PLANNING: INTERVIEW WIITH EMILY

Following on from what we learnt from the article 'Getting to know our characters' I did the interview with Emily, who is the youngest daughter, we decided to do it via whatsapp messages. The messages show her having a conversation with one of her close friends. The friend is trying to help her and get through to her, however Emily is quite resistant and in denial.

PLANNING: INTERVIEWING CHARACTERS

OPEN SOURCE HERE

I read through this article by Charlie Sierra, he talks about how we can get to know our characters. We are going to do some character interviews to get to know our characters a bit better, learning about their point of view and their personality. He writes about how we should think of it like a questionnaire which the characters need to fill out. For our film we are going to interview the mother and the two siblings which are all our characters so we will be able to see three different view point as they all have different ideas about what is actually going on.


Our Interview- younger sibling
exchange in whats apps messages between Emily and a friend.
'are you alright'
'yeah'
'how's your mum?'
'She is fine, why wouldn't she be'
'well you sister's gone emily, she's not coming back. You need to accept death sooner or later. always here to talk'
'I don't need to talk, I'm with my sister'
'What?'
'I'm sitting next to my sister'
'you have to let it go someday'

Mother (Mrs Hodgson)
Home on the sofa with a journalist interviewing her.
'nice to meet you Mrs Hodgson, we would just like to ask you a few questions concerning your eldest daughter, Cara.' The journalist
Mother agrees by nodding her head calmly
'thank you, I understanding this may be hard but I want to get a deeper understanding on what happened to Cara'
The mother continues to have a blank face.
'Is it true you had an argument with Cara the night she went out'
'I don't see why this concerns you, it's none of your business'
'I understand Mrs Hodgson'
'would you describe your self as a liberal mother?'
'I would say I was fair and I was always very generous towards Cara'
'I heard some rumours that Cara witnessed a crime that night'
'yes she did witness a crime but its got nothing to do with it' 'I believe that Cara is gone and she's not coming back'

PLANNING: TOP LINE AND BIG QUESTION

Frank Ash is a creative consultant for BBC films, he teaches creative techniques with filming film crews across and beyond the BBC.  I found out that the main factor of identification is through the 'top line' and 'big question'.

TOP LINE DEFINITION:  A young girl can't cope with the death of her older sister. The audience don't realize the older child is dead until near the end of the film opening as it is through the eyes of the younger sister. Once the audience find out that the older sister is actually dead, the younger child also comes to terms with it. However, as she leaves the room that she was imagining being in with her sister her phone rings and the audience gets a big shock.

BIG QUESTION: Will the younger sibling ever find out the truth about their sibling? Is the eldest sibling dead or alive?

TREATMENT

Treatment 

There is a tragic death in a family where involving one of two siblings who are very close with each other which the younger sibling cannot come to terms with. Throughout the film opening we see the younger sibling still acting as if the older sibling where still there, playing and talking to her etc. There will be flash backs to when they used to spend time together and the memories they had. As the younger sibling is still coming to terms with the death and not really understanding it she continues to call her older sister on her phone but it continuously going to voice mail. After the filming of all the scenes with the siblings together, we re-visit these scenes but instead the younger sister is by herself.

siblings together

audience thinks everything is okay

(continuously calls her sister on phone but it always goes voice mail) 

mum comes into room

audience sees older sibling is actually dead/not there all along

flash backs to all the scenes the audience saw but without the older sibling in it

younger sister leaves room

phone rings 

TWITTER

I have made a Twitter account so I can follow media relevant people and Twitter pages which can widen my understanding of film and media. So far I have followed many different pages such as the big 6, media bloggers and other interesting people who can post helpful posts that will influence me in different ways.
I read an article from the Guardian newspaper by Alan Rusbridger: Why Twitter matters for media organisations.

Alan Rusbridger says:It's a highly effective way of spreading ideas, information and content. Don't be distracted by the 140-character limit. A lot of the best tweets are links. It's instantaneous. Its reach can be immensely far and wide.

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE-DEADPOOL

    http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/deadpool/

Deadpool is a 2016 American superhero comedy film directed by Tim Miller and written by Rhett Reese. The film is based on the Marvel comics, where the names of the characters are the same.

The opening credits are presented going though a frozen frame of violence in a car, there are items being thrown, coffee being spilt and battered bodies about. As the camera goes through the freeze frame the production company are named first which is 'The Twentieth Fox', it then moves and shows that it is associated with Marvel entertainment. Within the credits some mockery is added in, instead of showing the principle characters it shows 'starring God's Perfect Idiot' and 'hot chick'. It also doesn't name any important people such as the producer but instead its says "produced by asshats"

The opening is presented using many different props and has been made very active which gives the audience an idea of the type of film it is. By the main character being show last gives us the bigger picture helping the audience understand more of what's going on as it starts to zoom out from the car so we can see more.

The opening works well as it will draw in the audience by the shock and surprise of whats happening, its not the typical superhero film. By the time the opening is over and the camera has zoomed out it brings up many questions for the audience which will encourage them to continue watching to see what happens. The music and editing also helps as it brings irony to the opening. The song is very calming singing about angles and wouldn't usually be played with what is actually going on in the opening but the song makes a contrast between the visuals and music. This also adds to the mockery that the film is all about.

THE BUSINESS OF FILM RESEARCH

I have recently started a media course on the website Future learn, its all about the business of film. It will help me have a stronger understanding of how films are produced and the business behind film making. It will also help me learn more key concept about the business of film. So far I have learnt about how films help audiences understand more about other cultures and it makes them think more about their own. I have also learnt that British films that have been made by the UK have turned out extremely popular and have appeared at the BAFTAs and other award ceremonies, they all got started braces there are organisations which are set up such as the BFI which helps with production of the film and funding for it to be made. The course is a 6 week course so I will keep going week by week and complete it.

1.3

In the UK the BFI and UK film council write many reports about the cultural and economic value of film. Recently the reports have shown that films bring £3.67 to the UK economy. Studies have shown that films have personal messages and political messages which help people understand about different cultures and can make us change the way we understand our own cultures, as well as an activity to do in your spare time.

1.6

Above is a graph showing the amount of money spent on the production for Uk films in the in the past 20 years. You can see that it has been constant over the years, UK has made many British independent films that have been very popular. Because these films are so popular and appear at award shows it shows pride for the UK which is why most Hollywood stars are British. 

Film tourism is also important with production, people are visiting places that are featured in films and programmes are becoming more and more popular. 

Film is the highest of the creative activities, it is the highest profile and uses the highest amount of creative skill. Because film is so important they are supported by film incentives which help films get started.

1.8

Other than the BFI there are two other important public service organisations which help the making of British independent films. They are BBC Films, the film arm of the BBC and Film4, the film arm of Channel 4. These organisations give money to pay for the film to be made and production of the film. 

RESEARCH: ART OF THE TITLE- BREAKFAST CLUB

WORK from Josie Dean

PIKTOCHART: AUDIENCES