SAMPLE SCENE 2 Packing scene - 2nd attempt

This is the 2nd attempt at filming the scene where the tennis player's partner (Cathy) is leaving him



CHANGES

• Much more set dressing:
• tennis equipment is placed throughout the room
• photos of the couple and the tennis team have been added for verisimilitude
• female beauty products and jewellery were placed on the surface in front of the mirror
• stereotypically female books were placed on one side of the bed, and stereotypically male ones on the other
• the wardrobe was changed so that there is a clear divide between men's and women's clothes
• a larger suitcase that is more realistic for a permanent move
• Character creation had more detail:
• we prepared a business suit (black trousers, smart shoes with modest heel, shirt and a blazer)
• and a long, smart looking coat for when they leave the house
• a watch, something teenagers do not usually wear
• modest make-up (lip gloss and mascara)
• More directing for the acting:
• there was more demonstration of the actions (e.g. wiping the tear away)
• there were issues in following direction with the actress previously playing the tennis player's partner (saying she felt uncomfortable in front of the camera) so a change in cast was a good idea
• new shots:
• close-ups of the set dressing
• shot of the suitcase being slammed onto the bed so that we can attempt an almost match cut from the joggers foot landing on the ground
• 
  

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FEEDBACK

• Genre/target audience:
• the people we asked all though it was aimed at teenagers, though one though the target age would up to 20 - this could be because the lead of this scene is played by a teenager, though we have gone to a lot of effort to dress the character so that they seem older
• Improvements
• the sound editing has clear issues - make the ambient sound quieter and the music louder
• the lighting got mixed reactions - one said it seemed good, the other not realistic
• we did use the lighting to create some shadow on the face of the lead as she wipes a tear to show the gloominess, but the rest is the lighting we had available, which is the natural lighting of the room
• Positive feedback
• everyone said that the music fit
• there was no confusion as to what the narrative was - it was clear that she was leaving
• no one said the set dressing seemed posed or unreal - it fits in
• the genre guess was never far from accurate, but we did not expect teenagers to be able to guess if it was a social realist film

• on recording audio (google details) - noise reduction in FCPX - reduce background hiss
• dutch angle, varying focus and set dressing good (first shot)
• trim hand opening cupboard door - pauses unnaturally
• maybe trim door and keys in post box
• maybe quicker cross cut between crying bits to make it more convincing as you can't see tears
• do not want to lose verisimilitude. Maybe get 2 shots of her wiping face, not continuous shot - loses convincingness as its continuous
• slight continuity breach between hand wiping face in the 2 shots
• start music when she is holding the picture
• ring, earrings and office clothing good (power point embedded to show all things added)
• lighting is bad, lense might have been blurry. quite dark except for bright zones
• maybe try some non-linear editing? or don't as in rough and final cut all is cross-cut with jogging
• focus work - some is bad some is good
• about blur - see if sharpening tools in final cut
• maybe shorten takes or transition/cross them over to disguise
• maybe film a drop of water falling onto picture, very tight focus, to show tears
• maybe bring clang in earlier when she drops the keys then trim take slightly 
• trim unnecessary movements so time
• for second instrument ask music teacher what instrument she thinks is the second one in Tyrannosaur 
• ask if students play is
• direct them to record long, sad notes and then record

MAIN ISSUES:

sound and out of focus shots

music could be better - the music is a little dull - look at Tyrannosaur and spacing between notes and pacing, use 2 instruments - better simulacrum 

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Music update

A review of the second attempt at the packing scene showed us that we needed different music - the music we were using was very repetitive, but got the tone right.
Using the same chords, but a different finger picking pattern, I created this music to use in future cuts



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GENRE EG5 '71 (Warp, 2015)

'71 is a 2014 British historical thriller film set in Northern Ireland. For our mock exam we analysed the opening of this film under timed conditions in a style similar to the summer exam format - I have embedded the essay (after typing it up) at the bottom of this post as it has lots of relevant points (many of which have been extracted and put in the bullet point format throughout this post).

