Exploring and Evaluating Promotional Material for Existing Films

CHARLIE ST CLOUD





















Synopsis:
Charlie St. Cloud is a young man overcome by grief at the death of his younger brother. So much so that he takes a job as caretaker of the cemetery in which his brother is buried. Charlie has a special lasting bond with his brother though, as he can see him. Charlie meets up with his brother (Sam) each night to play catch and talk. Then, a girl comes into Charlie's life and he must choose between keeping a promise he made to Sam, or going after the girl he loves.

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Colour Scheme:
Tone:
Focal Point:
Balance:
Harmony:
Unity:

INCLUDE FILM STILLS AND REFLECT UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADINGS f

GENRE SPECIFIC ELEMENTS



USE OF TRANSITIONS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS



In my movie I have used a few different transitions including:

• fade in
• fade out
• cross dissolve

I have used a few special effects including:

• gaussian blur
• speed up
• speed down
• soft focus
  

CHOICE OF TITLES INCLUDING COLOURS AND FONT TYPE



For my titles I have chosen a plain font for the main title and a cursive font for the quote. This was because the begining of the movie is really calm and happy so i chose fonts that weren't really busy and bright.

CHOICE OF COLOUR SCHEME AND MUSIC DECISIONS



When the girl is younger, the colours are bright but when she is older and has changed they are darker. When she is younger the music is calmer and more peacful but when she is older it is louder.

ANY CHANGES OR ADDITIONS THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE

The only changes I would make would be to film a few different angles and a shot of the makeup washing down the drain.

New Movie: Be True To You

Genre: Drama

Idea:
The movie is about a girl who used to be happy and free but then she changes so she can be 'cool'. She goes to lots of parties, drinks and does heaps of stupid things. She is obsessed with fashion and gossip and is always on her phone, computer or reading magazines. She is invited to a party. She spends ages choosing clothes to wear and caking on makeup. When she is finished getting ready she looks at herself and realises how much she has changed. She takes everything back off, deletes her formspring account and reads a book.

There is no dialogue.

Characters:
Girl: Gena

Locations:
The movie was filmed in a bedroom and in the ensuite attached to it.

Title: Be True To You (there is also a quote)

Synopsis:
Gena is a young girl who is out of control. She is always out partying and when she's not she's either on her phone, laptop or reading magazines. She is invited to a party and spend ages getting ready. She realises how much she has changed and she decides that she isn't happy with the person she has become. Can she really change things back to the way she was before?

Film Breakdown Sheet

New Movie - Filming Process

Filming

Difficlties:

• time
• mirrors
• lighting

Skills, Techniques & Tricks

• we found a certain angle and some places where you could film in the mirror without being seen.

Process:

The process of making this movie has been very difficult. Because we had issues with our footage (the first time it was bad quality and the second time it wouldn't play) we had to re-film it in one day. Because our original movie took a few days to film, we had to do a new movie. So we came up with another idea for a movie and the filming process of this was very successful.

Time:

Because of the difficulties of the footage not working we spent a few weeks waiting to see if we could get it to work using a program. Because we couldn't get the program we had little time to come up with a new movie and film it.

Changes:

I don't want to make any changes to our new movie. I think that it is really good, especially as we only had a short time to do it.

Restart:

If I could start again I would film a few more angles and shots but I am happy with it anyway.

Props

The props that were used for the movie:

hair straightener

dress

tutu skirt

midriff singlet

heels

extra makeup/products to make it look like she has heaps on her counter

print off the invitation & the movie plan

magazines (fashion / gossip)

laptop

pajamas

black paint to wash down sink or something like that

an old chapter book or childrens book

Formspring account

This is a screenshot of the formspring.me account we made for out movie. It is called Girloutacontrol. This is a website the character looks at during the film and there are annonymous messages sent to her saying how she has changed and that no one likes the person she has become.

NEW MOVIE PLAN

^^^^^^this is the party invitation that will be shown in the movie.

