Secondary Research

My information on this blog entry is from the uk film council webiste statistical year book.


Table 1:

This table shows that:
Comedy has the highest number of releases and was the top-grossing genre at the UK box office, which shows that it was the most popular. Then next came thriller, then next came horror then next came romance.
This tells us that comedy makes the most money! But it had 127 releases of this film genre, and has the highest number of releases on the table, so it was bound to make the most money. But in comparison the thriller genre only had 28 releases of its genre and came fifth in the list. So using these statistics, I think that if only 28 comedy's had been made then the thriller genre would have made more money. But also shows that comedy is the most popular genre that people want to watch, other wise, why would people make so many. Horror in comparison to a thriller had 24 releases and thriller had 28 and it is 10th on the list so this shows that even though it has a similar amount of releases it did not make as much money which show's that it is not as popular as comedy or thriller. Then there is romantic which was 14th on the list and had 21 releases and made the lowest amount of money from the box office on the table. So this show's that out of the four it is the most unpopular film to be made and to make money at the box office. So if you combine our research about romantic films and comedy films, and we have been asked to make a rom com, then we need to make our Rom Com with more comedy in it, so we can make more money (Y)
It also tells us the top film for each of the genre's which if we choose to make that film we should analyse that film in detail, and use some of the idea's from that film to try and make our openings similar to theres.


Table 2:

This table shows that:
The average number of sites at widest point of release - the number of places that the film was shown at at the time. The thriller genre had 28 releases and was shown at 217 sites compared to the horror genre who had 165 sites and 24 releases, which is only a difference of four releases there is a significant difference in the amount of sites that the films were shown at so makes thriller the more popular genre. Compared to the comedy genre who had 127 releases shown at 121 sites there is an extreme difference in the amount of releases and in sites, which definetly makes the thriller genre more popular. Compared to the romance genre which there was 62 releases and only 21 sites, makes romance the least popular out of all of them, and makes the thriller genre the most popular. But taking into account that the two genre's romantic and comedy will be combined when we create our opening, them combined could be even more popular than thriller and horror if combined together to make something that has more of a balance of comedy than romance.



Table 3:

This table shows that:
Average box office per site - how much money was made on each site for each of the genre.
Horror - came last, so made the least money out of all of the genre's, which shows that this genre was the least popular and wont make much money, and came a significant difference between the other genres. Thriller - came third so made it the third least popular genre, and wont make as much money as a romantic film or a comedy film. But it wasn't that far away from beating the romantic genre. Romance - came second and made the second most amount of money and so was one of the most popular out of the four genre's, Comedy - made the most money and was the most popular out of the four. When we create our opening the comedy and romance genre will be combined, so most certainly could be the most popular and a significant amount of money

Primary Research

For our primary research we deigned a questionaire for our audience so that we could decide what each kind of genre appealed to which kind of person, so that it would make it easier to aim our opening at that specific kind of person.

My questionaire:

Audience Research
Please circle one answer for each of the following questions

Age - 16–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50+

Gender - Male Female

Favourite Genre of Film - Romantic-Comedy Thriller Horror

Do you prefer to rent or buy DVD’s? Rent Buy

Do you prefer to watch films on DVD or at the cinema? DVD Cinema

Please write down your answer for each of the following questions
Occupation:


Which magazine do you read the most? :


What television programme do you watch the most? :


If you’re FAVOURITE GENRE of film was a THRILLER to the question above please answer the following questions:
What is your favourite thriller film?


What do you like the most about your favourite thriller film?


Is there anything specific you enjoy about the thriller genre?


If you’re FAVOURITE GENRE of film was a HORROR to the question above please answer the following questions:
What is your favourite horror film?


What do you like the most about your favourite horror film?


Is there anything specific you enjoy about the horror genre?


If you’re FAVOURITE GENRE of film was a ROMANTIC COMEDY to the question above please answer the following questions:
What is your favourite Romantic Comedy film?


What do you like the most about your favourite Romantic Comedy film?


Is there anything specific you enjoy about the Romantic Comedy genre?