'71 poster

PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY
PRODUCTION: Crab Apple, Warp, Film4, BFI, Screen Yorkshire, Creative Scotland

DISTRIBUTION: Studio Canal; 11 territories

BUDGET: £8.1M

BOX OFFICE: $3.2m
BBFC: 15

This production is a Warp production, but it had a much higher budget than the majority of their films. It did receive grants form the BFI and Film4 - typical of indie productions. This ensures that films with more diverse/controversial representations are still made and the industry is not monopolised by conglomerates.
This film lost a lot of money, and it was a big risk for art to have such a high budget in the first place.

The hybrid aspect of it being a historical thriller/action/social realist film did give it a higher chance at being commercially viable than the majority of Warp films, and though Studio Canal is a well-established distributor it did not put much of a gamble into the film and marketing was limited.

The film did have a week long theatrical release in America (to qualify for the Oscars), showing the ambition o this film in comparison to Warp's other productions, but the amount of territories it was related in was still a low number in compassion to WT films (and there was no distribution in China).

No. of territories (BoxOfficeMojo)

Company list (distribution) (IMDB)

The 15 rating form the BBFC is interesting, as This is England got rated an 18 mostly due to cursing and the violent scene at the end (which is relevant to the moral values the film condemns), but '71 has extremely graphic and violent scenes throughout (when his friend is shot in the face when they arrive in Belfast, when a bar is later blown up with a child inside, the homemade stitching done o the protagonist etc.). This is an examples of how more commercially acceptable films are given more chance for commercial success than more controversial ones.

Although the film was ultimately a commercial/financial flop, it was nominated for BAFTAs, BIFAs, and O'Connell won the EE Rising Star award. This shows how although the film was not a financial success, its' critical reception proved it to be a success in ways that many other Warp films are.

IDENTS/COMPANIES

• Studio Canal
• distribution and production company (mostly distribution)
• Subsidiary of NBCUniversal (one of the Big Six)
• co-production financing (that way risk is spread if the film is a flop)
• can be part of meaning (has worked with WT and Warp)
• shows range
• Film4
• tv channel (UK)
• denotes low budget
• BFI (British Film Institute)
• gives grants to low budget indie films they think require subsidy (which do not need to be repaid)
• government funded
• previously known as UKFC (UK Film Council)
• Screen Yorkshire is a regional branch -  the film was not shot on location, and the extensive creation of the streets with houses in varying states of destruction show where much of the budget was spent.

TITLES

• informational words are smaller than company names
• small serif font (white on black)
• signifies serious drama 
• 'presents'
• production and distribution
• co-production between Crab and Warp
• the Warp logo is also on screen - larger contributor

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MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION

• blood, sweat, costume, hair
• all wearing green military costume
• all sweaty (including those not fighting)
• all crew cuts (functional, military)
• creates high level of verisimilitude
• on the bus:
• is not a sports car
• signifies poverty
• man wearing a flat cap and smoking
• connotes Yorkshire
• signifies film is set in the past (cannot smoke on busses now), hence the name '71
• in the café
• is not a fancy 5 star restaurant
• run down, cheap looking place
• signifies poverty
• Is very similar to the sudden cut to the unappetising, greasy food in Withnail and I 
• Though not in the opening, when the locals bang their metal bin lids on the ground
• metal bins are now out of date, so signify the time period (maintain verisimilitude)
• preferred reading: it was a warning that police/army were approaching
• signifies target audience (older, native to the uk/Ireland)