MOVIE Plan:

• She is texting, talking on the phone, READING GOSSIP MAGAZINES etc (other shots to the computer one)
• Shows that she is popular, has lots of “friends”
• Gena is in her bedroom in her pyjamas. She is lying on her stomach on her bed on her laptop on formspring.me
• Film the screen and what her about me says, her background, her questions (sets the theme, introduces what the character is like)
• She shakes her head at the formspring.me questions and closes her computer lid. (acts like she doesn’t care)
• She walks up to her mirror and looks at the party invitation stuck on the mirror (zoom in on it and stay for a few seconds so it can be read).
• All her makeup and products are spread out on the counter.
• She looks at the clock.
• She starts to get ready:
• She goes to her wardrobe and rakes through all her clothes, throwing clothes on the bed, trying on different dresses and outfits.
• She grabs the dress she is going to wear and walks into the bathroom;
• Film bathroom door from a few meters away being closed and then being opened.
• She comes out of the bathroom in the dress (short, tight)
• She paints her nails (fingers & toes)
• (if you have time)
• She cakes on makeup
• Bright pink or red lipstick
• Heavy eye makeup
• She straightens her hair
• She put her heels on
• FOR ALL OF THIS GET HER LOOKING IN THE MIRROR AND ALSO GET HER LOOKING JUST ABOVE THE CAMERA AS IF THE CAMERA WAS ‘IN’ THE MIRROR.
• Once she is fully dressed zoom in on her:
• High heels
• Legs (because they wont be covered because she has a short dress)
• Nails
• Dress
• Makeup
• Hair
• She is about to leave – she looks in the mirror one last time and is fixing her hair
• She stops and looks at herself in the mirror for a while – taking in everything she is wearing.
• She realises she has changed, she looks down and shakes her head slowly.
• Looks really sad
• She takes off the shoes
• She goes into the bathroom and washes all the makeup off
• Film her in the mirror
• Film her as if the camera is ‘in’ the mirror
• Film makeup (black stuff) going down the drain
• She puts her hair up in a pony tail
• She puts all her makeup in a bag and puts it in the cupboard/draw
• She closes the bathroom door
• Film from a few meters away
• She opens the door and comes out in her pyjamas
• She goes on her computer to formspring & deactivates her account
• (go to settings, then deactivate on the left toolbar, then say yes or something)
• She closes her computer and puts in away (maybe under the bed or in its case or in a draw)
• She throws her gossip magazines in the bin (or something that looks like a bin)
• She gets out an old book and reads it.
• She smiles and is really happy that she has changed.

OLD - Filming

Difficlties:

• wind
• people in the background eg. kids in the park, people at the beach
• bumpy filming when walking
• shadows
• cars and bikes
• camera falling off the tripod
• low battery

Skills, Techniques & Tricks

• adjusting tri-pod to be level

Process:

The film process has gone really well so far. We haven't had any major difficulties that stopped us from filming although we need to redo a few shots because of the wind and also the camera wasn't steady.

Time:

We have managed our time effectively. We will have all of our filming done before the holidays except for maybe one scene where we have to go to my house. We have spent one day filming at Talula's place and in the Mermaid Beach area. We will spend one more day at the same place and then about half a day at my place in Tallai.

Changes:

I don't want to change anything about the story line of our film. The only thing i would change was to try filming at a different park to see if it is better. We are already planning on doing this.

Restart:

If I could start again, I would add more to Talula's story board and write it all down rather than trying to remember the ideas we have.

OLD - Filming Plan

Day 1:

• beach (flashback) - older sister, younger sister & dad
  
• park - older sister & younger sister
• beach - older sister & younger sister

Day 2:

• Re shoot - park
• Desk scene
• Re shoot - beach releasing balloon
  

OLD MOVIE - Reflection/Evaluation

Props and Costumes:

• 2 red balloons
• Camera
• Tripod
  

Older Girl

• Black Jeans
• Black Boots
• Black 3/4 shirt
• Flower singlet
• Light blue frayed shorts
• Red/Black Stripy socks

Younger Girl

• Grey Cardigan
• Mini Skirt
• Blue Denim Jeans
• Brown Boots
• Pink t-shirt

Dad

• Red T-shirt
• Olive 1/2 pants
  

My Movie Idea

Genre: Drama

Idea:
I would like to do a movie about a girl who's dad leaves when she is really young. She doesn't understand what is happening or why her mum is so upset. She is always really excited to see her dad because she doesn't realise that he has chosen to leave. (In this part you will only see up to the parents legs to show how small she is.)

Then she will be older and her mum will be angry at her dad, she gets upset because she feels bad for her dad. She still is excited to see him but she is beginning to understand that her dad is not coming back. (In this part you will see more of the parent, up to stomach.)

The girl will be a teenager and she gets really angry with her dad, but she feels bad if she doesn't see him so she still visits. She is not excited to see him. (In this part she sees her parents at their chin.)

The girl is an adult and has her own life. She realises that her dad didn't leave because of her but because of some things she never really understood. (She sees her parents eye to eye.)

There will be no dialogue.

