My name is Godgift Emesi (9044) and for my A2 Coursework I am in group 3 with Monica Aghadiuno (9365), Angela Chen (9025) and Thakshana Yogeswaran (9179).
To see my work, please click on the 3 labels on the right named A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction and A2 Evaluation, and ignore the rest as that is my classwork.
Group 3 - Music Video
Group 3 - Digipak
Our Digipack, top left - back, top right - front, bottom left - inside panel, bottom right - inside panel (CD)
This is a link to our website, click the image above to enter our site
1) Film genre and type of production?
Genre- Action adventure, Comedy, Animation
Production type- Hollywood, high budget blockbuster. An 'event' movie that is high concept, rated PG links used: imdb website 2) What's the film about?
Themes- Friendship, crime fighting, coming of age, superheroes, good v. bad
Synopsis- The specialist bond that develops between robot Baymax and prodigy Hiro, who team up with friends to form a band of high-tech superheroes. imdb website 3) Global and UK release dates? Where and what formats?
UK- 30th January 2015
Global- 59 Different countries at a staggered global release ranging between 23rd October 2014 in Japan (due to there being a premier for the movie at the Tokyo International film festival) and 11th February 2015 in France. It's being released in this manner to build anticipation for the movie globally, however this can only work if there is a spread of positive word of mouth. Another concern for having a global staggered release is the increased possibility of piracy.
Format- Theatrical release, 3D, IMAX
- On 25th October 2014, in the USA the film will be premiered in the Austin and Philadelphia film festival imdb website- release info 4) Nationality of the film? American, due to it being produced by an american company, having predominantly american actors etc. It was initially going to be set in Japan but because America sells more , a Japanese theme was put on its animation style and setting thus combining eastern world culture (predominantly Japanese) with western culture. This is then able to broaden the films appeal on a global scale. Big Hero 6 Wiki page 5) Institutions behind the film's production and UK/US distribution? Where are they based? Produced by- Disney Animation Studios, which is based in the USA, although some of Marvels creative team are involved.
Distributed by- Walt Disney Studios, based in the USA, (99.9% is independent distribution by Disney, with minimal distribution rights given to countries where its offices aren't located, for example Hungary, because they don't know about that country's market) Big Hero 6 Wiki page 6) What's the film's production budget? Unknown exact amount however we can definitely deduce it is a high budget, approximately between $150 million-$250 million, and that it has been independently financed by Disney themselves. 7) Any connection with other films?
- The x-men franchise, because the characters 'Sunfire' and 'Silver Samurai' , a part of that franchise, are also characters in the film - Director, Don Hall, has also been the director of various other films like 'Winnie the Pooh', 'The Princess and the Frog' and 'Tarzan' - Films produced also by Disney Animation Studios like, 'Wreck it Ralph', 'Tangled' and 'Frozen' Big Hero 6 Wiki page
8) Who's the director? Don Hall (a Disney director, writer and voice actor) and Chris Williams ( a Disney film director, screen writer and animator, best known for co-directing 'Bolt') imdb- Don Hall imdb- Chris Williams 9) How has the film been cast? Who's in it? All nationally recognisable American actors, some of Japanese ethnicity Mainly male cast and relatively young cast with none older than late 40's (with the exception of Charles Adler who plays Yokai). The main character, Hiro Hamada, is played by Ryan Potter best known for his main role on a Nickelodeon's TV show, 'Supah Ninjas', and movie 'Save the Date'. So is well known across part of the films preceded core audience, children and teenagers who watch Nickelodeon. imdb- cast list 10) Core audience? Secondary/ tertiary markets?
Core- Family Audience
Secondary- Fans of Disney
-Fans of CGI special effects, 3D and IMAX films
-Fans of Marvel franchise
Tertiary- Parents taking their kids as a special outing etc.
Genre- Teen Drama/Thriller
Production type- Low budget British Indie, rated 15
2) What's the film about? Themes- Knife crime, youth, violence, rivalry, relationships Synopsis- A compelling journey through the memories of teenager, Paul Varderman, who becomes embroiled in a gang war at a new school, as he reflects on the events leading to when his life is cut short. 3) Global and UK release dates? Where and what formats?
