cutting-edge technology and an innovative vision.

An example of synergy for Disney would be Toy Story 3 and Dancing with The Stars. The show featured a dance from Toy Story 3, and this is an example of synergy because Disney owns Pixar  which made all of the Toy Story movies. An example of cross media convergence from Disney would be the development of the Avengers Alliance Facebook game is an example because the Disney interactive division developed the game to promote the film through social media, and since their Facebook and Instagrams 46 million followers, this reaches  lot of people.

Cross media convergence and synergy is a lot harder and has more limitations for smaller companies and independent film makers. However, the rise of internet is helping to level the playing field slightly as its easier to advertise and get the word out about a new independent film without spending bucket loads on billboards and TV ads. This means that attention can be attracted to smaller companies and indie films by making a website, an Instagram or face book page, advertising through your actors etc.

Another way that has proven successful in the past has been crowd-funding. This is where the directors, actors and producers etc get the word out about their movie by advertising in unique ways and ask people who find out about it to pay money to help fund the film.

This has proven to work by New Zealands Mocumentary 'What We Do In The Shadows' that was created by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. They had some very unique ways to advertise their film. They showed up at a cosplay, in character and full costume with umbrellas to protect them from the light, and proceeded to answer questions as their characters. They set up TradeMe accounts, and sold vampire paintings they had done themselves and put the proceeds towards the movie, asked people to do fan art with the reward of posters being put up in theaters of their fan art, and the chance to got to the premiere. They also used a crane and changed the sign at New Zealands capital that says Wellington to 'Vellington.' They let anyone who wanted to interview them interview them, went on the ten o'clock news and made face book and dating profiles all in character. The movie was majorly sucessful, and ended up making $6.9 million on a $1.6 million budget.

The Dark Knight rises is a great example of how a company with heaps of money to spare can really raise awareness and draw attention to their film.The Dark Knight Rises had a very unique way that they advertised and raised awareness for their film. called 'Why So Serious" where people at cosplay events were given clown make-up and walked the streets holding signs for the presidential campaign in the movie. They got notifications on their phones with when to go and where, and armies of Joker fans showed up to play this game in around 75 countries- each with different places in their country to gather. This raised major awareness for the film as people would see these clowns marching the streets, and they were even covered on several news agencies which also raised massive awareness for the movie. On the last night of the game, people gathered where the website told them to and a bat signal appeared on a massive building- however, the joker then made the bat signal disappear and instead it was his face on the building.

For small companies and independent films, the opportunity to be put up onto Netflix and Hulu and other VOD sites have really helped with the amount of people who have watched their films. If an independent movie was on Netflix, its way more likely that a person would watch it that way as opposed to if the only way it could be watched was by renting or buying, because even with big films, people are reluctant to buy and rent on top of having Netflix. So the chances of them ever branching out to rent an Indie movie and not a Marvel or Martin Scorsese film that have been proven to be well made movies is very unlikely- the amount of viewers will increase because of VODs.

The New Zealand Film Commission would benefit massively from cross media convergence and synergy. This is because it would help especially to raise an awareness of films that are made in New Zealand. Even in NZ, people are reluctant to watch an NZFC movie over a Hollywood one because the quality of NZ movies is not always up to the quality of Hollywood. If the NZFC did use more cross media convergence and synergy to promote NZ movies in other countries, there is a high possibility of increased tourism, local economic growth, and it would show off the local talent and hopefully encourage others to step forward and show their talent to work for and make New Zealand films. Its harder for New Zealand to gain a large audience because New Zealands population is a mere 4 million compared to the United States' population of 328 million people, and this puts NZ on a severe disadvantage. However, New Zealand films do have a chance to make it big- this is shown by the total amount of money that i said What We Do In The Shadows made, and how now, there is going to be an adaption of the film that is being made by Hollywood in New York. Another film that did well to increase tourism for New Zealand was The Hobbit. Since the film was filmed in New Zealand, 400,000 tourists came over to visit Hobbiton. Air New Zealand also used some of their actors and the landscape used in the film to make a safety video that was shown on every single plane ride. In addition to everyone who watched it on the planes, it has over 21 million views on YouTube, and showed how creative New Zealand could be when it came to media. Since there is several free streaming services for the  New Zealand TV, such as TVNZ and Three Now (which not only show New Zealand shows, but also world famous shows like Friends, Killing Eve, The Resident etc) The NZFC has the chance to play their ads during the shows on the streaming services, and on normal TV which covers more people. This helps because because of fragmentation some people might not watch the scheduled TV anymore, but if the ads are on TVNZ, they'll see it their and not miss it.

