Assignment 3 - Research and Planning Task

Creative Concept: Naughty Boy – Running

Sahid Khan, also known as, Naughty Boy is an English DJ, songwriter and record producer. The genres he’s known for are UK garage, R&B and pop. In this song, it features Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin. The setting for this video is underwater ocean and there’s a male and a female chasing each other underwater. The artists weren’t in the video but there’s a choreography made for the two people underwater. From the video, it seems like the couple are trying to find each other and the male going through an obstacle course to bring his self-closer to the girl. At the end of the video, they’re seen holding each other closely and they slowly rise out of the ocean together. The visuals for the song are quite interesting and even though the song is quite upbeat, the video makes it seem relaxing.

Narrative: Katy Perry – Last Friday Night

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, also known as, Katy Perry is an American singer and songwriter. The genre she’s known for is mostly pop but she also does rock. She started to work with producers at a young age and this is how her singing career started. The video pans into a house where Katy’s at. She wakes up to the house being a complete mess and it look like she regrets going to the party. Katy is seen lip-syncing to the song and it takes us to a flashback of what happened last night at the party. She enters her house to see a massive party thrown by her friend. She looks like your typical school nerd at the start of the video but this changes when she sees typical high school jock. Not giving her any attention at all, she feels insecure and her friend takes her upstairs to give her a complete makeover. When they’re done, they head downstairs and the jock immediately stops dancing with a girl and moves on to Katy. Everyone’s seen dancing and having a good time. It then goes back to the morning when Katy woke up. Her parents arrive and ask her what happened to the house since there were cups, plates, clothes and people sleeping everywhere. The narrative for this video has been used a lot and just shows what happens at a party.

Performance Element: - Crazy in Love

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles – Carter is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She rose to her fame by being a lead singer in a favourited group ‘Destiny’s Child’. The genres she’s known for are R&B and pop. At the start of the video there’s a view of a street and it’s speed up so it makes us seem like we’re moving with the camera. It then goes to Beyoncé walking whilst singing. She then breaks into a choreography still singing. It then moves to some sort of alleyway where there’s female backup dancers. The dance moves are all in sync and Beyoncé is in the middle seen wearing an outfit that stands out more than the other dancers in the background.

Camerawork: alt J – breezeblocks

In the first shot of the music video, one of the main characters who is a female is seen dead in a bathtub full of water with a heavy block on top of her. In the next shot there’s a male, who’s also one of the main characters, showing his emotions by burying his head into his hands. There’s then a close up of the male showing that he has a wedding ring on his finger this can help with the narrative for the video. In the next shot, there’s another close up used but this time for the woman in the bathtub. She doesn’t have a wedding ring so she can’t be the male’s wife. From this point, the whole video is reversed and even makes it look more interesting and makes the audience question a lot of things seeing the chain of events that are happening in the video. As the video goes on, the audience can tell that the woman in the bathtub can presumably be an ex and came to attack the male’s wife which their seen fighting. 

Mise-en-scene: Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

In the first slow close up shot, we can see people standing around Lady Gaga and that she’s dressed in short gold outfit with gold cups beneath her. It then opens up to a white bath house with seven white coffins and people dressed in all white with a mask coming out of them. She’s seen wearing a white costume also in the bathtub showing an innocent side of her. She’s getting held roughly by two people as one of them forcefully makes her drink some sort of liquid. It then goes to a shot where she’s wearing an outfit covered in jewels with backup dancers dancing for the men in suits around them. It quickly goes to a close up of her crying and singing. She’s then seen wearing a black outfit with a mask and jewels hanging all around her. The same men she was dancing with are now all seated around her. There’s also a computer with her name on it and a price. This can make the audience suggest that she’s getting sold to one of the men sitting around her who were also wearing black outfits. As the video progresses, she’s seen with only one man who’s sitting on the bed which she sets fire on to. After, she wears a red and black outfit showing a completely dark side to her. At the end she’s seen lying down on the bed which is all burnt up with a skeleton.

Visual effects: Zayn Malik – Pillowtalk

At the start of the video, there’s a set of lights on the ceiling and on the walls. The video rotates and then goes to a close up of Zayn Malik and a model Gigi Hadid holding each other closely. Whenever Zayn mentions “warzone” the effects will make them stretch out and go to shots of Gigi screaming and a woman with gold spikes coming out of her face. He also mentions a “paradise” which brings a completely different setting with flowers and the couple looking like they’re floating. The effects used in the video like the kaleidoscope can suggest that it’s hypnotic and the shots of Zayn with smoke coming out of his mouth slowly. There’s parts of the video here the background is completely red and where there’s blood running down their eyes. At the end, the effect used for the couple is chromatic aberration which makes them look 3D.