UK- 24th October
Global- N/A Format- Online streaming globally, DVD&VOD (video on demand) and then the team plan to have afree multi platform campaign for the film: - Online Premier streamed live simultaneously with a promo event at 'Franks Cafe London'. - Free movie screening on the 50-screen media wall at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester -Also screened at London Independant Film Festival, Shortwave Cinema
-Charity event at Notting Hill
4) Nationality of the film? British. This is because the film was produced in Britain (specifically Yorkshire), by British directors, with a British cast and for a British target audience etc. 5) Institutions behind the film's production and UK/US distribution? Where are they based?
Produced by- Green Screen Studios,based in Yorkshire, who had brought in Thomas Mattinson &Alan Latham to help produce the film
Distributed by- Universal Studios, based in London, was in charge of UK distribution. Focus Features, based in California and owned by Universal Studios, was in charge of US distribution. And Stealth Media Group, based in Brighton, was in charge of distribution everywhere except the US and the UK. VOD and DVD distribution was handled by Universal studios and GSP distribution ( a very small Yorkshire based company) helped get the film into York cinemas.
Financed by- Gloucester Place Films, which is a subsidiary of Matador Pictures, and Premier Pictures 6) What's the film's production budget? £3 million; the film was subsidised a lot through many companies that helped finance it, mentioned above. Kickstarter, a campaign that allows people from the public to pledge money to support the film and help it get shown theatrically, helped the films team reach over their aim of £20,000 with pledges totalling £20,094 from 283 different people 7) Any connection with other films? Based on the best selling novel by Anthony McGowan, rated 4.5 stars on Amazon, and Green screen techniques used in production of the film
8) Who's the director? Kit Monkman, an experimental film maker& artist, and Marcus Romer, a director and actor best known for his roles on Emmerdale and The Bill. 9) How has the film been cast? Who's in it? A predominantly male, white cast who are all working (under the radar) British actors. The main Character is played by Jack McMullen, best known for his role on Waterloo road and can therefore be considered having a regional reputation. The fact all the actors are British helps supports British industry. 10) Core audience? Secondary/ tertiary markets?
Core- British 16-24 year olds (youth)
Secondary- Fans of the book - Fans of Indie films and the drama genre -People local to Yorkshire where the film was shot
Tertiary- Inner city people who find the themes of the film relatable - Upper education institutions (e.g.schools/universities) wishing to use the film for educational purposes on youth violence etc.
"Geek vs.Chic"
Planning: 1 hour
Practical: 1 hour to shoot, 1 hour to edit
1) Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? GROUP 1C: Amber Mota, Shayam Utting &Godgift Emesi During the planning stage: We all coordinated what the synopsis of our sequence would be, our characters and costume, then divided up the rest of the planning work. For example, Amber constructed the layout of our set and wrote our script to coincide with our drawn up synopsis while I drew our storyboard and Shayam wrote out our shot list. During the shooting: Amber- Camera woman/ Director
Shayam & Gift- Actors During the editing: Shayam and I were partners for the editing stage and we divided the work up equally such as how I would be using the mouse while Shayam would tell me what shots to cut together and vice versa.
2)How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?
We planned our sequence by drawing up a storyboard that coincided with the synopsis of our prelim. As a group during our planning stage we deliberated the positioning of the camera and framing of our shots while we improvised acted what we wanted the characters to do. From this Shayam was able to write up a rough shot list straightaway, which later I used to draw up a storyboard using exactly what we had discussed and improvised acted. From the completion of the storyboard, Amber was able to write a script.
When drawing the storyboard, we included the 180 degree rule, 30 degree rule (to not have any jump cuts) master shots, match on action shots and use of shot order (e.g. LS to MS to CU) because we were trying to take into account the continuity theory, so that we could create a seamless narrative. When thinking about the narrative of our sequence, to be able to draw our storyboard, we had to take into account "Narrative genre& audience theory". As you can see on our shot list sheet which Shayam made, our genre was a Drama Comedy and so our characters became stereotypical teenage cliches, a geek and a popular girl. For example the audience would be able to identify one of the girls as a geek through the iconography of her wearing glasses and carrying many textbooks in her arms. Our narrative followed a certain order using 'Todarovs equilibrium' theory- in which they meet, a disruption is created through their argument and balance is restored when they head their separate ways with the popular girl storming out of the classroom. 3)What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?
