Feedback

1. Look at film reviews that might feature my film, e.g Empire Magazine. Look at the layout of the review, images used and the language used.

2. Draft a review of my film so far. Focus on actors, plot. Annotate some previous reviews.

3. Analyse my own poster. Copy, colour, image, camera and tag line. Have I used industry standard conventions and compare the layout. How have I communicated the message of my genre.

Possible Soundtrack For Film

 

'The Story Unfolds' by Jingle Punks on the Youtube Audio Library is one of the main pieces of music that occurrs within my film. I really liked the title of the music piece as it links to my theme of story-telling. Luckily, the music reflected this and it has proved to be a valuable piece of music to my film.

 

 

'We Will Be' by Puddle of Infinity on the Youtube Audio Library is another great piece of music for my film. This piece will be played at the end of my film as I thought the relaxed melody of it would make the audience feel emotional to have left the narrative and world of the film.

 

 

'Extinction Level Event' by Jingle Punks on the Youtube Audio Library is one of my action scene music pieces. This music will play across the Hunger Games and Maze Runner sections. I thought that this wasa great piece as it is fast paced and fits both genres of film best.

 

 

I am not sure if I am going to be of use to me as of yet, but I have included it in my film thus far. This song is 'No Way Out' by Sirius Beat. This piece will feature in the wand battle scene at the begining of the film. I thought that this was a great piece as it mirrors the song from Harry Potter and is fast paced.

Screenplay For Film | Draft 1

SCENE 1

INTERIOR – CLASSROOM G28?

Inside a classroom the children are playing and doing what they like, a reward time has been given. Most of the children are on their tablets playing various games. Chatter and exclamations from children can be heard. GIRL is sitting on the floor reading Harry Potter, along with a large pile of books beside her. She is engrossed in reading the books and is oblivious to the other children around her. BOY comes over and starts a conversation.

BOY:

What are you doing?

GIRL

Reading…

 

BOY

Don’t you want to play Minecraft? We’re all going on a quest together. You see we need to get this special object, and we need the object to level up and unlock more stuff. And then with the stuff we will be able to unlock means we can level up faster.

 

GIRL is still very engrossed into her book.

 

GIRL

(Dreamily) Maybe some other time

 

BOY

(Sighs) You’re so boring…

 

GIRL takes no notice. BOY then quickly snatches the book from her hands and runs out of the classroom.

 

GIRL

HEY!

 

They both run through the corridors and out into the Peace Garden.

 

EXTIRIOR – PEACE GARDEN

GIRL

Hey! Give me that back!

 

BOY

Or what?

 

GIRL sees a stick lying on the floor and picks it up.

 

BOY

What are you going to do? Throw a stick at me?

 

GIRL

This isn’t a stick…

 

The stick then turns into a wand. BOY, obviously up for the confrontation, grabs himself a stick and his turns into a wand also. The two share a tense moment. Then all of a sudden GIRL throws a spell at him, but BOY manages to deflect it. Both are surprised and amazed at their new abilities and smile wildly. They both then continue to cast spells towards each other but also having fun at the same time, laughing. BOY then casts one final spell and it hits GIRL and she shields herself and closes her eyes.

 

SCENE 2

EXTERIOR – FIELD

GIRL opens her eyes and sees that she is in a field and that she is wearing different clothes. She realises that she is in The Hunger Games.

 

GIRL (to herself)

I haven’t read The Hunger Games yet…

 

GIRL looks over towards BOY, he look guilty.

 

BOY

I only read a bit… What?! Why do you get to have the bow?

 

GIRL looks down and sees that she is carrying a bow. She rolls her eyes and she hands it to BOY. He looks pleased.

 

BOY

Oh yeah…

 

In the distance, a scream can be heard and dogs howling and snarling. A canon goes off. Both BOY and GIRL turn round, scared.

 

BOY (whispers)

Mutts… RUN!

 

They both start to run.

 

GIRL

I thought you said you only read a bit of it!

 

BOY

I LIED!

 

As BOY and GIRL are running, the pass through trees and then are transported into The Maze.

 

SCENE 3

EXTIRIOR – FIELD

BOY and GIRL come to a sudden stop after running. They notice that they are wearing different clothes from before and BOY doesn’t have his bow. Both BOY and GIRL are panting heavily from the run.

 

BOY (nervously)

Where are we now?

