Attack the Block film review

Attack the Block is a London based film about teenage boys who are living in an urban area. The film is a urban sci fi film which starts off showing the mischievous teenage boys doing their daily routine until they stumble upon some strange encounters with things that aren't and haven't been seen before. The boys are worried about this until they figure out that what they've encountered is actually an alien. They spend the whole nigh trying to fight off and kill the aliens before they start to terrorise the community that they live in. The film is successful as it is a sci fi film which is based in London which is one of the films unique selling points. The target audience of the film would be a fifty, fifty split male to female and predominately those who are living in London or close to London. The main transitions that have been used in the film are cuts; this is common in most films. There are also low angle shots of the teenage boys which we can identify that they are seen to be the ones who are dominant and in control. The main character of the film or is seen to appear on the screen majority of the time is Moses, he is the leader of the gang of boys and is seen as the most mature one out of all of them.

Donnie Darko film review

The film Donnie Darko is a psychological thriller who’s played by the actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Donnie is a high school student. Donnie is a student who doesn't get along with people at school or his parents, he's seen as a troubled child. Donnie has a psychiatrist which helps him to express himself. He survived an accident which was a jet engine that crashes into his bedroom. Donnie then sees a giant bunny called Frank which leads him outside and then explains to him that the world will be ending in 28 days. Only Donnie is able to see Frank. Donnie later on tries to stop this and does this by time travel which is seen to be the only way to stop the world from ending in 28 days. The opening scene of the film is Donnie riding his bike which is a memorable scene as there is an establishing shot of the area where Donnie is at and then it starts to focus on him throughout the whole clip. The music is also parallel which is effective as it sets of the impression that he is enjoying himself and for the scene to be outside in a area where there is lots of greenery indicates that he likes to be by himself and outside. This could explain why he doesn't get along with people as well as he could.

Tsotsi film review

Tsotsi is a film about a teenage boy who lives in South Africa, Johannesburg. He is a criminal until one day he steals a car and finds that there us a baby on board. His mother is slowly dying because she has aids. At the start of the film there is continuity editing at the train station where Tsotsi is with his friends/associates. The main transitions that are used in the film are cuts. An example of this would also be at the start of the film where the man is stabbed on the train and getting robbed the group of people including Tsotsi, the cuts were used showing the expression on each characters face and also what they were doing. The very start of the film shows all the characters at someone’s house which is seen to be in a very run down urban area in Johannesburg. The shot used close ups of the game that was being played and the characters when they were talking, besides this there was a long shot which showed the whole room the characters were in and all the characters themself. A similar shot list was seen during the scene where he was looking after the baby; there would either be medium shots of the baby or Tsotsi and a long shot of the room that they were in. Majority of the time when there is a scene in a room there would be a long shot to show what's happening. The story also changes as instead of a life of crime and deviance Tsotsi starts to look after this child he has stumbled across. 

12D: MEST2 Progress report

Work completed since 6 January

The work that I've completed since the 6th of January are the pre production work such as camera shots, mise-en-scene, filming plan and previous tasks that were given in class. 


Any incomplete pre-production tasks

All of our pre-production tasks are complete.

Next steps/Action plan

Our next plan is to start recording as we've finished all of out pre-production. We need to start making our leaflet for the film which will also be started.

Date filming will be complete

Our Filming will be done by the end of January, it shall take us a few weekends and a couple of days during and after school.

 

Requirements for photoshoot next week

For our photoshoot we will need a suit for the main protagonist and a weapon.

MEST2 Print brief

Research

1. The BFI film festival front cover has a few key conventions on it. The first key convention on the front cover is title of publication, the title of publication on the front cover is 'BFI London Film Festival'. There is no slogan or central image in this specific front cover. This differs from magazine covers as it promotes films that are going to be shown in the cinema, the front cover doesn't need to have prizes or tournaments that a usual magazine cover has. 

2.

 
One thing that stands out from this front cover is the colour scheme that has been used. It is vibrant which will be more likely to attract a larger audience. The smoke around the text itself makes the whole cover stand out.



The one key feature that appeals to me is the central image that has been chosen for this front cover, it covers majority of the page and is effective in the way it promotes BFI. It doesn't have a picture of a main character but something which is similar to a mannequin.



The central image and the black and white colour scheme both compliment each other well and is something that could be done with my front cover as it is to do with a noir film. 



The key thing that stands out with this is the multiple images to make the front cover, this is useful as it tells us the content about the leaflet itself and what other things could be included in it.


The use of no central image is effective as it just shows the name of the art house cinema. This is effective as the audience are able to identify what cinema this is once engaged with the front cover itself.

3.


This context page shows each page with a picture so the audience know what they're looking at and can also use the use of a photo to help them. This helps it stand out from others as other context pages only have the page number.

