I’m living a Teenage Dream











Thursday 28 January 2010

Pre-Research Analyse

Research Analyse
I decided to ask within my sample 25% 11- 16 year olds and 50% 17- 25 years old, as I feel this catchment age is the most common target group to watch a Dance themed Film , therefore to ensure my film satiety their needs I need to understand their demand and what they aspect from my Film.

The three most common genres came as a surprise. The Three most common were: Comedy (35%), Sci-fi (15%) and Musical (15%), this came to a surprise as it shows that within my sample there was no traditional spilt with the genre and gender. As the Three top genres were all a mix of the traditional genres you would aspect genders to mix. From this i have concluded that many males would be interesting in viewing my movie therefore I need to ensure that my Film can satisfy both Female and Males demands within a movie. This will increase the potential market of my Film and therefore increase the profits of the Film.

Most commonly the people within my sample want to be kept interested by the film though suspense and twist in the storyline of the Film. I believe to keep a consumer interesting within my Film I can use a Varity of camera shot and angles. This will ensure my audience to do get bored with my Film.

Many people also stated that they liked to really lose themselves within the film and feel the deep emotion which is portrayed by certain films, The main group of people which wanted this from a film whereas the females within my sample. Therefore as Females are my main market for this Film i need to ensure my storyline portray the emotions of my characters well and make my audience really feel they are totally involved in the storyline. However As I am also targeting my Film at both genders i need to make sure my Film is not top heavy with emotion as this will not interest the male audience and I could risk losing may potential consumers. To portray the emotion within my Opening titles I will use lots of close ups as this will forces the audience upon my actress’s face therefore they shall be studying the emotion she portraying though her facial expression.

From my research I have found out that 75% of my sample choose not to watch sub-titles films therefore it is virtual my film is in English so there are no sub-titles as this will lead to losing a huge percentage of potential consumers.

Within my Research I asked my sample where they believed a Dance themed Drama should be set. The three options I offered where: Dance Studio, The Streets/Urban Setting and A Dance School from my research I found that my audience have a varied response. The most popular setting was a Dance Studio (45%) followed by A Dance School (30%) then finally The Street/Urban Setting (25%). This shows that a large number of my sample believe that a traditional setting would be most suitable however the results have very evenly distributed. I believe to capture the most of my potential audience I need to include elements of both the traditional side of dance and the new arising Street/Urban Side.

I asked My sample to name two of their favouriteActors and Actress. There was a clear divide with the Males Results and The Females. The males within the sample picked actors which were of an older age range which appeared both in Serious and Funny roles such as Densil Washington and Johnny Depp. whereas the females picked actors of a younger age which had not been in many roles and very ‘good looking’ such as Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson which may have something to do with the release of the massive film saga Twilight which both actors appeared in.

Both genders picked there favourite Actress as young beautiful American women. This shows that both genders demand a attractive lead women within a film. As 100% of my audience said they were influence into seeing a film because of it cast , i believe i need to cast a young girl who is attractive for my main role.

A Sample of Pre-Production Research


I am going to distribute 20 questionnaires, However a Large Film company would issue 100's of questionnaires. Performing Market Research reduces the risk of Failure and lost of profit and ensures a production meets the needs of the potential consumers.

ScreenPlay






















Saturday 16 January 2010

Main Task Film Research

As I Have Chosen the Genre of Musical Dance for my Final Piece, I Need to analyse some is existing movies which are from the same genre. I have chosen to analyse “Step Up” and “Honey” as these are both massive hits within the genre.

Film 1 – Honey (2003 )
The Opening image is a black plain image however the audience can hear the opening of the soundtrack music which is of an Urban/Hip hop genre and has a very strong beat very similar to Step Up. The Universal Logo spirals onto the black background. With the music still playing the logo fades away to black.
The Next scene is shot in Birds Eye view Shot over a city which I am lead to believe is a city like New York or Manthaten. The view of the city is in Blue to Black tones i believe this is done to show the audience that it is at night and the film is set in the downtown / Ghetto side of this bright and glamous town. The camera then seems to zoom really fast as if it is tracking where the action is . I believe this is done to allow the audience to see where the subject and action of the film is set in this massive city.

The Camera Enters a packed Nightclub in which the colour is the same as the sky line (blue, black and purple tones) to highlight that the film starts at a nightclub in the ghetto of this large city. This is when the title of the film enters . The title flys down from the top of the frame and lands at the bottom of the screen, the text is a lightblue colour and flashes like a spotlight is being flashed at the text. The Text exits after 2 seconds by spilting in half and exiting both left and right sides. The Camera Then moves down the bar smoothly to the main subject of the film ‘honey’ she is wearing dark colouring and well turned out apperance. The Lighting on her face and body is turned to a more bright blue and purple compared to the Lighting on the cityscape. Another Title appears in the same manner as the movie title at the bottom left of the frame.
The Girl is see to be working at the club as a bar Lady she is moving to the lound club music which is the same as the opening seconds however the beat has become alot stronger then before
The next scene is shot min Bird eye view. The subject of the shot is the drinks Honey has made. They match the colour and tone of Honeys Face and yet another title appears in the same way as before. The rest of the opening minutes are filled with scenes of dancing from within the club. The scenes are shot on most smooth tracking shots and mostly from bird eye view. I believe this is done to show how packed the club is. However packed it is there are still small circles in which people are having danced off. This shows the audience that whatever type of area you live in there is always ways to express yourself.