 

GIRL

We’re in the Maze

 

BOY

The what?

 

GIRL

The Maze! Grievers… that means there’ll be –

 

A strange roar-like noise is heard coming from the Maze. BOY and GIRL look terrified.

BOY

What was that?!

 

GIRL

Just follow me, and run like your life depends on it

 

BOY

But I’m scared

 

GIRL

If you aren’t scared…

 

BOY

You ain’t human…

 

GIRL smiles, and they both begin to run, again, into the Maze.

 

SCENE 4

INTERIOR – WARDROBE/ROOM

 

BOY and GIRL fall out of wardrobe. They look bewildered. They both stand up and realise that they are back in their school uniform. As they leave the room in which the wardrobe was in, snow drift out from the wardrobe door and the faint noise of a lions roar can be heard.

 

INTERIOR – HALLWAY

The both enter the hallway, seemingly disappointed that there is no magic universe to be found.

 

BOY

I’m sorry I took you book from you…

 

GIRL

That’s alright. I really like your necklace by the way.

 

BOY is wearing the One Ring. They both smile. A TEACHER steps outside from a classroom. BOY and GIRL turn round, startled.

 

TEACHER

I thought I told no one to leave the room! Come back in please.

 

Both BOY and GIRL go back into their classroom and GIRL finds that her books are in the pile that she left, including the one BOY took from her.

 

BOY

What shall we do now?

 

GIRL takes out LORD OF THE RINGS from her bag and hands it to BOY. He seems delighted. GIRL picks up HARRY POTTER and they both begin to read.

THE END

 

POSSIBLE VFX IDEAS

·         The One Ring glows red and then the film ends, suggesting that the BOY is about to be transported into LOTR.

Target Audience

The target audience for my film will be children, both boys and girls, aged 11 and upwards. I thiught that that use of well known childrens books, such as Harry Potter and Narnia, would grab their attention as they are both books and films and are also well known franchises. I have included older  reading books, such as The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent to act as a transition from childrens books into more Young Adult books (YA). This also serves as a tranition into Secondary school, and this mirrors the childrens books into YA books.

I thought the the VFX used within my film will capture my audiences imagination and encourage them to read the books and watch the films. As I will have the books of each film used as props within my film, I thought that this would encourage my audience to read the books more than the film as they can see the books visually, which could also act as a visual devide or subliminal message.

I also thought that with the fast tempo of the film, this would grasp thier attention and would hopefully engross thier attention into the world of the books in which they are watching. Also, the premise of the children actually being in the world of the books would also encourage them to do the same in thier imagination.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1 Poster Analysis

On this post I will be analysing 5 posters from The Hunger Games Franchise. The first poster is from the second Hunger Games film, Catching Fire.

 

This is one of the many posters used for the marketing and promemotion of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. It is similar in the styles of some character portaits that were released later on in the marketing campaign. It has a painting-like texture and cracks are even visible on the poster. It has the main character slightly off center and she is holding her iconic bow along with an arrow. The clouds are forming 'wings' behind her, which give her a heroic stance, as in the film she is the peoples hero, thier Mockingjay.

 

This was the first teaser poster for Katniss for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. The darkness of the poster reflects the tone of the film and the 'wing' like armor symbolises the Mockingjay, a pivitol symbol throughout all three books and films. As this is a teaser poster, only a tag line 'I am. I will' and the release date has been revealed, but as this is now a very well know franchise, the name of the film is not needed, as the film is also recognisable from the Mockingjay symbol and Katniss's iconic hair braid and archery gear.

 

This poster was one of the first released for the first Hunger Games films. The poster depicts the Mockingjay pin that Katniss is given within the first film, and here it is presented engulfed in flames. This has major symbollic meaning with the film as both fire and the Mockingjay have occurances and meaning throughout all of the books and films.

Harry Potter Poster Analysis

This poster is for the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. The actor Daniel Radcliffe is placed in the center of the poster, suggesting to the audience that he is the main character in this film. Surrounding him are several other important charaters and important objects from the film and also locations included within the film. The characters are wearing school uniform which suggests to the audience that the events of a film takes place at a school of some sort. The owl, candles and castle in the background are connotations of magic and wizardry. Also, fog is surround all of the characters and objects within the poster, suggesting that the world that we are about to go into is mysterious and dark, nine like we have ever before seen. The tag line for the film reads 'Journey beyond your imagination', suggesting to the audience that this is a magical world filled with imaginative ideas, targeted toward the younger audience. The title of the film is also central to the poster. The yellow colouring of the text draws the readers eyes to the poster as it is a stark difference from the blue colourisation of the background.