Planning

1. Title: Addicted.

2. Tagline: "If I can't have you, no-one else can".

3. Setting: At a High school.

4. Main Characters: A male student called Caleb. The audience may like him because he's your typical high school jock. Athletic, good-looking etc.

A female teacher called Alessia Lowe. The audience will develop a liking for this teacher since she knows what she wants and won't let anyone step in her way. They could also dislike her because she also appears as desperate and wants things her way.

A female student called Jess. She appears to be Caleb's love interest.

5. Narrative:

A teacher and a student have a brief secret relationship. The teacher, Alessia Lowe, took the relationship seriously whereas Caleb, the student, didn't and quickly moved on to the new student that arrived at the school, Jess. Caleb ends things with the teacher and moves to Jess. The teacher's jealousy get the better of her and she does everything in her power to try and get back with Caleb.

Target Audience: 15-24
I chose to make it appear on Netflix. A new episode will come out every Monday at 9pm.

Research 



Waterloo Road


Waterloo Road is a British TV drama set at a school. it broadcasts on BBC One and the target audience for this show is aimed at teenagers. It´s first episode aired in 2006. It has 10 season and has 200 episodes. The show ran for exactly 9 years and stopped in 2015.


Narrative for first episode season 1: 

The school's at a right state and the headteacher decided to quit because of all the stress that the students were giving him. We can also see some students who aren't dressed appropriately or who aren't wearing the correct uniform. This can suggest that they may be "rebels". Later on in the episode, we see a male who is up for the role of the deputy head and is determined that he can change the school around.


Narrative for episode 1 season 9:

A new teacher arrives and has troubles as the students at the school bully her for being a flight attendant. Her partner who also works at the school tries and helps get through the day. heir relationship is also put at risk since it's not allowed at school.


Audiences might of enjoyed the show because of the setting since it's based in some parts of Wales and Scotland so people on there would want to watch it for recognisable locations. They also might of enjoyed it since it was a teenage drama series and it was aimed at teenagers. They also might of liked it because they develop an attachment with some of the likeable characters in the early series.

Key conventions of TV Drama:

They have likeable characters so an audience can develop an attachment.
Interesting story lines that can relate to audience.
They have a genre that almost anyone can watch.


Doctor Who

Doctor who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by BBC since 1963. The programme shows the adventures of a time lord who calls himself "The Doctor". He explores the universe in a time travelling space ship called the TARDIS. He's accompanied by a number of companions to save people.

Narrative for "Blink"

Sally, the main character for the episode, enters an abandoned house to take photographs but instead she finds the place full of eerie statues. There's a message from the Doctor warning her about the creepy statues and how they can move incredibly fast if you blink/ take your eyes of them. They can't look at each other otherwise they'll stay permanently frozen that's why they cover their faces to form a "weeping" appearance. The angles feed on the potential time energy generated when they transport their victims into the past.


Audience Pleasures

The audience enjoys this because Doctor Who isn't about reality. It's a sci-fi full of different creatures in every episode trying to take take over his TARDIS and the world. The companions also play a big part of this since they care for the Doctor and whenever it's time for a new Doctor to come, there's sympathy for them.

Waterloo Road Video Analysis


Narrative
Character
Iconography
Setting



Narrative:
The story line shown in this short clip shows a group of older students gathered at the front of a school because a fire alarm went off. They were also teachers waiting at the front ready to introduce a new student before her and her parents come in and make an introduction for themselves.

Character:
There's different groups of teenagers around the school and there's two teachers waiting at the front. There's also an arrival of a new student who makes a different entrance whilst coming into the school. By the way she's acting, she's more of a troubled student waiting to start drama.

Iconography:
From this clip, we can see the students wearing their uniforms but some aren't which may suggest that their "rebels". The new student also arrives in a Mercedes car which can represent her wealth.

Setting:
The setting was clearly at a school showing buildings and why so many students and teachers were around it.

Narrative Theory: Moana


The trailer for Moana uses many narrative techniques typical of Disney films. Applying Propp's  character theory, we have Moana who's a one of the hero's seen in the trailer and Maui who's the sidekick that helps the hero. In many ways Moana fits the hero role more than Maui since she's seen more in the trailer leading. For instance, Moana's seen being in charge of the boat they're in and also seen helping Maui.


The film's narrative is introduced in the trailer and follows Todorov's theory of equilibrium. The state of the balance is the character of Moana trying to find a demigod that goes of the name of Maui and after she does that, they must save the pacific islands from the danger that's coming. This is where disequilibrium comes in. The intro of the trailer was tranquil, everyone was happy and it had a nice setting. After a few seconds into the trailer, the setting, weather and music changed. 


The Moana trailer is full of Barthes' enigma and action codes. This gives the trailer more suspense and makes the audience ask questions about it. The major enigma codes on this trailer would be whether Moana and Maui manage to fight off the beasts or not.

