Title Sequence Research

For our title sequence, we want the font to be handwritten to reflect on the use of the diary. An example of titles which we have looked are in David Fincher's 'Se7en'.





The titles on this clip are in a handwritten font. They have rigid movement and fit with the genre of the film which is a thriller. The titles indicate the genre of the film quite early on. They also infer that something unusual will happen in the film as the images used are a series of extreme close-ups on fingers, mechanical objects as well as photos. As a group, we admire the use of extreme close-close ups as we plan to use them in our film. The close-ups of someone writing in a book allowed us to see what the shot would look like when we used it ourselves. 


We will create our titles in Final Cut Express as there is a lot more we can do with them in terms of movement of the titles, in comparison with programmes such as LiveType. 

Viral Advertisement

Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords that uses marketing techniques to increase brand awareness, the typical type of viral advertisement in film is usually a very short film or simply subliminal images in related films that show a website relating to the product. They are generally used to increase brand awareness and create hype for upcoming products, similar to the way the viral video was used in 'Cloverfield' which depicted the stature of liberties head disrupting a party by being propelled down the street. This created a lot of hype for the cinema release because the question of what happened sparked the audiences curiosity so the film did very successful.

Idea:

My viral advertisement idea revolves around the world of social networking. The idea is of a person looking at another persons facebook profile, going through pictures and comments. Then finally zooming in on the cursor over the poke button, the clip then abruptly ends leaving a cliff hanger style. This relates to our film because it links into the stalkerish style theme and also leaves the ending open. I also intend to use pictures of the cast so it is directly associated with our film. The film will be around 10-20 seconds and shall be for the internet for an advert that interrupts videos, such as on youtube. I may have to use some censoring to hide peoples personal details which may impair the quality of film because I do not have the skills or software to edit the text to a high level.

Inspiration:

The idea of my film stemmed from this video of life being documented via a social network, though not similar in comparison to a film I still found this kind of media representation inspiring as a fresh idea.

Software:

I intend to record the screen footage using a downloaded software on my home computer called Camtasia, this allows me to record exactly what i'm doing on screen and edit it into a decent advertisement.

Shot list - Unrequited (unf)

FADE FROM BLACK

CU - Diary being written in

POV - Male looking through bush at girl

CU - Writing in diary

LS - Girl being followed by male (Over shoulder)

POV LS - Girl walking

ECU - Male's eyes

POV M-LS - Male watching girl in library through bookshelves

POV LS - Girl drops paper as she leaves
LS - Boy approaches paper on floor (over shoulder)
CU - Crumpled piece of paper
ECU - Boy's eyes
CU - Boy's hand come into shot to pick up paper

MCU - Boy picking up paper (over shoulder) and unravelling it
CU - Boy reading the unravelled note

Treatment - 5 minute film (Final)

Title: Unrequited

Synopsis: At first glance of the short film the viewer is given the idea that the film is yet another cliched stalker film, but there is a twist that is least expected. The idea for our short film involves two characters and possibly one or two very small extra roles. Having a small number of characters allows us to more easily acquaint the audience with the characters which are mainly involved in the storyline, this will allow them to be more easily understood as to why they do certain things; although a sense of enigma must be maintained so that the twist at the end is a shock. The film revolves around the idea that the male character is constantly stalking the female character but as it turns out the female is actually the stalker. (UPDATE: This idea is depicted through several scenes in different locations including a park and library. The film ends with the male not actually having anything to do with the female however the audience realises that the entire film is fictional and is made up by the female and written into a diary, this is shown through the final shot where the male picks up the mis-placed diary and hands it back to the female.)

Audience: The film will be a 12A as there are infrequent, if any expletives, and there is no usage of drugs. There are mature themes in the video, but these will be acceptable for viewing by a younger audience. Although we should take imitable behaviour into consideration as the audience could copy the acts in the film, although this is very doubtful. The audience will be aimed at the majority of cinema goers; the age range will be between 12-28 primarily, although the film will also be viewed by people older than that. This short film could attract both male and females, giving us quite a large target audience.

