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Wednesday 26 March 2014

Revision Tools- Kermode Videos


Noah- Retrofitting to earn its money back

Ride Along, Lego Movie, Lone Survivor- Teen/Pre-Teen Male Movies earning money to cause best start for American Box Office EVER- Shows piracy may not be as bad as first thought.

Michael Bay remaking The Birds- Remakes for a NEW GENERATION!

Tuesday 17 December 2013

The British Film Industry 30 questions

1. 15% of the global box office British film was responsible for.
2. 6.8% claimed in 2009.
3.This change indicates that Britain is rising up the ladder of film production and becoming more popular.
4. Harry Potter, Skyfall and The Kings Speech are mainly responsible for this rise in percentage.
5. 7% of all British films make a profit.
6. 17% of Hollywood films make a profit
7.13% difference between £2m and £10m films
8.We could infer that a movies profitability increases with the amount of money that is put into it.
9. Teenagers make up the largest percentage.
10. Most films are aimed at teenagers making them the largest audience.
11. 3D Films have seen a 18% drop...
12. ... with big family films seeing the biggest fall.
13. Charles Gant says that families need to economise and 3D films don't let families do that.
14.Paul Greengrass is a British Film director.
15.Paul Greengrass described the British Film Industry as a "Success Story".
16. The BFI says that smaller, low budget films are for "skills and training development and for artistic and cultural importance".
17. 'Filth' had a budget of £1.8m and made £4m
18. James McAvoy says that £100m movies have an advantage in the way that they can sell the film more via advertising.
19.VOD stands for 'Video on Demand'.
20. VOD market increased by 50% last year.
21.VOD will have an impact on distributors and studios by allowing smaller films with lower budgets to reach a larger audience like A Field in England.
22.VOD has had a massive impact on Blockbuster rental stores, causing them to go bankrupt and close all remaining stores.
23. 'A Field in England' distributed on all platforms at the same time (Cinema, DVD/Blu Ray, VOD and in an actual field in England).
24.'The Machine' director Caradog James says that the hardest thing about making a film is making it reach an audience.
25. Widening the Cultural Test puts Britain on a level playing field with the rest of Europe, allowing for more competition.
26. The use of visual effects has been pushed so that British Effects companies can benefit morefrom every film made.
27.

  • Film set in the UK
    The Worlds End- Yes
    The Kings Speech- Yes
    Kill List-Yes
  • Lead characters British citizens or residents
    The Worlds End-Yes
    The Kings Speech- Yes
    Kill List- Yes
  • Film based on British subject matter or underlying material
    The Worlds End- Yes
    The Kings Speech- Yes
    Kill List- Yes
  • Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language
    The Worlds End- Yes
    The Kings Speech- Yes
    Kill List- Yes
  • Represents/reflects diverse British culture, heritage or creativity
    The Worlds End- Yes
    The Kings Speech- Yes
    Kill List- Yes
 28. George Osbourne has given the British Film Industry a tax break.
29. Skyfall is the highest grossing film in UK history.
30. It took £94.3m and showed on 587 scenes.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

“Media production is dominated by global institutions, which sell their products and services to national audiences” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Topic- UK and US Films
Aspect- Production
Viewpoint- Dominated
Instruction- To what extent?

What do I need to know to answer the question?
Patterns of Production, Distribution, Exchange and Consumption- Using own experiences (Dredd, Star Trek Into Darkness and Kill List)
Distribution and Marketing Strategies

Need to know about The Big Six (and how they could be seen to dominate the industry)
20th Century Fox
Paramount
Warner Bros
Columbia
Universal
Walt Disney

Budget comparisons- Small Budget to Large Blockbuster
Kill List- £500,000
Star Trek Into Darkness-
$190,000,000 
Gross to date-
Kill List-$26,297 (10 Screens) (Possibly better than Star Trek- Critically)
Star Trek Into Darkness- $228,756,232
(3,868 Screen- Well received among casual/mainstream audiences, cult audiences not so much)
Showing that money really does bring people into the cinema 
Some examples money on the screen are mentioned below:
The opening part- Panning down on the trees (All hand painted- Small budget would have to be CGI- Not looking good), CGI Monster ("You just stunned our ride!") 
Spaceship Jump/ Fight Scene- A lot of CGI! Also stunt doubles (Another cost) that British films wouldn't be able to afford
Big space battles (Khan VS Starfleet)
Kill List Special Effects/Visual Effects-
Muzzle Flash (All the way through the movie)
Dead Animals
Very basic!

Cameras Used-
Star Trek- IMAX Cameras and 3D Cameras

Kill List- Basic Cameras (Nothing flashy so it keeps the realism

Wednesday 13 November 2013

British Film Companies and examples of their work


Screen Yorkshire- Who are they?
Screen Yorkshire is a Regional Screen Agency. SY aims to spread culture and film making across Yorkshire. There are nine of these agencies across the UK, one for each region.
Examples of their work-
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Kill List (2011) 
The Damned United (2009)
This Is England (2006)

Film 4- Who are they?
Film 4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. They normally back films that are made in the UK or that have UK origins.
Examples of their work-
12 Years a Slave (2013)
127 Hours (2010)
A Field In England (2013)
Attack the Block (2011)
The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

Warp Films- Who are they?
Warp Films are a film company based in Sheffield and London. 
Examples of their work-
Kill List (2011)
Tyrannosaur (2011)
Submarine (2011)
Four Lions (2010)
 

Studio Canal- Who are they?
Studio Canal is a French based production company. It owns the third largest film library in the world. Owned mostly by Vivendi and Universal Studios.
Examples of their work-
Alan Partridge- Alpha Papa (2013)
Rush (2013)
Evil Dead (2013)
Cockneys VS Zombies (2012)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
 

Monday 11 November 2013

Recap- Why did Dredd fail at the box office?

After looking at the feedback from Mr Smith I now know to improve the structure of my answer evidence.
I need to focus on my Key Words which I can find on Mr Smith's blog. I need to replace words like 'Nerd' and 'Geek' with words such as 'Movie Buff' and/or
'Cult Audience'.
I also need to focus on what success actually is. Is it financial or is it critical?  
My use of examples such as Mark Kermode were good but I need to be more in depth and also incorporate the 2D VS 3D into that section.
 

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Editing Techniques

Editing Techniques
Continuity EditingVideo showing continuity editing in V for Vendetta 
Jump Cut
Video that was used in class
Credits
Goodfellas Opening Credits (0.00-0.30)
Cross Cutting
Inception- Van Sequence
Cutaways
A Fistfull of Dollars
Freeze Frame
Goodfellas- 'It was outta respect'
Eyeline Match
Rear Window- Caught Snooping
Flashback
The Bourne Ultimatum (0.55 to End)
Graphic Match
Psycho-Shower Scene (2.12 Plug Hole- Eye)


Juxtaposition
Reservoir Dogs- Stuck in the middle with you

Linear Narrative
Most Movies- I've picked Iron Man 3

Montage Editing
Team America (Comedic but still showing the passing of time in a montage)


Parallel Editing
The Godfather- Christening Scene
Visual Effects
Various Films (Montage)

Match on Action
Bringing up Baby (Lighting the Cigarette)