Representation of Moana blog task

The representation of gender in Moana reinforces traditional gender stereotypes. The main male in the Moana trailer is built quiet strongly and is shown to be brave and aggressive. This is a typical representation for all Disney films but it also subverts female stereotypes by using a female to be the main character and the hero of the film which isn't very common for a Disney film. Disney's film Moana also sparked controversy among Pacific Islanders over the build of Maui. Maui's character type is shown as obese and this reinforced stereotypes of Pacific Islanders being obese.

Evaluating my production work: Assignment 2




1) What typical features (conventions) of a film poster have you used? How do they help to make the poster effective in attracting an audience? (Key conventions include title, release date, institutional information, reviews, a central image etc.) 

 
I think the title of my poster would attract an audience since it's an unusual title for a horror film. The title "Polaroid" has a meaning to it where it fits in with the story line so this would make the audience want to know more about the film. The central image also looks and seems a bit different from other horror images. The central image has a girl with pictures scattered around her with a Polaroid effect and she also has one in her hand with her wearing a black and white mask.


2) What is the genre of your film? How would your target audience know this from design of your poster?


The genre I chose for my film was horror and a little bit of psychological thriller. I chose this particular genre because I personally enjoy watching horror movies and because I would enjoy editing it a bit more. The target audience would know the genre from the design of my poster since the background is quite dark and has an eerie effect to it. Also, the font I used for my title makes the title look like it's dripping in a way that it can relate to blood.


3) What institutional information have you used to try and sell the film and how does this appeal to the audience? E.g. 'From the Producers of...' / Star power / Directors / Reviews.



I used the logo from Warner Brothers since it's one of the most successful studio company of all time and it has one of the largest audience. Warner Brother's have made highly successful films like Suicide Squad, Annabelle and The Conjuring.  This would bring a large audience to my film.


4) Where are there examples of synergy between your storyboard and trailer? (Synergy is the link or interaction between two different media texts).



There's synergy between my storyboard and poster since the main character shown in the central image is the exact photo that's shown on the storyboard then fades to black. My trailer opens with the institution logo of Warner Brothers for the first two seconds then it goes to my central image from the poster and it zooms out.

5) What representations have you used in your film? E.g. gender / race / age / nationality / place)? Are these reinforcing or challenging stereotypes?


My trailer subverts gender stereotypes, I've used a female to represent a serial killer instead of using a male which is quite common for the Hollywood industry. I've also used quite a younger female so it appeals to an older/younger teenage audience. The female used in the my film is quite unique compared to other teenagers because she hasn't really grown up like the others in her class. She's obviously had a troubled past which is not bothering her and causing her to behave in such an aggressive way. 

Central Image- As seen on the poster of Moana, two of the main characters are posed with the actors names who play them on the top.
Release date- This is clearly shown underneath the title. "November 23". This makes the audience aware of when the movie will first be shown in cinemas.




The trailer starts off with small cutscenes of when Moana was a child. You can also hear a woman's voice introducing the tale of the story in the film. The insitution logo is then shown after a couple of scene which is Disney. It then gives hints of the directors of the movie by naming other successful movies directed by them. It then starts naming the big actors who play the main characters in the film. It goes off to Moana meeting Maui, the two main characters, meeting and travelling somewhere. As they do this, they face some enemies up ahead who try to stop them. The release date is shown at the end with social media tags including their website and the creators of some of the soundtrack.

Your chosen movie

1) What film have you chosen? 
Moana.

2) Why did you choose this film in particular? 
I chose Moana because it has more of a unique effect and doesn't look like the same disney movies that i've seen throught the years.

Institutional background

1) What was the film studio or production company behind your chosen film? 

The film's production company is Walt Disney Animation Studios.

2) Who was the distributor for the theatrical release of the film in the UK?
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

No brand loyalty

1) What genre does your chosen film fit into?
Moana fits into the Fantasy and action genre.

2) How can you tell it fits that genre? 
From the trailer, we can see what looks like villians trying to attack Moana and her friend who are on the ship.
This fits with the action genre showing that this will be a fight scene.

3) Does your chosen film have any stars or a director that are known for that particular genre?
Dwayne Johnson, who's known for action and adventure genres but not for an animated one which is surprising. Auli'l Cravalho, who's a young actress played the voice of the main character Moana. Nicole Scherzinger was also a character in this film.

It’s all a matter of timing

1) What was the UK release date for your chosen film?
2nd December 2016

2) When did the first trailer appear on YouTube for your movie?
15th September 2016

 


3) What other examples of marketing (teaser trailers, main trailers, newspaper or TV interviews etc.) can you find for your chosen film from before the film’s release date? 



Auli'i Cravalho auditioning to be Moana, the main character of the film. One of the videos I found was posted way before the UK release date.