EDITING

• fight scene:
• no ELS (establishing shot)
• fast-paced editing, short takes
• action genre
• cuts closer to protagonists face and cuts to see his reactions
• anchors protagonist
• centrally framed protagonist
• Training montage:
• quick fade from black (ellipsis)
• longer takes
• hand-held camera
• documentary style of realist genre
• sticks to 180 degree rule
• morning scene:
• almost a match cut done through the audio (the sound of the gun is similar to the lights turning on)
• fade-up from black
• shows ellipsis
• Café scene:
• fast-pan to reveal brother's face
• shot reverse shot in the conversation
• continuity editing
• 180 degree rule is used
• match on action with the fork and food

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

• fight scene:
• no long shots (M/MCU)
• no fade-up
• cuts straight to action
• impact
• shows brutality
• whip-pan and hand-held tracking shots (realist)
• Barthes action codes
• low-key lighting
• brutal/grim
• natural lighting?
• shallow field of focus
• protagonist in focus (and foreground), but can still see detail in the background
• anchors protagonist
• cuts back to protagonists reaction (and centrally framed)
• Training montage:
• ellipsis (there is an overall ellipsis, not just here)
• tracking shots of protagonist
• cuts back to protagonist
• anchorage
• morning scene:
• begins with tracking shot of superior officer
• becomes MCU
• long take
• lighting as man steps forward (lowkey and shows shadow on half his face)
• signified as villain?
• establishes power dynamic
• protagonist is in the edge of the frame
• sets up equilibrium with protagonist having very little power within his situation

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SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• Fight scene:
• audiobridge over titles
• sound is unclear: basketball? fighting? shouting and hitting noises
• creates narrative enigma (Barthes)
• audio does not fade up - cuts in
• impact
• brutality
• diegetic sound
• ambient sound (crowd shouting and hitting)
• only coherent speech is coming form the coach
• Northern accent (Yorkshire)
• all for verisimilitude
• Morning scene:
• audiobridge fade-up
• music is sinister
• foreshadowing

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CENTRAL PROTAGONIST/NARRATIVE

• Anchorage:
• the camera repeatedly cuts back to the protagonist to show his reactions
• the protagonist is the first character we see in an MCU
• As the fight scene comes to a close there is a tracking shot of the protagonist, form an MLS to an MCU of his face, showing the blood and sweat on it (verisimilitude)
• Todorov's narrative theory:
• the protagonist's equilibrium is established almost entirely through the editing of the opening:
• he is established as the protagonist by repeatedly cutting back to show his reactions
• in the training montage, there is always an establishing shot of the area, with the troops training, then it cuts to a close-up of the protagonist's face - this shows him as indiscernible from the rest of the men (a 'cog in a machine')

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MOCK EXAM ESSAY


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GENRE EG3 Withnail and I (Paul Heller and HandMade Films, 1987)

Poster

Withnail and I is a 1980's British black comedy/social realist cult film. Set in the 60's, very effectively, with the actor portraying the protagonist having stated "Its provenance is from a different era. None of the production values, none of the iconography, none of the style remotely has it down as an 80's picture". the plot follows two unemployed and unemployable actors, Withnail and "I" (played by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, respectively) who share a flat in Camden Town in 1969. Deciding to take a holiday, they visit Withnail's uncle Monty for a key to his house in the countryside, but plagued by alcoholism, drug abuse and constant rain, their 'break' is far from relaxing. (Wikipedia)

OUR INFLUENCES

• The use of somber incidental music to set the tone and signify an older target audience (also conventional of indie)
• Use of set dressing for character exposition (though not to show poverty or lack of up-keep)
• shown through panning shots as music plays
• White serif font of the titles to signify social realist
• low-key lighting (showing both the low budget and realism)
• Morally ambiguous characters that do not fit neatly into a single Proppian archetype (the protagonist of our story is both the hero and an antagonist/villain)

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PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY

Budget: £1.1m
Box office: UK £600k; US $1.5m
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
BBFC: 18