In  my opinion, people watch big block buster movies because of the name the studios have made for themselves through advertising and years of offering quality in their movies. They have been working on their branding for years and have made conglomerates because they started earlier, which is why it is harder for indie films and smaller film corporations to enter the market. in 2019, Box Office hit a record of making a total of 42.5 billion off of their movies whereas independent movies made a total of $24 billion in comparison BUT saying this, you would have to take into account that the box office releases only 600 movies a year in comparison to independent film makers making 4000. So, the total amount of money made on an individual independent film is around $600000-$800000, whereas a box office film makes around $11.4 billion a movie.

Cross media convergence and synergy have been majorly affected by the rise in the Internet and web 2.0. This is because media companies have begun to market their movies by using the internet rather then just relying on the ads they put in the cinema, or the billboard they payed for on the motorway. This helps to level the playing field for independent films and Hollywood, because it is a platform in which indie film makers can easily market their films for not too much money. Hollywood uses these to market their films as well because they understand if they don't, they'll suffer because of lack of marketing because they would miss key markets that were created because of fragmentation of media.  Some of the key ways in which they often market their films is by making a website, sometimes with a fandom which often attracts people from websites like Tumblr and then they take it and talk about it on their social media sites which helps to increase the number of people who see information about the films. Fan pages are also a great way to attract users from those social media sites and people in general. YouTube is also a great, free place to post up previews, and even interviews and the writers talking about the film to give the audience a piece of the film and to excite them for the movie. Online competitions like what I mentioned previously with the Dark Knight gets the audience hyped up for the movie and keen to watch it because they feel like they have been involved in someway with the movie, and so want to watch what they have invested themselves into. The online competitions also attract heaps of people who just want to win something- at first they might not even know what they are signing up for, but then they see what it's about and so are drawn into the group of people who are waiting for this movie. Making an Instagram or Facebook or any other social media account is also really important for the films, because there is 3.81 billion social media users in the world, which is 49 percent of the whole words population, so by making accounts on different platforms, you could hypothetically reach almost half of the world with your marketing and advertising. The last advantage for web 2.0 that I'm going to mention is only usable to films that have A-List actors, or famous Directors and producers- That is reaching people via Instagram or Facebook lives etc, with Q+As and online interaction. The reason it really only works for famous people is because they already have their own following for social media- like for the marvel franchise Robert Downey Jr has 46.3 million followers on his Instagram, so when he posts on his Instagram, he's reaching over 46 million people. The same goes for other actors like Dwayne 'The Rock Johnson' who has 183 million followers and Selena Gomez who has 176 million followers.

One of the disadvantages of having a lot of the money your movie is going to make resting on your A-List stars is shown through what happened with A Rainy Day In New York which starred Timothee Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Elle Fanning, and Jude Law. A Rainy Day In New York was set up to be released in 2019 in all countries after having finished filming in 2018. However, the film had been directed by Woody Allen, and as the release date came closer and closer, a lot of hate was thrown on Woody Allen because of the Me Too movement, and so not only was the films release stopped, Timothee Chalamet and Selena Gomez along with multiple other of the actors involved publicly denounced the film and Timothee donated all the money he made to charity, and Selena donated large sums to charity also. By the act of denouncing the film it lost almost all of the people they expected to watch the film. The only countries that can watch it legally are a select few in Europe, if you want to watch it in countries like New Zealand or America the only way to is illegal downloading, so even if people do watch it, no profit goes towards the actual film, so the movie lost out on possible millions of dollars because of the public image. This doesn't happen often however, and the same effect can happen in reverse- The Rock posted about his film Jumanji on his Instagram, and his 183 million Instagram followers would've been a large factor in the $962.1 million that the film made as he influenced and impacted those people while he was joined with Kevin Harts 90.9 million followers, Nick Jonas's 29.9 million followers, and Karen Gillans 7.2 million followers they impact approximately 311 million people just by Instagram which shows the massive market that can be reached just by one social media site.

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