Researching the Film Industry

Researching the Film Industry

Production:

Production companies are in charge of the overall filming process and funding of a film, production companies will go through several stages of production when creating a film. These are:

      Pre-production: these is when the company will hire the cast and crew, scout locations for filming, hire people to design and create sets and acquire permits and licences necessary for filming in certain locations. This is normally done by a small internal crew consisting mainly of the producer, director, and casting director, this is done to avoid any information leaks about the film.
      Principal photography: this is when the main filming begins; most of the filming during this stage is done in secure studios with occasional scene done in public when necessary.

      Post-production: this is the final stage of production handled by the production company and includes editing, the composing of the music and the visual effects are added

After all this is finished the film is then handed over to the marketing and distribution companies.

Examples of production companies include:

      Warner Brothers Pictures

      Universal Pictures

      DNA Films

      Columbia Pictures Corporation
 

 

Matthew Vaughn:

Matthew Vaughn is producer who has worked on a couple of films that fit into the same genre of film that my group is working on. Early in his career he mainly worked on British gangster films working with directors such as Guy Ritchie, some of the films he has worked on include “Lock, Stock and two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch. Therefore he would be a good person to dierct our film.

Distribution:

After the production company has finished making the film it is then passed on to the distribution company. The primary roles of the distributor involves setting the release date for the film, and choosing if the film will go to theatrical release, straight to DVD or shown as a television movie. They are also in charge of getting the film shown in theatres.

Some examples of distribution companies include:

      Universal Pictures

      20^th Century Fox

      Warner Brothers Pictures

      Touchstone Pictures
 

For our film we would have to look at a distribution company that is experienced with distributing films that fall into the heist film genre. One suitable company would be Universal Pictures because they have worked with films such as “Inside Man” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” which were quite successful at release. Another film distribution company that would be suitable would be Warner Brothers Pictures who work with the films “Ocean’s Eleven” and “Ocean’s Twelve”.

 

Marketing:

Posters:

Posters are an effective way of marketing films because they can be placed in a variety of locations such as on the side of a bus or on billboards. A lot of films use posters because they’re cheap to make and can give people an idea of what the film is about in a single image.

 

Magazines:

Magazines are an effective way of marketing a film because it introduces a already large audience to the film. In magazines films are normally shown on the front cover with an article inside with interviews and behind the scenes access with the cast.

 

Television/ Chat shows:

Actors and sometimes the Directors are asked to appear on chat shows for interviews this is very effective because these chat shows tend to have very large audiences.
 

Researching the Film Industry

Researching the Film Industry

Production

A production company is the most important job. They are responsible for the development and filming of a specific production or media broadcast.

They look over the script to see if it’s acceptable. Once a final script has been produced by the screenwriters they go to the 5 phases.

• Development-This is when the script is produced with the director.
• Pre-production- Actors and crew are hand picked by the producer, director, and casting director
• Production-it begins filming/
• Post production-It handles all the editing, musical score, visual effects and re-recording of the dialogue.
• Marketing-It’s also launched with the release of trailers and posters. Once a final film has been approved, the film is taken over by the distributors, who then release the film.

Some examples of production companies are:

-Warner Brothers Entertainment

- Lionsgate Entertainment

-Paramount Pictures

-Universal Pictures

The film industries creates many jobs which includes a director, a unit production manager, the studio executives, the assistant director, the casting director, the location manager, the director of photography, the director of audiography, the production sound mixer, the sound designer, the supervising sound editor, the sound designer/director of audiography, a composer, the production designer, an art director, a costume designer, a storyboard artist and a choreographer.

Jerry Weintraub

Jerry Weintraub is well known because he produced the film Ocean 11. This fits our genre because it has a very similar feel with what we want in our first two minutes. He has also filmed Happy New Year, The Karate Kid, National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation and The Karate Kid (2010 film).

Distribution

Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures and Lionsgate Entertainment are examples of film distribution companies. Their role is to release a film to the public and hopefully engages the audience to buy the DVD or see it in cinemas.

 I believe that our film could be distrubuted on the internet and later onto DVD, but mainly into cinemas as that it the most popular option.  An example for a distribution company that we could use would be Paramount pictures which distributed ‘The Italian Job’ which is an American remake of the 1969 British film of a team of thieves who plan to steal gold from a former associate who double-crossed them.

Examples of films and their distribution companies

The Bank Job

Produced by: Roger Donaldson

Distributed By: Lionsgate

Box Office: $64,822,796

Inception

Produced by: Warner Bros

Distributed By: Christopher Nolan

Box Office: $825,532,764

Inside Man

Produced By: Spike Lee

Distributed By: Universal

Box Office: $184,376,254 (Worldwide)

Marketing and Promotion

Magazine Covers- Magazine covers is a nice way to promote a movie by putting the main character up for a feature. This then will attracts the audience to see why they are at the front cover and to hopefully know what movie they’re going to be featured in.