Summary: We are looking to produce a short film that is both enjoyable for the viewer and technically a good film, consisting of a variation of shots and a storyline that can hopefully be fully understood.

Duration: The length of the film should be 5 minutes, or as close as we can get to that length. 5 minutes is the time we have been given for the film's length. This is an acceptable amount of time for our short film idea but careful timing of shot length should be carried out to avoid excessive over-running. We may go over the 5 minute mark, but it isn't a set limit, just an idea of how long it should last.

The new treatment is an update on our previous idea.

Film Distributor

'Independent' is film company which produces, finances and distributes independent feature films. It has produced films such as 'Mr Nice', 'New Town Killers' and most recently, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', which has earned itself numerous awards such as the 2011 London Film Award. Independent distribute many independent films. A company like Independent would distribute our film as they focus on British, independent feature films, however, as our film is a short one, it would only be exhibited at their annual film festival.

Another film distributor I have looked at is 'Future Shorts'.

They are an independent short film label, focusing on short films which are independently made. They distribute a variety of films with different genres and would be an ideal company to distribute our short film. They distribute films form around the world but are a British company based in London. They distribute all types of films of different genres.

This five minute film looks at poverty and struggle amongst children in third world countries. Its aim is to highlight how children survive with very little resources and a complete lack of care. The sound used is completely made of music with no diegetic sounds from within the scene.

Future Shorts have produced many short films, six of which have won awards. They are one of the largest short film networks in the world. They work closely with British directors, as well as international directors to produce short films which sometimes make it to cinema. For these reasons, we would choose this film company to distribute our film.

Risk Assessment

Independent Distributors - Research & Ideas

Momentum Pictures

Momentum Pictures is one of the leading independent motion picture distributors in the UK and Ireland and releases approximately 20 theatrical films a year. They have produced several successful drama films such as PS I Love You and The Kings Speech. They are also known to produce and distribute films with a darker theme, so our short film would fit right into the ranks of films produced and distributed by momentum. It is however part of a small Canadian conglomerate knowns as Alliance, this sense of it being part of a company would make it difficult for us to convince them to distribute our short film.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rr9ccD5H3Q

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNmT_dLeSao

Diffusion Pictures

Diffusion Pictures is a very small very young independent distribution company based in London that mainly distributes indie films. Although they haven't released many films the ones they have are similar to our short film because they are based around the relationships of two people, much like the relationship between our two characters.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyaexHA9tk&feature=related

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl6oqjT85eM

Studio Canal UK

StudioCanal UK (formerly Optimum Releasing/Home Entertainment/Classics) is a film distributor company working in the UK and Ireland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland. It has produced a film that has a similar theme to ours called Tyranosaurus. A mans life gets ruined and as he begins to turn it around he meets a woman who has a dark secret.

Example Films:

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvyqXFmV-LI

Questionnaire & Feedback - Audience Research

Questions:

Where do you usually watch films?

Who do you watch films with?

What is your favourite genre?

What do you like about that genre?

What is your favourite film(s)?

What genres do you dislike?

***After viewing the link to the film idea***

What are your opinions on our film idea?

What do you like about our film idea?

What do you think we could change about our film idea?

What genre do you think our film will be?

What certificate do you think our film will be?

Where do you think our film will be shown?

Are there any films you think are similar to ours?

I decided to use an internet questionairre to get feedback from a large part of the target audience of a slightly mixed age. I distributed this questionairre to around 30 people and received only a few replies. The questionairre was a simple (.doc) word file where the participants just filled in the answers, saved the document with their name, and then sent them back to my email address.

Location shots (Unfinished)

Male's bedroom

The view of the bench from a tree in the distance.
A general image of the scenery where we will be filming, another shot could be filmed here.
A view of the bench from closer than the other tree.
A close image of the bench and where the potential 'Stalker' will watch the girl from.
When the girl leaves the bench she will be followed by the male.

Click the images to enlarge them.