The author of the unpublished novel was paid by an oil heir, Moderick Schreiber, to turn the manuscript into a screenplay, and on its completion Paul Heller (producer) convinced Schieber to direct it after he had found funding for half of the film.
George Harrison (of The Beatles) then agreed to fund the rest of it through his company HandMade Films.
The film was nearly shut down 3 days into filming by Denis O'Brien who was overseeing the film on behalf of HandMade Films, as the film had no "discernible jokes".
In total the film cost £1.1m, although £30k was invested by the author to film scenes which the company refused to fund which he was never reimbursed for.
This film is a good example of the amount of artistic freedom indie productions have in contrast to studio films, as they have diverse and complex representations which were not so commercially viable in the 80's, and still are not today - although this film received no government funding through the BFI/UKFC, grants or TV station funding, theses are all very typical for indie productions as they exist to ensure wider representations.

• This indie/low budget is reflected in the film
• mostly shot on site, although none of the filming was done in Penrith, they were locations near Shap and Bampton
• there is no CGI or SFX used
• the image quality is often grainy, unlike how it would be for a Big Six production - this is probably because of the cheap digital transfer which is more typical of indie films, contrasting completely with studio productions of the same period such as Star Wars, with multi-million dollar upratings overseen by George Lukas

  

  The limited information given on BoxOfficeMojo

• On BoxofficeMojo and The Numbers there is very little information about domestic and international gross (number of territories, US, China), though the film did get theatrical release in the UK
• the film isn't extremely popular outside of the UK - mostly because it is too "English" and International audiences are unable to identify with many aspects of it, but also because it's success wasn't expected
• It is also more common that indies do not have non-domestic release, though auteurs such as Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and sometimes Shane Meadows are exceptions form this as their names are more marketable
• Daniel Day-Lewis (who was in My Beautiful Laundrette) was considered fro the role of Withnail, but it was ultimately given to an unknown actor (also reflective of indie)
• The trailer, similar to My Beautiful Laundrette, aims to portray the film as more of a comedy than a depressing social realist (although the film is a dark comedy)

• in 1999 the BFI voted the film as the 29th greatest British film of all time, and in 2017 Time Out magazine ranked it as 15th best ever
• Re-issues and re-masterings have been released since the film came out, continually making money
• Editionalising - commercial movies are often re-released in box sets, special editions, genre boxsets - even Shane Meadows has boxsets

  

  Withnail and I 20th anniversary 3 disc special edition on Amazon

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TITLES

• the simple white serif font is typical of the social realist genre, similar to '71 and Tyrannosaur
• There aren't many extra words like "starring" "with" "introducing"
• 3 minutes ling
• a total of 17

Withnail and i credits from harriet Barlow

• 

  Withnail and I

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SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• The film begins with slow jazz music playing
• sets the mood - depressing, mellow - completely contrast with something you might expect to find in a horror film (e.g. the drums and high pitched strings in Bride of Chucky - this clearly reflects the genre), this is more like the incidental acoustic music of Tyrannosaur 
• also signifies the target audience (not teen, older - also reflected in BBFC rating of 18)
• Ambient sound of the kettle and walking is heard as the song comes to an end
• some of the sound mixing is very poor - as actors walk towards the camera their voices become a lot louder, and are difficult to hear when far away
• this is representative of the budget/technology available at the time

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FIRST SHOT

• fade form black, slow zoom, medium shot to close-up, hand-held
• Naturalistic lighting, low-key 
• make it look cramped, dark
• also reflective of the low budget into context
• Dusty dark wooden cupboard and dark brown lamp
• connotes poverty, lack of care
• all the dark colours make it  seem claustrophobic, oppressive, gloomy and depressing 
• Clothing is simple, practical, dull colours
• masculine 
• inexpensive
• representative of target audience (mature), more through identfication than aspiration though
• The film title is seen in the first shot, which isn't extremely conventional of the films we've looked at, and is not distinguishable form the rest of the credits there than the slightly larger font

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PROTAGONIST AND NARRATIVE

"I"