Interviews- Actors appearing on a TV talk show to explain about the movies will encourage the audience to go see the movie itself to boost the ratings.

Animatic

We have turned our storyboard into an animatic in Final Cut Express to get a better idea of how it will look when we film and mostly to see if it is running to around the right time length. At the moment it seems to be running a little short. However, we have discovered from our previous planning that our initial ideas seem to overrun slightly, and we also think adding dialogue might make some shots run slower. We have started experimenting with Livetype to produce credits. What we have here is a rough idea of the placement of some of the credits, but we spent more time trying to find the right font / effect than worrying about placement as we feel we are quite sure of this on our storyboard.

Practice Filming

Here we have tried to film some scenes from the storyboard. We have not used the actual cast or locations, we have approximated these, but we have been trying to get a feel for how the piece will run. We are not happy with the scene of the boss in the office. We need to create a much more mysterious, enigmatic feel and this will probably work better if we move to an extreme close up and try to disguise the boss's identity a little. We have also been concerned about the shot where the camera slowly circles around the players in the poker game. We like the shot in theory, but because you have to move slowly to get a smooth shot there are also awkward gaps where the camera is moving but not showing anything of any significance. Moving it faster creates blurring. So we have planned an alternative shot to take as well just in case.

Researching our Genre - Heist Films

The Heist Genre

Heist films generally consist of a group of people plotting to steal from a bank or significant place of wealth. The place which they have chosen to rob usually is seen as impenetrable as we find out through characters' comments, so the heist is meant to be more interesting and suspense-filled because of this. These films usually involve some sort of prison exit (either released legally or illegally) and they also involve a group of people with specific talents to see the job through. The plot normally consists of the main character bringing the groups together, formulating the plot and acquiring suitable equipment and the actual execution of the heist/robbery. The heist tends to be successful but there will be a few problems upon the way and it will never go exactly to plan.

Typical characters in this genre:

•  The leader of the operation who has had the idea in the first place and who brings the group together. Clever and assertive, usually male.
• There would also be in the group a character who is an expert with technology and can ensure easy access to systems needed when the plan is in action.
• There is also the brawn which is obvious due to their build; they carry out tasks that involve intimidation, body guarding/protection.
• Tends to be a woman who is desirable. Used in the film to either distract or gain information underhandedly.
• There also tends to be someone in the group who has the funds to make sure the plan works.

Mise-en-scene:
 

This genre tends to be very elaborate in where it is set and where they plan the robbery. It is normally inner city, with wealthy residents. The place which they are going rob is places like large banks especially ones which are said to be secure and impenetrable, this would be where the technology genius comes it to play. The clothing that the characters wear tend to be smart or expensive looking showing their taste and also their liking for money, the characters are good looking and well kept especially the woman (if one is used) as looks account for a lot when you want to con someone, and the characters also need to look in keeping with the rich characters that they are trying to rob. 

Camera angles & movements:
 

Close ups are a major part of these films as they show the characters' emotions significant objects that we may need to remember for later on, and they help us establish important characters. There are also important match on action movements from one scene to another, for example someone bursting through a door and then a door opens up and it’s someone else who comes through it. This gives interesting cross cutting between scenes and keeps the audience on their toes. 

In these kind of films there are a lot of POV shots and over the shoulder shots as if you are going through what they are experiencing, this creates atmosphere of anticipation. Transitions between scenes are often smooth sliding onto screen.

Conventional use of sound:
 

There is a lot of use of non-diegetic music over parts of the heist/robbery the music is upbeat but also serious, this music when played represents it going to plan and sometimes it changes or stops when a problem arises. Also noises like keyboard typing or pin typing are exaggerated for effect in the film.  there can also be narration, and the audience can always hear any conversation that the characters have to each other through headsets/earpieces.

Public Enemy

http://youtu.be/Z3mwxKf3pko

- aerial shot to give sense of grandeur to scene
- does not comp[romise on violence
- low angle as jumps desk is almost a 'hero shot'
- diegetic sound suggests chaos we can't see
- stylised look - grand location, dark clothes
- close ups of eg keys

Tower Heist

http://youtu.be/WL5X05sOP-c

- shows how you can mix humour into genre
- lifts are classic heist locations
- audience is in on it - knows what will happen
- importance of casting - the right face

Snatch

http://youtu.be/7vWxU7tclsw

- starting mid action can be really effective
- classic location but unconventional grifters - unexpected choice
- unusual transitions and camera twists take you out of the action - distinctive editing style
- almost montage style editing
- classic close up of diamonds - iconography is traditional
- once in van (another classic location), reveal scene - also a stereotype
- music playing under this is jazz feel as often in heist films

Researching Chosen Genre

Research Powerpoint on slideshare:

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Pictures of where we will possibly film

I think this house would make a great location for a heist film: