Main Task - Final Film

The finished opening sequence for our film "My Friend Charlie".

13.Studio Logos: Similarities & Differences

As seen above, studio logos have unique characteristics which enable them to stand out. This may be an iconic figure resembling power or importance such as the summit of a mountain (the Ben Lomand mountain) as seen in "Paramount" or the woman holding a torch in "Colombia Pictures" which is shining a bright light at the top of the picture which could be a metaphor for a beacon of hope as torches are associated with brightness and can have connotations of a bright future when held by people; perhaps a figure to act as guidance. This type of icon is evident throughout a variety of studio logos.

In "Castle Rock entertainment", the image shows a lighthouse in the distance which shares similar visual metaphors to that of "Columbia Pictures"as both use light in different forms to create a visually attraction drawing the viewer in as well as displaying an image that resembles hope. Another studio logo that uses iconic figures is "Tristar" which displays a white horse with wings as this is eye catching and white is a colour associated with purity (Pelicans for opportunity, Swans for loyalty) so gives the studio a positive appearance. As Tristar is an American distribution studio, the white colours of the horse would be familiar with the symbol of the pelican and the eagle which are icon wic in American culture. Both Tristar and Columbia Pictures have clouds in their background which gives the impression of a figure bursting through dark times (clouds and rainfall) to a clearer future. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM is a studio which features an animal on their studio logo; Similar to "Tristar Studios", a powerful creature is used as the main feature of the logo. The tiger roaring in MGM shows fierceness and we recognise this animal to be courageous and near the top of the food chain so we can infer the studio means to be successful and be one of the best.

Frequently, a black background acts as a canvas for the studio logo which can be seen in MGM studio, Telescope Entertainment, United Artist, Hollywood Picture and perhaps most noticeably New Line cinema. The colours are then minimal often dark or metallic which si evident in "The Weinstein company" which is a metallic grey and New Line Cinema which is a black shape in front of a blue light. These are noticeably dark and mysterious.

However, some of the studio logos are bright from a white background such as Screen gems and Sony Pictures. These two are completely different background colours to other sstudiossuch as New Line Cinema. Also, Screen Gems contains a simple red shape whereas Columbia contains a portrait which shows how studios may create a logo that can be easily identified as it is visually easy to recall. By comparing Tristar and Sony Pictures, we can see the studios have opted for diffferent designs with the first opting to create a scene and the latter a shape.

14. Studio Logo

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Date of filming (two separate dates)	10th February & 13th February 2016
Who will be filmed	Matthew Wills (the psychologist) & Jasmine Croft (the current version of the girl who is seen in the flashback)- 10th February 2016. Jamie Thompson (17 years old) who plays the child-minder & Lily Grace Butler (9 years old) who plays the young female child – 13th February 2016
What will be filmed	We aim to film all of the shots on the storyboard and any extra we add in which will be the entire opening sequence. The first date will be the beginning of the film up until the flashback when the babysitter event is recalled; this scene will be filmed on the second date.
How will it be filmed	The opening scene will be filmed inside a room for the questioning using two camcorders and a tripod. On the second date, the first camera shot will be an establishing shot of the location (Alex’s house) followed by an Over the shoulder shot of Lily Grace Butler looking out the bedroom window from upstairs. The camera angles will continue as explained in the storyboard until the child and child-minder meet at the door when two cameras will be used for a shot reverse shot using both tripods.
Equipment necessary	Two HD cameras, two tripods, a small knife, butter/spread, a blank white paper book for the child’s drawings, pencil, cello tape,  red ribbon, crayons

RISK ASSESSMENT
Health & Safety issue/concern	Low risk		Medium risk		High risk
When using the knife prop, small cuts or injuries could occur if the knife isn't handled properly. The tripod will sometimes be on uneven ground such as the pavement by the house which may fall over if there is wind. To minimise this and damage to the camcorder, it will be mounted properly and stuck with cello tape if necessary as well as never leaving the tripod unattended when the camcorder is mounted on.	(Very) low risk	Medium risk

As this isn't filmed on private land, permission is not necessary to film. The only precaution is to ensure the house is free on the day to minimise unrelated background noise and disturbance when filming. 