The technology we used during our shootings stage was a Canon Legria HFD30 (to film our sequence), a microphone (to boost sound), headphones (for the person working the camera to focus on only the sound in each take), a tripod (to adjust camera height and angles and make pans easier to do) and a clapperboard (to organise the set and make it easier when editing so we know what shots and takes we are using). During the editing stage however we used Adobe Premier software to edit our sequence.
4)What factors did you take into account when planning, shooting and editing?
When planning:
The amount of time we have to shoot and how long we can spend on each shot
What kind of camera we were using, so we would know the quality of shots we're going to get
The set: how we're going to adjust the objects that were available to us in the room we were allocated to shoot in to create our set how we want it (e.g spacial awareness of characters in relation to objects in frame and positioning of camera)
How many actors are available to us
Scheduling of shots on the day of shooting
When shooting:
Placement of camera (e.g sticking to the 180 degree rule and 30 degree rule)
Constantly making sure the acting is exactly the same in every take
How much time we have to shoot
That everyone is quiet on set
Retaking shots (but varying angles/pans/framing etc.) so we have a lot to work with when editing
Sticking to the basic principles of our storyboard
Lighting
When editing:
Invisible editing
Matching up cuts
No jump cuts
Eyeline matching
Shot reverse shot
Use of cuts and dissolves to construct rhythm and pace
Cross cutting does not confuse audience of time in sequence
5)How successful was your sequence ? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?
In adherence to the brief:
Like the brief asked us to, we filmed a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down on a chair opposite a character, with whom she exchanges dialogue with. We also were able to demonstrate match on action (where the geek opens the door and the 'chic' girl puts her phone down), shot/reverse shot (during both characters exchange of dialogue) and the 180 degree rule. Although for the 180 degree rule, on the first day of shooting we forgot to adhere to, but remembered on the 2nd day of shooting and re-did our shots.
I think our sequence was successful in terms of the brief but also in the of matching up cuts but to the point where they aren't jump cuts. The acting was good as well because you can clearly hear what the actors are saying and they don't seem to break out of character (e.g laughing in the middle of delivering a line). We used a wide rang of shots and angles making our sequence diverse in techniques (for example, low angles, high angles and pans etc.)
However there are some continuity errors in our sequence with which if we hadn't rushed it would not have come up. This happened because we were shooting on two different days so it was hard to remember how the lighting was one day and keep it the same the next day. Also on one day we were wearing different costumes and the next day and forgotten to wear the exact same clothing meaning that we had to retake shots that were fine only because we were not wearing the same clothes. Our acting and maintenance of props, although similar in every take, was not exactly the same so some takes of the same shot would have the geek sitting down with books open and a different take of the same shot would have the geek sitting down but with books closed and her glasses aren't on. Also on the first day of shooting we didn't use a clapperboard but on the next day of shooting we did which confused us when editing because we didn't know which shot was which. In hindsight if we're shooting on different days we would keep our costumes on set overnight so we don't forget to bring them the next day. Also we would look over what we had filmed in the previous shoot so we can remember what elements to keep the same in the current shoot (e.g props/framing/ lighting).
6) What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework? I've learnt that:
Repetition in acting is key for continuity editing to be done properly
Precise planning, such as making a shoot schedule, makes things easier on the day of shooting so things aren't rushed and done properly (because we hadn't made one for our prelim shoot so were rushed when shooting and didn't think about the composition of our thoughts properly)
Dividing work across a group is key in making sure everything is done and no one is bombarded with a huge of work to do
Use a clapperboard because it organises a set in terms of making sure everyone is quiet and helps with editing because you know what shot/take you are editing
It's okay to deviate from your storyboard as long as you follow the basic concepts such as story line that you've planned
Since this exercise has helped me spot any continuity errors easier, I will now be able to keep continuity rules in mind easier both during shooting and editing.
To group up shots into set ups/takes so that it is easier too shoot and ends up minimising the amount of time wasted and costume changes etc.
Big Hero 6 Wiki page
Produced by- Disney Animation Studios, which is based in the USA, although some of Marvels creative team are involved.
8) Who's the director? 
Don Hall (a Disney director, writer and voice actor) and Chris Williams ( a Disney film director, screen writer and animator, best known for co-directing 'Bolt')
6) What's the film's production budget?