This is a poster for the 4th Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The colours within this poster is noticably darker than the first poster, as within the Harry Potter series the narrative gets darker as the audience grows with the films. The main character is sized the largest within the poster and other main characters are positioned behind him, informing the audience of his role within the films. The tag line of this film is "Dark and terrible times lie ahead", and with our characters wands in view, this suggests that this film includes danger as a wand is a form of protection for a wizard or witch, and the darkness of the sky and the darkness of the poster also accentuates the danger. Hogwarts can be seen in the background, and further in the foreground we can see a lake with three audience stands visible. This foreshadows the events within the film.

This is one of the last posters of the Harry Potter franchise. I really like how dark the posters and the feel of the films have gotten and really like the use of fire ember in the foreground of the poster surrounding the characters and the title. The fire like embers suggest that destruction could be a theme within this film, or fire. This poster shows the three main characters running from something, but the audience are not sure what they are running from, thus surrounding it with mystery. In the foreground, the audience can tell that the characters are in a forest of some sort, which is different from the usual background of Hogwarts, suggesting that the narrative of this film has forced the characters to go out of their comfort zone and into a completely different environment, also connoting danger by the darkness of the forest. The tag line of this film is 'The end begins' suggesting that the characters times are almost up, and also signifying the end of the worlds most successful franchise ever, which also plays with the audiences emotions as most of them would have grown up with the characters form the books and the films, and now it is all ending.

I'm not going to to analyse this poster, but I really liked the idea of a moving poster. I am not sure of how I would achieve a moving poster, but I thought that it is a very good way to grab people attention towards both the poster and the film. 

The Maze Runner Poster Analysis

The Most of the posters for the Maze Runner films are dark and desaturated in appearance. This may be because of the audience that The Maze Runner is targeting. As TMR is a Young Adult fiction book, and is under the dystopian genre, the posters are reflecting the dark times that entail within a dystopian based society. 

The first poster is showing a small segment of the Maze and a character jumping mid air across a gap in the Maze. With the character positioned in the middle of the poster, and in the middle of the air, this heightens the emotion and feel of danger that could be present within the film. The Maze itself is shadowed and is clouded in darkness, suggesting to the audience that the Maze is mysterious and could also hint that the Maze in the antagonist within the film. The canted angle of the shot of the poster also suggests to the audience that the Maze, or the character is not as it seems. A canted angle also suggests abnormalities with people's sanity/mind, and if people have watched the film, we would know that this is true. The title of the film is then placed at the bottom centre of the poster. 

This is the second poster that I have chosen to analyse. Although the there were round about 10 posters released for The Maze Runner, I feel like the ones I have chosen best represent the feel of the film. This one is a full length body poster of the main character Thomas. Here, he is in a mid shot running pose with the text "Never stop running" in the foreground which makes the audience question themselves, 'running from what?'. The background is blurred, suggesting to the audience that Thomas is running at a high speed, linking in with the text displayed in front of him and with the name of the film itself. Specks of dirt and debris can also be seen near the ground and near his hands. Through the clothes that Thomas is wearing, the audience can tell that his is a slightly different world/way of life than ours. The expression in Thomas's face also makes the audience feel like whatever he is running from is dangerous. 

The third and final poster that I will be analysing is of a mid length body shot of one of the main characters called Newt. His body is slightly turned away from the audience suggesting that he doesn't want to show his full character/personality or perhaps he has a side that other don't want to see or mcould be dangerous. He is wearing clothes similar to Thomas, ragged, brown and leathery in texture, suggesting that they are from the same place. In the background of the poster, the audience can see the Maze in much clearer view. It is foggy and dark which leads the audience to believe that it is mysterious and evil. Newt is also holding some sort of knife, suggesting that he is either a dangerous character or that he needs it to protect himself, which leads to the question, 'what is he protecting himself from?'. Even though this poster in in Spanish, underneath the title The Maze Runner, is says 'Based on no.1 best seller' allowing the audience to see that it has been very successful as a book, which may influence them to read the book before watching the film, and also allows the fans of the books to learn about the film, giving the film an inherited audience. 

