In depth storyboard

We've come up with the idea to have two people living their lives but in real time with a split screen. The spilt screen will show them living their lives aswell as emobdoying the actual spilt that they have to go through. Because we want to show the spilt even more we will start with an establishing shot of a house and zoom into a sticker saying alla which will be over a door. 


This will then dissolve into a shot of the main character getting ready to go to Arabic lessons, therefore she will be washing her face (ablution) when shes washes her face we will hope to do an action match in which we get various shots beginning with a close up shot of her washing her face, except the camera will be from underneath the sink. then perhaps a profile shot from the side of her washing her face and then a high angle shot of her washing her face.


  The high angle shot will embody someone else watching her perhaps god. When she puts on her headscarf. this shot wil be a reflection of her putting on her headscarf in the mirror. 
 As she leaves the house and checks her phone, we will zoom into the phones screen to highlight who she will be meeting which will be her (secret) boyfriend at a certain time. Her mums saying be back home at this () time see you.. Love you etc.


AT THE SAME TIME (split screen)  the main male character and his friends are outside walking to their destination, we will also do an action match of his shoes from different angles.  (meeting point for both of them) they might talk about their friends relationship between him and her and telling him, we will then do various over the shoulder shots and shot reverse shots of they're converstaions. “ah look you could be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t have all these problems and all these secrets” and he could say something pretty touching and powerful, something that represents their relationship between each other. His friends leave him to walk alone and they both walk.. action match here and there and they meet.. (just one screen now, no split screen) perhaps a close up when he places his hands in hers as they continue walking. Action match again to show their body language and facial expressions, she talks about her stresses about their relationship.

Film Production Process Flow Chart

Preliminary video

Title Research

I'll be looking at font styles and textual movement for our genre. 

This is very fantasy like because of the colours used and the style of the writing , this text it slightly serif because at the end of the characters it has little points.

How is genre conveyed through the technical features in your film opening?

The film that I watched was called ‘Beastly’ and from the opening sequence the conventions of the film tell me that it’s based around an iconic character and is very rich and holds a high status in the film; not only does the opening sequence tell us this by the fact he’s working out but also other things such as body language, the camera shots and the editing. The film is a hybrid of romance, drama and fantasy although from the opening sequence it is made very clear that the film is a romance and may contain some drama from the establishing shots during the opening sequence, this part of the film is edited at a fast pace with loads of shots of the city and the lifestyle. 

At the beginning of the opening sequence it contains shots of the city life and how everything moves at a very fast pace, from this we can already see that the film is based around the lifestyle that is slightly hectic and fast. The film then goes on the show the main character working out in a hotel like room, this could either be a penthouse suit or his home telling us the character is wealthy or his family is. The connotations of a wealthy young adult living in a big city are that he may be slightly stuck up and consider himself to be better than other people his age. Also that his lifestyle is something that certain people cannot live and he sees himself as the person with the highest status which we see when the shot of himself with his t-shirt off and a shot reverse shot of the highest point in the city with just above it. This connotes that he considers himself a very important and powerful figure and as the film progresses we’ll learn more about his lifestyle. Another convention of a romance film shown in ‘Beastly’ is the fact there are loads of shots showing his body, the film has a mid-shot of him working out in his room, this tells the audience that he takes pride in his appearance and feels it’s important to take care of his body. This is also made more significant because the final shot of the main character is a close up of his body and then his face, this denotes very clearly that he keeps fit and maintains a healthy body; in addition this also shows a hint of vanity from the character as if he knows that he’s attractive. The film then shows an establishing shot of his college which is also an academy, already from the fact his school is an academy it tells the audience that he specializes in something and believes enough in it to study it at an academy, furthermore these adds to the fact we know he’s rich. The scene then goes to a shot of the main character standing in front of a large group of people, from a low angle shot it connotes that he has some type of power or status over the crowd of people watching him; this part of the opening sequence tells the audience that the film may contain some type of drama in school. Whilst he’s speaking the camera cuts from himself to the audience and there is a clear difference in facial expressions as he seems very calm, relaxed and slightly happy and some of the audience are the opposite as if he’s mocking them.

The sound in the opening sequence is another convention that shows the film is mainly drama and romance, whilst the film is showing shots of the city the lyrics to the song played are, ‘..Look at me now..’ this is also played whilst the shots of the main character working out is being showed. Having both these combinations show this could be a representation of his personality because we already understand that the character has an aspect of vanity inside of him by the fact he his looking at himself in the mirror as if he’s admiring his body. These also tells the audience that during the film the characters body is very significant in some way, although we don’t understand much about the character due to the fact this is when we are first introduced to him and don’t know much details about him.