It’s a social thing
1) What was the word-of-mouth like for your chosen film? If you can’t find tweets (probably blocked) use the IMDB user review rating or the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating to judge whether the public have given the movie a good review.
Rotten Tomatoes rated this movie a 7.9/10

2) Find three quotes (no more than 25 words each) from user reviews of your movie to create a picture of what the public reaction to the film has been. Post them on your blog.

1." A crowd-pleasing oceanic musical with big tunes and beguiling characters, Moana is likely to thwack a big smile on your face."-  Nick De Semlyen
Empire

2. "Moana is a funny, heartfelt and richly-crafted hero's journey adventure that effectively puts a Disney spin on Southern Pacific culture" - Sandy Schaefer
Screen Rant

3. "For the most part, this Disney movie feels more heartfelt than calculated, no small feat after decades of princesses, journeys, and “I want” songs."- Jesse Hassenger
A.V. Club

Risky business
Use IMDB to find out the box office records for your chosen film. Find your film, click on Company Credits and then Box Office/Business. You may want to use the excellent website Box Office Mojo to find out the budget and box office success for the film.

1) What was the original budget for your chosen film?
Their estimated budget was $150,000,000.

2) How much money did the film make in the opening weekend?
Moana managed to make $56,631,401 in the opening weekend.

3) How much money has the film made in total? (Look for the subheading ‘Gross’ which has the total box-office earnings listed).
Moana made  $240,170,441.

4) For a film to be considered a box office success, it needs to make at least two-and-a-half times the budget in box office takings. Using this method, was the film you have chosen a success? (Or, if it's a recent release, do you expect it to be a box office success?)Moana was success since the gross altogether cost twice more than the original budget for the film.

Stars in their eyes
Research the stars and director for your chosen film.

1) What films has the director previously directed? Are they in the same or similar genres?
The director is also known for directing the film 'Aladdin'. The genres of Moana and Aladdin are very similar.

2) Who is the main star in the film?
Auli'i Cravalho who's plays Moana, the main star in the film.

3) What other films has the main star appeared in? Are any of the films similar to the one you are researching?
She's an upcoming actress so she hasn't starred in many films.

4) Are the stars or the director or writer mentioned in the trailer for the film?
In the film's trailer, it gives hints about who directed the film by saying "from the creators of frozen and zootopia". This makes the audience searching them up and seeing who directed the film.

Suicide Squad (2016)



Genre: Fantasy/Action

Narrative:

The storyline is clearly shown that a secret government agency has recurited some of the world's dangerous villians to form a defensive task force. Their first misson is to save the world from an apocalypse.


Character:

The main character, Deadshot, is shown to be brave in the trailer and take the rest of the villians. He's followed by one of his friends, Harley Quiin who is shown to be crazy, violent and creepy.


Iconography:

From this trailer, we see some of the characters able to use magic which relates to their genre Fantasy. We can also see futuristic technology used, fight scenes and a car chase. This This shows Adventure and action.


Setting:

It's set at a fictional prison for villians called Belle Reve. It then moves on to other locations where the action and fantasy of this film begins.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted



Genre: Adventure & Comedy

Narrative-

In this sequel, Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still struggling to get home to their home, Central Park Zoo but they need to find the penguins first. When they arrive at Monte Carlo in France, they become wanted by Animal Control fot gate crashing a party. The leader of the Animal Control is willing to add Alex to her animal collection.
This fits their genre perfectly which is Adventure/Comedy.

Character-

Alex, the main character in the movie, is shown to be brave and take him and his friends back home.
The villian in this was the leader of the Animal Control who wants to make Alex and his friends from going home and making them part of her collection.


Iconography-

From this trailer, we can see a mototrcycle chase, animals wearing afros and performing at a circus. The animals also gate crashing a party from falling through the roof.


Setting-

It takes place at a party in France. After this you can see the adventure begin on the roads of France and move to other serveral locatons.

The Purge: Election Year (2016)




Genre: Action & Horror

Narrative:

The storyline is that the government, years ago, has sanctioned an annual 12 hour period in which all criminal activity including murder is legal. The senator( main female character) wants the purge night to end but faces difficult challenges on that folllowing night with her team. The storyline definitely fits the genre action and horror.


Character:

The main character in the film is a female who appears to be confident about making America great again without having a purge night. She's followed by two other brave male characters who help her get throught the purge night.


Iconography:

A few seconds into the trailer, we can already see a family tied up with blood on their faces. This already suggests that they've been tortured. We can aslo see guns being used, a lot of fight scenes, people running and screaming etc. All of this shown in the trailer shows action and horror already which is their genre.


Setting:

The trailer starts with a Senator having a press conference at a hall full of people, It then moves to several locations on where purge night starts. One being at the senator's office block and in a locked shop.

My magazine cover for assignment 1.