The results from my primary research was that:
Romantic Comedy - Any age group enjoyed our romantic comedies as the age varied between all of them, the gender was mainly female who enjoyed romantic comedy and they prefered to rent them and watch them on DVD at home. Also they prefered to watch them on DVD to at the cinema. The range of romantic comedy films varied in each questionaire but the main things people enjoyed about Rom Com's is the predictabiluty and the the couple getting together at the end, and the whole typical rom com plot. Also people wrote that the main thing they enjoyed about the film was the comedy, and more people wrote comedy over romance. Occupations also varied but magazines that they read were all gossip and fashion and celebritymagazines such as heat and more magazine. The TV programs included loose women and programs such as hollyoaks and eastenders.
So I have learnt from this that if I am aiming my romantic comedy at women from any age group and to keep to the specific rom com plot and predictability and lean towards the comedy over the romance. Also if my film was to come out on DVD focus more on the marketing of the DVD as more people prefer to buy rom com's than watch at the cinema. Also that we should advertise rom com's in gossip magazines and on daytime television and during soaps in the evening.

Thriller - Any age group enjoyed thrillers as the age varied between all of them, the gender was mainly male who enjoyed thrillers and they prefered to buy them and watch them on DVD at home. Also they prefered to watch them at the cinema than on DVD at home. The range of Thriller films varied in each questionaire but the main things people enjoyed about Thriller is the jumpay and scaryness and the car races and action. Also people wrote that the main thing they enjoyed about the film was the suspense and the twists to the plot in the endings. Occupations also varied but magazines that they read were Nuts and Q agazine. The TV programs included programs such as prison break top gear and mock the week.
So I have learnt from this that if I am aiming my Thriller at men from any age group and to keep to the suspense action and twists to the plot. Also if my film was to come out on DVD focus more on the marketing of the cinema as more people prefer to watch thrillers at the cinema. Also that we should advertise thrillers in male orientated magazines and during specific television shows.

Horror - The specific age group that enjoyed horrors the most was 16 - 29 year olds, there was not a specific gender that watched horrors the most who enjoyed thrillers. They prefered to buy them and watch them on DVD at home than to rent them. Also they prefered to watch them at the cinema than on DVD at home. The range of Horror films varied in each questionaire but the main things people enjoyed about Horrors is the gore and the violence, and the suspense being built up and actually being scared. Also people wrote that the main thing they enjoyed about the film was the suspense and the twists to the plot in the endings. Occupations also varied as they was no specific gender so we could advertise for horrors in most magazines aimed at young males and females as this was the age range that prefered them. The TV programs included programs such as teen programs such as skins, also soaps and programs such as top gear.
So I have learnt from this that if I am aiming my Horror at men and women at a yonger age and to keep to the gore and the general scaryness to the plot. Also if my film was to come out on DVD focus more on the marketing of the cinema as more people prefer to watch thrillers at the cinema. Also that we should advertise thrillers in any popular magazine or television program for a younger audience.

Individual Research on Horrors

Horror films are movies that want to make people scared. In the plots of Horrors, themes of the supernatural are very common. Sometimes the theme can be completely supernatural without any realism at all. Horror movies usually include a central villain or bad guy. Early horror were usually based on literature from the gothic horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The sub-genres of horrors include: The horror-of-personality - Psycho film, the horror-of-armageddon - Invasion of the Bodysnatchers film, and the horror-of-the-demonic - Hellraiser film.
Horror films have been criticized for their violence. Even so, all the major studios and many respected directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Romero have made Films in this genre. Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, black comedy, and thrillers.

Individual Research on Rom Com's

Romantic comedy is a genre in which a story about romance is presented with elements of comedy.
Works in this genre are generally considered light-hearted.
This genre is normally catagorised as a "chick flick" meaning that they are aimed at a feamale audience.
Themes normally seen in a rom com inlude:
Relationship, Sexuality and Morality.
True love does exist.
There's someone out there just for everyone.
Romance can overcome all obstacles.

The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that a man and a woman, meet, and then due to an argument or some kind of obstacle they split up, then finally reunite.
Sometimes the man and woman meet and get together to start with, then must go through some sort of challenge before they reunite.
Sometimes the man and woman dont want to get together because they believe that they dont like each other, because one of them has a partner or because of thier social status. However, they leave clues that suggest that they are meant to be together.

Rom Com - Bridget Jones

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The third one we have looked at is Rom Com.

Opening - Rom Com - Bridget Jones
Intertextuality - pride and prejudice - Mr Darcy - Same actor - similar camera shot to film. Fatal attraction
Mise-En-Scene - Jones house - old fashioned furniture - stripy walls - dated - dated furniture - garish tinstle
Jones flat - dated flat - on her own - passed on furniture - second hand - right by the trainline - cluttered house
Cinderella story
London - christmas time
Darcy - christmas jumper - dressed by his mum
Bridget - dressed by mum aswell - similarities in both of the characters - even though Darcy is a snob, bridget - normal.
Bridgets flat - PJ's - dodgy film - bottle of wine - chocolate - CLICHE!
Necks the wine - smokes loads - common - magazines - problem pages.
Phone - no friends or messages
Darcy - body language - has his back to bridget - she has one opinion of him - he turns round - opinion changes.
Not much make up on - cant be bothered (bridget) - no effort
Camera - close ups - reaction shots - when bridget finds out they are talking about her
Two shot (Bridget in the middle)
Shift in focus - on keira knightly
Shot reverse shot
P.O.V - when briget looks at Darcy
Family home - shots of the house - establishing shot - welcoming.
Editing - slow motion - when darcy turns round - dissolves - passing of time - conventional way of showing that time has passed - fades to black - end of that part of her life - new start - freeze on bridget - when she comes between them - Hand written titles - diary entrt - freeze - thought - telling story.
Sound - Songs - All by myself - cant take my eye's of you (Ironic) - Magic moments
Significant songs - set scene - linked to action
- Playing all by myslef over and over again
Juxtoposed images with voice over - diary entry.

Rom Com - Love Actually

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The third one we have looked at is Rom Com.

Opening - Rom Com - Love Actually
Hand held - actually looks real - genuine - air port - different examples of love
Costume - Bill - dodgy - mid life crisis! Recording studio - well off
Swearing - funny her forgets words - snile
Dodgy dancing - humorous
Establishing shot - city - christmas - credits beginning lettter red - love - romance
Camera shots - hugh looks back at martine - fancies her - reaction shot
Introduces characters - different relationships included - different kinds of love.
Smiley and happy - girl from gavin and stacey - bumming thing - HUMOUROUS! LOL!
establishing shot - london - capital - christmas
Prestige - london - bigger better - wealthy!
Christmas london - magical - shots of the land marks
Airport - camera - amateur - looks genuine
Editing - story lines - run parralell to each other
Shift in focus on kieragoes with music - impact
Mise-en-scene - Cosyume - bill - rod stewart - keith richards - mid life crisis - dodgy costumes
Hugh - smart sophisticated
Martine - smart sophisticated
Colin ferth - smart
Wedding - look like bouncers at the beginning - unconventional costumes for wedding - (and church)
Mans who's with died - fancy apartment - neat - nice clothes
Selling sandwich's man - status - NOT GOOOD!
Lighting - bright
-Red in titles red white - love - christmas
intertextuality - songs - love actually all around - four weddings
Sound - theme tune

Horror - Halloween

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The second one we have looked at is Horror.

Opening - Horror - Halloween
Knife mask - clown masks - child - knife - ARGH!
Happy - jokey things - become quite sinister - clowns - good - evil?
Batman + Joker
Setting - normal american suburbia - dear of the unknown
P.O.V - shot - close up face - verse tracking - crane - see whole scene
Hight pitched mooosik - tension - when light goes off - clock - go upstairs - time is up?
Chanting at beginning - sinister - children - ambient noise - crickets - one shot.

Horror - Scream

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The second one we have looked at is Horror.

Opening - Horror - Scream
Post modern
Camera - Insert - phone knife - hand, Medium shot - phone, 1st shot - cliche, inserts - phones, knives, popcorn. phsyco, lock of door, Wide shot - see backgound - know something is going to happen. Reaction shot - zoom in. P.O.V shot - looking at door - into the dark, gives a sence of being watched - shots from outside - P.O.V - killer, Inside and outside - swing - creaking - knows someone has just been there - hanging there at the end, E.L.S - house, and car arriving - remote.
Editing - slow motion! - kills her in slow motion - has a chance to get away - chance slipping away - draws attention to how she is killed - graphic - pauses on knife - zooms in fast on her hanging - P.O.V, credits - scream - white to red sound overlaps to title on the 1st screen.
Sound - stabbing noises - slicing sounds - heart beat - base drums - builds up - eratic, innocent at the beginning - very normal, builds up - strings high tempo and frequency - increases melancholy - music - when she has been stabbed - sad depressing - melancholy.
Mise-en-scene - Costume - mask cloak hood - stereotype killer, scream painting -mask, Innocent girl - blonde - wearing white - teenager - innosence, props - popcorn - symbolic - what is happening - build sup - explodes when killer comes in - tension builds, knives - stabber horror - not supernatural - rference to halloween - knife baby sitter - mask - intertextuality, starts with phone call - ends with dial tone - significant, College kid - football jacket - high shcool, Setting - big house - wealthy - isolated - middle class, lots of glass - doors - windows - few spotlights outside - he can see her, she cant see him - lights. Movement - glides across everywher - creepy - killer.

Thriller - Red Dragon

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The first one we have looked at is Thriller.

Opening - Thriller - Red Dragon
Setting - orchestra - upper class - cultured
Lecturs house - expensive - well kept - old - antique - expensive!
Accentric artefacts - well travelled - wealthy - dining table - candels - expensive dinner sets
Recipe book - in french - libary - educated - cooked dinner - appreciates fine foood...
Props - arrows - recipe book
Lighting - reflects atmosphere
Colour - dark red furniture - house - blood - death
Titles - one word red, one word white, two sides of a person. Tattoo man wrestles with consience - transform - good - evil.
Sits opposite man at desk - facing each other, face off.
Camera! - reaction shots - lectur
Reaction shot - Will - lectur killer
Establishing shot
Zoom on lectur from establishing shot - spatail awareness
Lectur predator - picking out the flute player - intelligent
Edited - slow steady continuity
Shot reverse shot
Attention drawn to flut player - editing
Sound music - parralel to the action - parralel sound
Pian string instruments - formal
Increased in tempo when appropriate in the scene
High strings - edgy
Builds up when Will is looking at the book

Thriller - Memento

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The first one we have looked at is Thriller.

Thriller - Opening - Memento
Props - Photograph - insert shots - gives you a picture of the film straight away, Crime scene - clues, Polaroid camera - dated, Gun weapon - Lenny - Armed - Typical thriller, Key for motel, Car windows broke - questions - why is it broken - Hook - unanswered questions - why is he in a motel, End at the start.
Costume - Smart, proffessional, Intelligent - good job - successful, Outfit - Quite business like - more important.
Setting - America! Quiet area of America - Not a very big city (rare for thriller) - Isolated area - dingy, Building shut down - plastic covering - expected.
Titles - Start white fades to blue - Significance - cold colour - cold hearted - empty - no soul - cold - Ice heart - when people die - they go blue - cold.
Black and white shots - editing - past - flashback.
Insert shots of polaroids - significant, Inserts of lots of props, Props - Show the mans condition, Film structure - In his shoes, Bullets, Glasses, Tatoo's, Bags of things he had used.
Establishing shot at the beginning, Music - Slowly builds up - eerie - emotive - melancholy, Digetic sounds - Polariod - guns, Black and white is edited on afterwards, Different to the begginning of seven, designed to set up the confusion seen through the character.

Preliminary Task

What we had to dooo:
We had to create a short film in which we had to have someone walking through a door, sitting down on a chair and having some sort of conversation with someone and then giving them something. We had to keep in mind the 180 degree rule, we had to include a shot reverse shot, and we had to include a match on action. But we were aloud to have what ever we wanted to happen in the scene. We had to get familiar with the equipment and we recorded it all straight onto the camera in order as we would not have time to edit it on the computers. We worked in groups of three, and there is pictures further on of the people in my group, we decided between all three of us what was going to happen in our short film and all gave different idea's, my idea's included: the shot of the clock, and then the had, and the shifty eye's shot that we did.

The Directors:
In my group was Hannah, Lauren and Meeee :)
Check out our little directors photo's! We were getting well into it :)





How well we worked:
I think my group worked really well together, we diddn't have any diagreements on the actual filming of it, or creating the story board, and we managed to record it all successfully, and quickly as well. We also managed to incorporate all of our idea's into the storyboard, and everyone did something in the group, and nobody diddn't input into it. So I was really happy with my group and I am definetly going to working with them when we actually start doing my coursework, although we dont know which genre to do yet!

The story board:
Check out my amazing drawing! How good is that?? NOT! LOL!
&& I'm doing art aswell... No A Level Art for Matt... :S



















Storyboard description -
Establishing shot of the door, Close up of door - insert, Clock - close up - Ticks for a while - Hand on table whilst clock is clicking - fingers tapping, Medium close up of door - Burst through the door, Pan follows her running, Medium shot - Man sitting down - girl runs into shot, Shifty eye's - extreme close up, Medium close up "Your Late" , Shot reverse shot - dialogue - excuses, Close up of hand "ENOUGH" slamming of hand, MCU - "Have you got it" - man, Insert of bag - pulls out envelope, Handing over envelope - low angle shot - high angle shot - match on action, doing up bag, tilts up to her face, door slam - long shot.

Here is our actual preliminary task:

Individual Research on Thrillers

Settings for Thrillers:
exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas.
Typical Characters:
Hard men, law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen - Sailors, or ordinary citizens drawn into danger. Mainly men, but women lead characters have been cast before.
Thrillers can often be similar tomystery stories.
Thrillers - Theme crime: the crimes commited are usually serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments.
Violent confrontations are usually used somewhere in the plot.
Mystery films end when the mystery is solved, in contrast to a thriller which climaxes when the hero defeats the villain.
Thrillers have been influenced by horror films.
Monsters have been used in the films, these could be a physical force, something supernatural, aliens, serial killers, or microbes or chemicals.
Thrillers are defined by their approach to the storyline. Many thrillers involve spies, but not all spy stories are thrillers.
Thrillers can be defined by the mood that they create - fear, excitement.

Thriller - Seven

We are now going to study the beginning of each of the Genre's openings in detail, looking and codes and convetions, Camera shots, Editing, Mise - en - scene, sound and special effects. The first one we have looked at is Thriller.

Thriller - Opening - Seven
Detective Somerset - Morgan Freeman:
Smartly dressed, Important, Established, Nice house, Meticulously in order - Proffessional - Methodical, Lives on his own - Lonely, Camera shots - tracking when walking down the street - comfortable with surroundings.
Sounds - City - Dark - Sinister, Theme of City, No sence of community in the City, Everyone keeps themselves to themselves - Good setting for thriller - Crime theme, Metronome - Thinking - Methodical.
Detective Mills - Brad Pitt: ;)
Young, Black leather jacket, Rebellious, Not comfortable with surroundings - Camera shot - tracking when walking down the street - posture - uncomfortable, Loose tie - messy - doesn't tie it everyday. Contrat to Morgan Freemans Character
Scrap Booook:
Music - Edgy - Distorted Screams - Sinister, Storyline - Serial killer on the loose.
Pathetic Phallacy - Miserable, reflects the mood of the scene.

Purpose of an opening

We are learning the purpose of the beginning of different films, so that we can interpret how they are used differently in the different genre's we are studying.

Purpose of an opening:
Content
Setting
Hook the reader in - Unanswered questions
Intro characters
Mood/atmosphere tone

Codes and Conventions

To find out what the code's and conventions of a Horror, Thriller and Romantic Comedy. We watched all three of these film genres. The films we watched include Red Dragon, Halloween and Four Weddings and a Funeral. This is what we found out from our research:



Horror - Halloween:
Young girl/innocence, Devil, Sound - Scary music - Builds up tension, Blood/Gore, Death, Supernatural, Gun/Knife, weapon, Suburbia - equilibrium broken, Survivor/Hero, Dark, Evil, Teenage victims.







Thriller - Red Dragon:
Close ups, Angles, Theme - Crime killer, Mise en scene - Dark/Creepy, Sound/Music - Strings, Tension builds, Red Herring, Twist in the tale.








Romantic Comedy -
Four Weddings and a Funeral:
Resoloution - Usually happy, Funny, Music - Sound track, Romance, Couple - Third Party, Different classes, Middle class - usually, Barrier why the couple aren't together, True Love, && Whats a rom com with out Hugh Grant :)

Introduction

This is my AS Media Blog, that I will be using to record and research what I am doing in my coursework. I will be making the opening three minute's of a film from one the three genre's; horror, thriller or romantic comedy. I will have to research into these three genre's and then decide which opening I am going to create. I will then have to film and edit the opening three minutes of my piece in my group of three people.