During the opening sequence the editing is cut quickly and we only get to see quick shots of the main character working out in his room, from this we try to learn as much about the character as possible. The camera also cuts from the fast pace city life back to his room and from this we interpret the character lives a very fast lifestyle that’s lavish and extravagant.  The opening sequence gives the audience a big chance to clearly see where the film is based and the type of people that are going to be in the film, when the camera cuts into the school we understand the film is somehow linked to an academy where young adults go. Form this we can already get an idea of the type of romance that the film may involved which could range from teen love, to a love affair between staff as we don’t yet know what role he plays. All these came from the establishing shot of the school showing the audience where the film was based.

Other details that we learn about the film and the generic conventions are that the main character maintains a fit and healthy body showing the audience he’s somebody who cares about their appearance and maybe what people think. This also indicates he may have a small aspect of vanity in his personality which is an attribute that is linked to other negative things. Although the first few frames show him working out it is not yet clear what genre the film could be as it could be range of different things. Towards the end of the scene where the main character is working out there is a shot reverse shot which shows the main character looking out the window onto a very tall building which connotes he considers himself a very powerful and tall figure in society; this almost means he sees himself as the above everyone else in the city which also justifies the idea of him being vain. The next scene goes his academy which has certain connotations of class difference are generally means his family has money and a wealthy background, this would link to the fact in the first scene he was working out in a nice apartment building in the city. The scene then continues into the main character at an election at his academy, this also connotes that he may also have a very high status at his school and people look up to him for some reason. This scene then develops and we learn although he’s an iconic figure at his school he may have some controversy as he insults one of the students and makes a minority of the audience quiet and the other part laugh. From this we could interpret that he may have a love affair with someone that maybe he first thought he wouldn’t like or didn’t like him. From the fact he’s an iconic figure we can guess that the film is going to have some sort of love problem involving a contrast in characters and statuses although we don’t fully know yet.

Altogether the generic conventions in the opening sequence suggest the film could have certain romantic aspects although doesn’t clearly state how much or what else the film is going to include. From the title ‘Beastly’ we can interpret that something not liked by the public or not eye friendly is going to have a significant impact of the film. 

1st Stage of Logo Design

This is the first stage of our logo design which is going to be developed later this week, we decided to use an image of a Phoenix as we feel it best represents us and tells people who we are straight away.

The decision to name ourselves Phoenix Entertainment comes from the fact a phoenix represents the rebirth and creation of something new, as we're a new group we felt this is how we can best be described. 
The next stage of the logo should be designed by wednesday and the final copy is deadlined to be ready by Friday before which careful planning and meetings will be done allowing everyone in the group to input their ideas into the logo. 

Production Companies

Recently we've been researching production companies to get an idea of which companies would we approach in an ideal situation. This would also give us benefits such as being able to look at the films they produce and learn some of the techniques they use to make their films so effective. As we are doing a mixture of Action, Romance and Drama we each researched different production companies with those genres to make the tasks of group easier. 

Action Production Companies

Warner Bros Pictures is a US production company who have produced many great films including; Dark Knight, Inception, Clash of the Titans and The Book of Eli all of which are great action packed films. The majority of their action films are highly rated and they have more action films planned to be released in 2012. 

Twentieth Century Fox Films is another production company who have a good history of action packed films; Die Hard,  X-Men First Class and Avatar. Currently they're working on a range of different films sue to be released in the next few years. 

Lucasfilm is another US production company that have a range of films, they created the series of; Star Wars and Indiana Jones. These were two very famous series showing this production company to have a good history of films. 


Money Generated

Dark Knight  $1,001,921,825 (worldwide) (1 December 2010)
Inception  $825,532,764 (Worldwide) (6 January 2011)
Clash of the Titans  $41,092,328 (USA)
The Book of Eli $94,822,707 (USA) (9 May 2010)
Die Hard $137,400,000 (Worldwide)
X-Men First Class $352,616,690 (Worldwide) (29 September 2011)
Avatar $2,782,275,172 (Worldwide) (25 November 2011)
Star Wars $4.41 billion 

Drama Production Companies

Voted the best Drama film on IMDB was The Shawshank Redemption which was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, other films produced by these company include; The Green Mile and Hamlet. These types of films were created and seemed most popular on the IMDB and received high ratings from the website.