15. Analysing BFI Data on Genre & Audiences (Genre & Clasffication)

Table 4.1

In 2013, 64 Thriller films were released which is 27 more than Horror which released 37. However, the latter produced more gross at the box office making £57.5 million compared to Thriller which only made £29.1 million from its 64 releases. This shows the horror genre was more successful and made more profit in this year. The most successful genre was Animation with the top performing title Despicable me 2 helping to make animation 21.4% of the total box office, (the most out of all genres). Its appeal was largely young children and adults which meant its target audience was wider so able to make more sales at the box office

Table 4.2

At the widest point of release, the average number of sites was highest in Horror with 145 compared to Thriller which had the less of the two with 89. Although Horror had a higher average number of sites at its widest point of release, the genre released 27 fewer films than Thriller which released 64 but from these releases made a gross of 57.5 million at the box office, more than Thriller which made a gross of £29.1 million. Horror made more money at the box office from its fewer releases than Thriller suggesting the releases were more popular and produced more ticket sales so had a higher profit. Also, the demand for the films in the higher genre was more as it had a higher average number of sites at its widest point of release. The figures show the most successful genres to be Animation and Action which had grosses of £246.6 million and £215.4 million respectively.


Table 4.3

The table shows box office revenues per site by genre which ranks Horror 6 places above Thriller out of all the genres for the "average box office per site". As well as this, the total gross at the box office was £57.5 million for Horror which is £28.4 million higher than Thrillers (£29.1 million). From this we can infer Horror performed better in terms of gross but was considerably less than the highest earning gross at the box office which was Animation which made £246.6 million. Interestingly, the total number of sites is very similar between the two genres; Horrors is only 300 less than Thriller which total number of sites is 5,667. These are higher than other genres such as War, Documentary and Music/Dance which shows the two genres were expected to produce a higher total gross and expected a wider audience range so more ticket sales per site.


Table 4.1.2 (Table 4.4) - Ranked by gross box office.

Out of all the releases, Action made the highest gross at the box office with £64.1 million which made up 25.1% total of the box office in the year.  Horror included 10 less releases with only 7 being released ( 5% of all genre releases) compared to Thriller which released 17 (making up 12.2% of all genre releases). However, in terms of profit Horror was far more successful making a total gross at the box office of £14.8 million where as Thriller made only £4.1 million.

Figure 4.1

This shows the proportion of box office by genre for all films, UK films and UK independent films. With 5% of all films from this genre, it outperformed Thriller which contributed half this amount as well as making less money in the  UK films with Horror making up 5.8% and Thriller 1.6%. However, it's UK Independent films was more at the box office with 2.7 compared to Horror which was only 0.3%. These are all significantly lower than the two best genres for the box office in all films which were Action and Animation. Overall, Horror made more profit at the box office than thriller in all films and UK films but was outperformed by Thriller in the UK independent films meaning  Thriller Independent UK films were more popular than Horror.

Figure 4.2

The proportion of releases by genre for all films, UK films and Independent films was higher in Thriller than Horror. In all films, Thriller released 9.2% where as Horror released 5.3% and in UK films 12.2% were Thriller compared to only 5% being Horror. More than double Horrors 4.9%, Thriller made up 11.4% of UK independent films released which is 6.5% more than Horror which shows a high interest in Thriller Independent UK films as well as the UK films. It also shows there are more films available to a wider range of audience which isn't as age restricted as Horror where teenage audiences/families may be able to watch some Thrillers instead of strictly adults.

Synopsis: "My Friend Charlie"

The film is based on a girl (played by Lily Grace Butler) whose parents go away for the night leaving her with a babysitter (played by Jamie Thompson). It begins by showing a psychiatric interview session in place with the girl as an adolescent. Here it allows us to see that there was evidence to show her prediction of events that happened later  concerning disastrous outcomes ( 9/11 attacks, Isis etc). As the story unfolds we see a flashback of her as a young girl with a babysitter, writing a storybook. However, this books appeared to be chillingly accurate, as the main character in this book is the babysitter. Going back to the interview after seeing this event we are able to understand that perhaps sit wasn't the girl that thought of these ideas, but someone or some form telling her. Someone called Charlie.

16. Scripting/Planning evidence

 To formulate the ideas on filming our opening sequence, we used storyboards. The first one is the flashback and the second shows the opening of the sequence.

 The sequence will be filmed in the evening towards night to establish an eerie tone and a singular pathway for the babysitter to walk on highlighting her isolation and that she will be alone with the child in the house. ( As our ideas on the plot developed, we decided to use a male as our babysitter to go agains the codes and convenions of stereotypical horrors). As shown in the storyboard, suitable camera angles will be used throughout with the opening an establishing shot of the house with the girl seen in the window. This is followed by an Over the shoulder shot of the girl peering out the window looking outside. A pan shot shows the babysitter knocking on the door which is followed up to the knocking on the door. 

Below, the storyboard shows the opening of our film set in a formal environment when the girl is being questioned by the Psychologist for. There is limited dialogue here to highlight what the psychologist saying and the poker face effect of the girl. 

We planned a script for our actors during this scene to give them ideas on what to say. However, the improvised scene was more realistic so we used this for the actual film.