HOW THIS HAS INSPIRED ME 

Looking at TMZ posters has inspired me. I might use some the the techniques such as using darkness and fog to create mystery within my poster and might also use the idea of just having text in the foreground of my poster. 

Feedback

1. Complete storyboard

2. Plan film sequences

Locations & Props That Will Be Used

REALITY

   Props

• Harry Potter book
• The Hunger Games book
• The Maze Runner book
• Divergent book
• Narnia book

   Locations

• School grounds
• Class room
• School corridors

HARRY POTTER

   Props

• Two wands

   Locations

• School grounds
• Classroom
• School corridors

THE HUNGER GAMES

   Props

• Bow and arrows

   Locations

• Feild/lightly wooded area

THE MAZE RUNNER

   Props

• N/A

   Locations

• Feild/lightly wooded area

DIVERGENT

   Props

• N/A

   Locations

• N/A (greenscreen)

Feedback

1. Find a clip for each transition to illustrate each mini sequence.

2. Start reasearching posters for each of the films and analyse them all. What has inspired me? Where is there a common link?

3. I need to start thinking of ideas for my own poster.

Feedback

1. Under each strand discuss the location and props that will be used.


2. Under each strand start considering how I will technically achieve this.

Narrative

In this post I will be explaining how my mini stories will flow into one another. I am going to experiment with the use of graphic matches to link each mini story.

Style Inspiration - I have seen a short film in where the background of a shot was removed to reveal a different location so the director could go to two locations in one take. This is something I would like to re-create or at least try to.


REALITY
This is our opening scene. It starts with our main girl sitting down and reading Harry Potter, with The Maze Runner, Narnia, The Hunger Games and Divergent in a pile beside her. Our main boy then comes along and taunts her for reading the book and says that she should be going something more fun, like playing the x-box. When he steals her books, they chase eachother throught the school corridors.


HARRY POTTER
When the young girl confronts the boy in the courtyard, it turns into a wand battle and the run throughout the school casting spells at each other. The boy casts a spell towards the girl and she closes her eyes. This acts as a transition into the next story as when she opens her eyes next, she is in The Hunger Games. This visual device was inspired by La Haine.


THE HUNGER GAMES
The scene starts off with a  close up of the girls eyes. We then see that thier outfits have changed and that both the boy and the girl are outside. After a little exploring, daytime turns to night-time and they hear a canon go of. Then after running from the Mutts (these will only be heard and not seen), a transition swipe running into the trees will transfer them to The Maze Runner.


THE MAZE RUNNER
The transition swipe will transfer the girl and boy into the world of The Maze Runner, and again their clothes have changed. They are then, quite literally, faced with the walls of the Maze and after a bit of contemplating, they finally go inside the Maze. When they walk into the Maze, it will show them walking out of a wardrobe/cupboard, transferring them into Narnia.


NARNIA
As they walk out of the cupboard, they are in their school uniform again. The wardrobe/cupboard has a few flakes of snow drifting out from it and rays of light can be seen, similar to the picture I have posted below in a previous post. When the children leave, a lion roar can be heard from the wardrobe/cupboard.


REALITY
The children walk out from the room where the cupboard/wardrobe was in and they find themselves back in their school. They go and sit back down on their place on the floor where the girl was to start with, and both pick up a book and start reading again. Another boy comes over and asks if they want to play a game on the computer/x-box, and they both politely decline, and continue reading.

Inspiration For Transitions Into Each Story

I wanted each transition of the each scene to be represented through the eyes, as that is what we use to read with. In the opening scene of Pirates of the Caribbean, something similar happens to show a change of time.

  

 Start video at 4.20.

Feedback

1. How will my narrative encourage ypung people to read?

2. Plan four to five mini stories that flow ino one another andhave a key message.

3. Target audience is year 5 upwards into Key stage 3, max 14 yoa.

Need to be done by Friday the 28th November.

Test Shots - Harry Potter

Here are some test shots that I have made using After Effects. I looked at a few tutorials on how to make them, but after a while found them to be of no use, so I decided to try and do some myself, and this is the result. It took me 4 hours to do, and now that I have gotten used to what I will be doing, it will take much less time. These are only draft shots, so the efects used in the film will hopefully be of better quality and standard, considering this is my first time of using After Effects.