One of the most popular and known dramas of all time is The Godfather series produced by Paramount Pictures, since creating The Godfather series they have produced other great dramas such as; The Fighter, Shutter Island and Freedom Writers.


Warner Bros Pictures is another production company that have a great history of drama films they've produced, having worked on the Harry Potter series it's clear they have a team of highly skilled workers that produce good films.


Money Generated
The Shawshank Redemption $58,500,000 (Worldwide
The Green Mile $136,801,374 (USA) (14 May 2000)
Hamlet $4,414,535 (USA) (13 April 1997)
The Godfather Series $245 million
The Fighter $93,571,803 (USA) (27 March 2011)
Shutter Island $294,804,195 (Worldwide) (10 June 2010)
Freedom Writers $43,090,741 (Worldwide)
Harry Potter Series $7.7 billion (Worldwide)


Romance Production Companies


Having researched most the romantic films on the IMDB we've learnt that Warner Bros Pictures has created some of the most popular romance films such as; Casablanca, Sex and the City 2 and Slumdog Millionaire.


Paramout Pictures is also another production company that have a wide variety of genres in their history including some very good romance films such as; What Women Want, No Strings Attached and The Last Kiss. These films are mostly a hybrid and have a mixture of some other genres in them generally comedy.


Fox 2000 Pictures also have a range of different films although their romance films are similar to what we want to include in our productions, specifically the films that appeal to us are; Devil Wears Prada, Bride Wars and In Her Shoes.


Money Generated
Casablanca $1,711,189 (USA) (19 June 1992)
Sex and the City 2 $95,328,937 (USA) (15 August 2010)
Slumdog Millionaire $141,319,195 (USA) (24 May 2009)
What Women Want  $374,111,707 (Worldwide)
No Strings Attached $147,780,440 (Worldwide) (7 April 2011)
The Last Kiss $11,596,143 (USA) (22 October 2006)
Devil Wears Prada $124,732,962 (USA) (3 December 2006)
Bride Wars $113,971,145 (Worldwide) (8 April 2009)
In Her Shoes $83,073,883 (Worldwide)


Conclusion
Having researched production companies in the industry its clear that some companies are generally produce a certain genre of film mostly or some have a wide range of genres that they've produced. Although most production companies are very expensive and have better technology and staff watching some of the films they produce will help us create a better opening sequence, not only does it although us to develop our techniques but we can also learn how to include more generic conventions in our film.


In an 'ideal' situation based upon our research it seems that we would use Warner Bros Pictures dues to the fact they have such a wide variety of films with different genres that have been successful and effective, by watching some of these films and analysing them we'll be able to develop our skills and techniques. 


Another option based upon our research is Paramount Pictures who have a great history of films, they also have a wide range of different genres showing they can adapt of any genre of film. 

During the week we met after school to discuss and decide on a final design for our logo. We didn't want to complicate the design too much and wanted viewers to see the image as what we represent, rather than adding more images or writing we decided to keep it plain and simple. As well as the logo we also plan to create a small edited clip as a welcome video for readers on our blog.

Final Design Idea Logo

Brainstorm of genres:

About us:

Hello there!
We are a media group who go by the name of "Phoenix Entertainment''
Our aim? simply to entertain you..
We're a bunch of teenagers who have come together by a form of a coincidence of being in the same media group. Through this blog we're going to talk about things we do as a group. such as our mistakes and in general our journey in completing the work.




The three people in THIS group are:


Btisam:                                          

Hey there, My name is Btisam.. Silent "B" I'm a media student, and when I first started media
I didn't realise so many things go into making a movie. Perhaps a little ignorant of me i know, Ilove camera work and absolutely HATE editing.but then again you cant be good at everything so theres always a chance for improvement!






Micheal:

Yoo..
I'm Micheal and I've been studying Media for a year.. so far, I enjoy it especially the editing part and I hope that would be my role in this media group. I particularly like movies that make you think and play around with your mind. such as 'Shutter Island' and 'Inception'.










Rezma:

"Hi! My names Rezma.. I'm left-handed and I love watching TV in particular Doctor Who and Merlin! I love travelling I've been to 18 countries and I defiantly want to carry on and go to the moon :D  I love creative industries such as performing arts and media and hopefully work in the industry. So far I've done a bit of work within the industry being a supporting artist in The cancer research advert 2011, a film called The Sweeney featuring Plan B and worked with various people from the creative industry.."