The use of the plain black on white text is also very effective as it is simple and still works well. The use of the colour scheme and the lay out itself of the leaflet makes it easier for the audience to pick what page they want to go on.


The double page layout and the headlines for each film makes it easier for the audience to find the specific film that they want and the use of the only image being smoke is also effective; it gives the leaflet a more professional look.


The yellow heading and no central image makes the leaflet more professional the audience can find what they want to read quicker and also has it in chronological order which is beneficial. The context page is also going portrait rather than landscape in this case.

Photoshoot

1. The main character that will be on the cover of my front cover for the programme will be Warren Russ who's the main character of the film, he is the undercover detective who infiltrates the gang.

2. The images that will be required for this will be a shot of the main character dressed up as a police officer(formal suit) but also as a member of the gang he has to join. This will highlight both identities of the police officer and gang member.

3. Long shot of the protagonist

    Medium shot of the protagonist 

    Close up of the protagonists face 

    Extreme close up of protagonists eyes

    Close up of hand with a weapon being held

    Worms eye shot of the protagonist 

4. The costumes that will be required will be a suit and clothing worn by gang members such as a hoodie and jogging bottoms which are black. The prop that may be used could be a weapon that the protagonist will hold.

5. We'll make sure everything is prepared as the shot list and costumes will be ready. This way the photoshoot will be able to take place as the protagonist has his clothes and the prop will be ready. Additional research and planning will be done.

Audience research focus group

Our focus group was talking about our three minute video and what the whole story would include. We discussed the title, tagine, actors, setting, props, costumes, target audience, narrative ect. We discussed all the key elements of the film and who it would promote. This was done to enable us to get feedback from our peers to help strengthen and improve our narrative and idea itself.

Key quotes:

"The ideas are very strong and the narrative is very strong...they can still get the initial idea across to the audience"

"The three minute clip seems a bit too action packed, like lots of things are happening at the same time"

"you need to build into the idea that this is a young gang, and therefore the police need a young police officer to infiltrate the gang who area similar age to the gangster"

"Simplify the storyline a little bit, so that it is easier to tell"

"if you got people who look sixteen or seventeen who are trying to play senior police officers, you run the risk of creating something that's accidentally funny which is just going to kill your noire feel"

What have you learned:

We've learned that we need to make sure that everything with the script and shot list is done properly to avoid any confusion during the production of the film. The film also needs to include the correct actors as the film is to do with a modern day gang and a police officer so having actors that are young would mean that this wouldn’t fit the genre properly. We will find actors of a decent age who fit this role properly so that it has a more realistic feel to the clip itself and have the actor to be outside of school rather than having friends in the school so it doesn't come across as being funny. The storyline that was originally created seemed a bit too packed of things, too many things were happening and it would make it hard for the audience to understand what is happening and would ruin the scene by overcomplicating it. As a result of this, we are going to remove certain things from the scene itself and keep only what is required to maximise the effect of what will happen to the audience. The storyline that we do have is strong and will work if all the planning goes well so we need to stick to our original idea and try not to make too many changes which will alter the scene itself and give it a completely different feel that it was meant to have in the first place.

Target audience:

The target audience will be spilt more favourable for males as the genre of the film is modern noire it will interest more males than females due to the criminal nature and violence that these types of films have. The spilt will be 75:25 male to female. The audience will be around the ages of 15-55 and will be working class and middle class to try and promote art house films to a wider range of audiences rather than white middle class older people. We want to promote a younger audience and an audience of a lower social status as well. The audience will be a mix of all ethnicities and will have most jobs in society such as white collar and blue collar jobs to widen the gap of art house target audience. Although the main social class of the audience would be working class as our aim is to open up the standard target audience of art house films who are mainly white middle classed people so we can widen the gap.

Mise-en-scene

Costume - The costumes that the characters will be wearing are suits if they are part of the police or any members of authority. If part of the gang then clothing that is more suited towards a younger generation such as jeans, hoodie, snapback, jogging bottoms.

Lighting – The lighting that is going to be used will be low key during the scene where the police officers are talking to make the situation more discrete and intense rather than showing their full identity. For the member of the gang it would be high key to show who they are, what they do and to identify who is the main character of the gang.

Actors – The actors are going to be of a young age around their early 20s as the film is to do with a gang and having police officers an older actor would be required for this scene.

Props – One of the props that will be used is a fake gun which the gang member will hold to show he’s part of the gang and also to highlight the power he has as being one of the main characters but also one of the main members of the gang if not the main member.

Setting – The setting between the police officers talking will be taken place in an office to make it more formal as it is a case which is being handed over to one of the officers. The other scene which has the gang member getting ready will be in someone’s house to show their daily routine where they live.