Characters:
Mum: Le-Anne
Dad: Tony
Daughter: Elizabeth
Other siblings?:

Locations:
Most of the movie will be set inside when the family is together. There will be a house for when the girl is staying with her dad, and another that she lives in with her mum. There will need to be parts filmed in a car or other form of transport to show the girl traveling between her parents.

Title:

Synopsis:
Elizabeth was only a young girl when her father left. She couldn't understand what was going on. She didn't understand why her mum was so upset or why she wouldn't get to see her dad as much anymore. She is really upset about not seeing her dad and when she does she was always really excited to see her dad.

Alien

science fiction

MISE EN SCENE

- the setting was very dark and solid, it was all metal and square. it seemed like some kind of engineering, factory or mechanical place.
- the lighting was dark and and did not change throughout the film
- the costuming was very plain and made him seem very vulnerable
- the props werevery minimal
- the acting style was timid like the man was unsure about being there and was afraid of what he would find and where

CINEMATOGRAPHY

- the focus is mainly on the man the whole timebut as he walks slowly into a new area the camera goes to where he is as though we are looking through his eyes

- the perspective changes from looking at him (face on and behind him) and looking through his eyes and ants veiw

- the camera positions were at eye level for majority of the film. close ups and some medium shots

Academy Award Winners

My Winners~

Best Film: Valentines Day

Best Actor: Johnny Depp

Best Actress: Anne Hathaway

Best Supporting Actor: Logan Lerman

Best Supporting Actress: Kate Hudson

Best Director: James Cameron

Best Original Screenplay (script): James Cameron

Best Screen Adaption: Geoffry Fletcher

Best Cinematic Photography: Avatar - Mauro Fiore

Best Editing: Avatar

Best Special Effects: Avatar

Best Original Score (music): Nine

Best Costumes/Wardrobe: Nine

Best Title Sequence/Credits: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Best Short Film: A Matter of Loaf and Death - Nick Park

Working with Film Stills - 'Stalked'

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE FILM STILL BASED ON THE VISUAL CLUES?

A woman is walking down a long, dark tunnel - most likely at night time. She realises that a strange and mysterious man has been heading in the same direction as her for a while, but she never thought anything about it as there were lots of people going the same way. When she turned into the tunnel and he did as well, it became obvious to the woman that she was being stalked. She is taking quick looks back in the mans direction to see if he is still following her.

MISE EN SCENE:

The lighting is effective in making the man seem more mysterious as it is dark around him. They also help show that the tunnel is extremely long which builds tension as if the man decides to attack the woman or she starts running she has a long way to go before there are more people.

The man's clothing makes him more mysterious as the collar of his jacket covers his face.

The setting of the scene is in an extremely long tunnel.

GENRE:

The genre portrayed by the film still is horror and suspense. This is because the man is very mysterious and scary. The woman is also acting nervous and glancing back to get a look at the man who is stalking her. The long tunnel creates suspense as there is an opportunity for the man to attack without anyone noticing also if the woman ran away, it would take a long time which would create suspense as well.

House of Flying Daggers

Mise-en-Scene
Genre: Foreign Action

Style of Acting:

• The movie is more about physical acting rather than dialogue.
• Clear use of body language to tell the story.
• Often with subtitles of voice over.

Props/Setting:

• Her robe was used as an extention of her arms - use of clothing to symbolise self.
• The use of drums as a metaphor for a heartbeat, the way she sees, her being trapped.
• The swords symbolise death, control, protection. The sound off the sword symbolises disorientation.
• Symbols of chinese culture in the use of text and motifs.
• The beans were a symbol of a challenge,envy and control.

Lighting:

• soft, cool lighting - exagerated their movements with its simplicity.
• The background was dull but the character's clothing was bright sybolising her inner strength.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• camera movements
  
  • quick
  • direct
  • focus on character
  • gradual (by use of dolley)
  • birds eye view
  • eye level
  • higher shutter speed

Definitions:

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for the cinema. It is the art and technique of making and reproducing motion pictures.

• Cinematography can begin with rolls of film or a digital imaging sensor.
  
• Advancements in film emulsion and grain structure have led to a wide range of film stocks available to cinematographers. The selection of a film stock is one of the first decisions they must make during any film production.

http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematography

Mise-en-scene is an expression used in the theatre and film industry to describe the design aspects of a production.

• Mise en scene literally means putting on stage.
  
• When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scene refers to everything that appears before the camera and it's arrangement - sets, props, actors, costumes and lighting.
  
• Mise-en-scene also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set, which is called blocking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_scene