• overgrown 'shaggy' hair and beard
• unkempt 
• lack of upkeep
• does not need to look presentable/professional for an office job
• Glasses and cigarette
• make him look intellectual
• troubled artist look
• 'suffocating' in the apartment
• introverted and bookish look, but also pretentious
• When he goes to the cafe for food there are close-up shots of headlines, unappealing looking food and an ageing woman eating a greasy egg sandwich, the camera cuts to a close-up of the protagonist's eyes
• they are slightly red with massive bags underneath them
  
• he looks tired, depressed
• The voice over is very cynical, but comedic
• is used for exposition 
• his criticism of mundane daily life, but also detachment from it (he "feels sorry" for people because they have to wake up to depressing headlines everyday without marking that he himself does exactly that) creates narrative enigma, but also emphasises the gritty and negative light that the film is shown through (as it is all form this character's point of view)
• Propp:
• The Hero: "I" is signified to be the 'hero' of this film as the camera repeatedly cuts back to show his reactions, and he is the only character we are offered insight into through the voiceover
• The Donor: Withnail's Uncle Monty is definitely the Donor of the story, giving them the key to his house in the Lake District
• The Princess: the princess could be "I" desired career as an actor, or it could be Withnail as there are a lot of homoerotic undertones (in a scene they refer to each other as "lover", and at a bar "I" is threatened by an irishman and called a "poof" - a derogatory term)
• The Villain: Withnail is the villain, as he is one of the obstacles blocking "I" from succeeding in his career, is more active in creating conflict (with both a local farmer, a drug dealer and a policeman), however there is also recognition of "I"s own involvement in a lot of theses situations. 
• The Helper: it's impossible to avoid the fact that the apparent protagonist has no name in this film, and Withnail's narcissistic tendencies clearly show that he perceives himself to be the protagonist of his own life, and he views "I" as his Helper/sidekick. Although "I" is the one who proposes going on holiday
• The Dispatcher: "I" is undoubtedly his own dispatcher, sending himself to the Lake District, but also deciding to leave Withnail to his alcohol and drug addiction to work on his own career at the end of the film
• As there are so few characters in the film there are a lot of overlaps between the propping archetypes, which is also reflective of the realistic and complex representation of the social realist genre

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MISE-EN-SCENE

• the first shot is followed by a panning shot of the apartment, lots of set dressing has been done

• wine bottles, mess, dirty clothes
• everything looks dusty or dirty
• the walls look grimy
• used cups lying around
• a British flag is hung carelessly from a chair  - shows lack of patriotism, and England isn't painted in the best light throughout the film
• As the camera moves into the kitchen the protagonist re-enters the shot to fill up the kettle and you see the real extent of the mess
• the sink is full to the brim, empty and full milk bottles are thrown on top of drying racks loaded with plates and a curtain over the window looks to be on its last leg
• The curtain pattern is good for verisimilitude, as the film is set in the 60's and it is a stereotypical pattern style of the decade
• All the furniture is clearly very fine
• glass cabinets, wooden chairs, a grand dining table, leather sofa
• but all clearly uncared for, maybe even second hand, all mismatching

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OTHER POINTS

• There were some issues that probably wouldn't have happened were the film a high budget studio production
• the author "forced" Grant, the actor playing "I", to binge drink so he could more realistically portray the character, although in real life he was Teetotal and had a health condition which prevented him from being able to process alcohol, so he was violently sick
• The original ending saw Withnail killing himself by pouring wine into a shot gun and firing it whilst drinking form it, but it was deemed 'too dark'
• the film is already too grim to be considered by a conglomerate, and the low(ish) budget does mean that theres is less pressure to make a profit
• the involvement of HandMade Films is what really prevented this
• demonstrates the amount of freedom low-budget index have in contrast to subsidiaries/conglomerates who use the tentpole format

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GENERAL CONVENTIONS 1: Idents, companies, production context

RESEARCH (SAM'S):

MY INFLUENCES:

• difference in production Idents for Working Title [WT] or Indie
• the importance of company idents

SUMMARY:
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• short audio visual clips played before films
• first thing to see at a film opening
• one of the simplest area of film openings 
• showing their brand to the audience 
• usually 3 company idents to spread the risks
• usual to be 1 - 5 secondslong per ident
• idents for conglomerate or subsidiaries are longer than indie idents
• a lot of production companies competing
• Big Six are dominant both in distribution and production

What are Idents?