Mise-en-Scene
The Clubbers – Urban wear such as combats and jeans however all of earthy tones such as green and red, However no bright colours. The girls of the club are also wearing clothes with show a large amount of flesh
Honey and other bar staff – The bar staff are wearing dark uniform clothing, however their hair is lose and done well. Normal everyday Make up.




Step Up (2006)

When Step Up begins there is a blank image with no images however the audience can hear echoes of people talking and the sound of feet against a gym floor, which we later learn is Digenetic sound to the scene.
After 2 seconds the image of Ballerinas in a dance hall fades in the camera is shooting the images on a Long shot. The image has a brown tone to it. This could symbolise the age of the hall they are in and how ballet is an ancient art form. At this point there is still no music just the chatting and feet rubbing sounds. The words “Summit Entertainment Presents” fade in the same speed as the image did. The text is of a classic style and white.
After the text fades the next scene fades in faster than the first scene into view. The scene looks to be set in a boat yard or queue as the audience can see some kind of source of water in the background. The image is a lot darker the first scene and is almost a purple tone and once again on a long shot. There is still no music at this time all you can hear is the subjects in the scene yelling and greeting each other. The Subjects are wearing dark clothing and most of them have their hoods up. Portraying the stereotypical portrait of youths living in cities and built up areas. This is a huge contrast to the ballerinas in the first scene. More titles fade in within this scene.
The imagery then once again fades back to the ballerinas; however the camera is now a slighter close up however still a Long Shot with the ballerina Head to Knees within the frames. The audience can still only hear Digenetic sound of chatting. I believe this is done so the audience can forces upon the huge difference in people within the two scenes and how different the two groups are.
This scene is a lot shorter than the two pervious and now flashes back to ‘The Streets’ the imagery is still of a dark purple tone. Into the same slightly zoomed in Long shot.
This is when the title music final begins. At this point the subject starts dancing. The opening of music is a set of string based instruments with a strong beat. The Film Title ‘Step UP’ appears and the letters individual twists much like a dance movement. The scene then fades back to the ballet scene with the title ‘Step Up’ still in the middle of the scene.

The music suddenly gets stronger and the dance moves of the subjects also get stronger and faster. Though out the next part the scene flick between the Ballet and Street scene both in the same original colour as the images start. The camera movement include Long Shots, Slightly zoomed in Long Shots and the camera also tracks the movement of dancers. Creating a smooth movement following the Subject. I believe this is done to really entersize the beauty and movement of the dancing.
Within this group of scenes the first name of the actor appears in the Bottom right hand corner of the frames in the same style text as all the other titles. Within the stronger Dance scenes they are also lots of close ups of the dancers feet.

An important factor of the opening of Step Up is that the lighting allows the audience to not be able to see the subject’s faces. I believe this is done to the dancers are also an army of their dance form. For example to audience can relate to either group.

Miser-en-scene
Ballerinas – Light cream tones leotard and silk warm up skirts. Most of them have Pointe Shoes on, all of them have they hair tied up in a smooth bun
Street Dancers – Lots of heavy clothing, which include lots of layers. Many have hoods up or baseball caps on. The females of the group have their hair down and free

Main Task Rough OutLine

From my thought web I have now produced two rough ideas from my main task.

Idea One
A Girl is waiting for an auditions in a hall way. A Few dancers past by talking however the girl carries on fixing her ribbons upon her dance shoes ( Pointe shoes ). The girl wasn't always as well off as she currently appears, Flashbacks of her youth appear ; a young child is creating a scarp book of dancers and studying the pages. The young girl appears in old looking clothes showing her families lack of money and is sat on her own. The next scene then returns to the girl at her current older age she enters the audition room and performs a short Pointe piece and the end shot is for the Young Girls pleased Face.

Idea Two
A Girl is practicing in a dance studio she keeps stumbling and gets more and more worked up each time she stumbles, However she finally gets the moves correct and performs a lyrical mixed Pointe dance. Her voice is heard over the top of the scene explaining her life from child to dancer and about a up and coming break into stardom which she needs.


I have decided to combine both idea as there are very many vaious points i like within each idea. Therefore combaining the two ideas will ensure my main task piece is the best as possible.

Main Task Though Web



I have chosen to create a opening to a film within the Dance Genre. To map out my thoughts and inspire ideas for my piece I have created a thought web which has Incorporated everything I associate with this genre.



Main Task Outline

The task is to create the titles and opening of a new fiction film . The piece needs to last a maxi um of two minutes and must also be original. I also need to ensure I do not break any copyright laws throughout my piece. Any music used needs to have approval from the record label or have been composed by myself.