An Ident is the identity production companies. It is one of the simplest area of all in the aspect of film openings. It's usual for the idents to be between 1-5 seconds long per ident. They are very important since there are so many Production Companies competing. However, the Production Companies in the Big Six such as Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Walt Disney Studios are the most dominant both in production and distribution, therefore, it's very easy for them to get a theatrical screening. The Ident is also showing their brand to the audience. It is very common to see at least 3 Company Idents this way the risk is spread. Sometimes you only see one Ident which is very unusual. There is often an audio bridge between the Idents. However, you are going to see more signifier, intertextuality, and horror color scheme in company Idents that are focused on horror genre. 


Below are some examples of Company Idents.
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Similarly, there are variations for Idents. They change their look to adapt to the genre such as sci-fi, Horror etc. (Below are some examples)
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What's the purpose of an Ident?

The main purpose of an ident is branding. BBC One ident is simple and plain so this way they can save the money and spend the saved money on tv shows. Another purpose is to sell the company to the viewers and production companies. 
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Here are some more general information about distribution companies:
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RESEARCH (MINE):
Idents - what are they

The purpose of an ident on slideshare

Idents are short audio-visual clips which play before films - essentially company logos

• Idents for conglomerates or subsidiaries are longer than indie idents, and as they have more budget are usually made digitally rather than practically.
• from the examples I look at (link to post here) 
• idents last 5-20 seconds
• usually 2-4 before a film
• there aren't conventionally less than 2
• some indie films do not have idents before the film starts at all

Here are some examples of idents from the Big Six conglomerates (Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Walt Disney Studios)

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Purpose of idents

• Sound effects used are sometimes used to signify film genre, or are unique to the ident
• the Film4 ident for example has its own sound effect
• for horror films the ident is often changed to fit the horror genre, and sometimes comedy, but not for most genres
• For the Big Six, idents are long, use cgi and have grand orchestral music (if there is no audio bridge)
• more expensive
• gold and silver used a lot
• images which show scale (the earth, a mountain, the sky)
• There is a certain level of risk with attaching a company's ident to a film, as if the film is a flop it is then attached to that company (the reverse is also true - if a film is massively successful)
• eg Nightmare Before Christmas - Disney did no believe it would be successful, so on theatrical release it did not have the Disney ident - only after it was a massive success was the ident put at the start of the film on the dvd

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Indie v Conglomerate
In class we compared 2 films: '71 produced by the indie company Warp, and Les Mis by the subsidiary Working Title

'71

Les Mis

• domestic total gross = total combined revenue from ticket sales
• Box Office does not account for tax, budget/profit sharing 
• Typical Warp and WT examples: WT made 100x more than Warp
• Les Mis is not a tentpole ($100m+) 
• Budget still too high for Independent uk company 
• WT had a Big Six distributor (Universal), Warp had an Indie (Roadside Attractions)
• Les Mis released at Christmas - holiday for blockbusters/family films
• That option not available to Warp (but possible counter-programming...)
• Cinemas will only accept longer running time for films with high Box Office potential (blockbuster movies)
• The longer the runtime the less screenings a cinema can do in 1 day
• Youth/family market are key demographic for cinemas 
• WT typical low age rating (MPAA PG-13/BBFC 12) v Warp typically high age rating (MPAA R/BBFC 18)

Number of territories for theatrical distribution

fragment form Les Mis territories

screenshot of all of '71's territories

• these 2 screenshots show the vast difference between the amount of theatrical distribution an indie and conglomerate/subsidiary can achieve

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