Dorset Street Location Research

This is one of the potential locations for our film trailer of Blind Mans Buff. We have decided to do a video of the location because it shows a more in depth view of the location and we can explain why certain aspects of the location would either be ideal for our film or if they are not useful for our film. 

This location creates a Victorian atmosphere.  The reason for this is the bars over the windows and the fences with spikes on them.  They would be very good for our film because we can use them for our victorian theme.  Although there are other problems with the location.  There are multiple occasions were you can see bins, air conditioning units and cars.  These were not around during the Victorian time and therefore would create continuity errors in our film.  the road itself looks victorian.  There are cobbled stones and these were a common sight on victorian streets.  We could use this on a chase scene for example because if you see the cobbled streets then you will be able top relate them to the Victorian age.  The main problem with the location is that it is near busy streets, this means that there may be background noise that we may not want to feature in the film.  Noises such as cars driving past etc.

In conclusion i do not believe we will use this location.  The reason for this is that the negatives outweigh the positives and most of the positives in this scene are in other locations we have researched.

Mitre Square Location Research

This is one of the potential locations for our film trailer of Blind Mans Buff.  We have decided to do a video of the location because it shows a more in depth view of the location and we can explain why certain aspects of the location would either be ideal for our film or if they are not useful for our film.  This video that we have shot is from Mitre Square.  It shows the street and parts of it that may be useful to us and parts that are not.

The first seciton you see in this video is an staircase with a gate in front of it.  This could potentially work and be good for our film because with the right sound and lighting we would be able to create a scary atmosphere.  It could also represent a hiding place for one of our cast whether they were shown to be hiding from Jack the Ripper or whether they were Jack the Ripper themselves.  However they may be a continuity error if we use this.  As you can see in the short section of the filming there are a lot of colourful rubbish in the stairway.  These things would not have excisted at that time in history and this would therefore create a continuity error.  We obviously know that there may be continuity errors due to the locations we have chosen to film in and the fact that there have been massive changes since the 19th century in London however we want to try and reduce them as much as possible.  The next part of the filming shows a bench.  The bench appears to be old.  This is good because then it would be believable that a bench like this may have been around in the 19th century.  At the back of the bench there is a square of soil.  This could be useful to us.  However as you can see there is a street near the bench which has cars in.  When we go to film it is more then likely there will be similar cars there.  This limits us to either close up shots or mid range shots.  We will be unable to do long shots or establishing shots because the cars may be included and this is obviously not good for our film.  As you can see later in the filming Mitre square has been modernised since the time of Jack the Ripper.  There are now restaurants, roads and streets.  All of these things create continuity errors and will not have the same effect compared to somewhere where these continuity errors would not occour.

In conclusion we believe that this location may not be best suited for us.  The main reason for this is the massive amount of continuity errors that could occour whilst filming.  We may use it however we will not do extended filiming here and we will use other locations we have looked at.

Creation of the First Poster

We changed the colour of the background to red as it suggests the idea of blood, danger and possibly lust? 

We typed out the words "Jack", "1888" and the website "//406482.wix.com/blindmansbuff."- these words connote the idea of Jack the Ripper and readers may link it to this. the font we decided to use was Baskerville Old Face- this font has a blunt, Victorian look to it and may be the text they use on wanted posters. We made the text 200 for the two smaller words and the website in a smaller font of 30.

This was the poster of on Photoshop.

This is our almost finished project, all we have to do is add the website then is complete.

First Poster (the first of many...)

This is the first poster we have created for our film, its simplistic and gives away barely anything about it. Though very sparse it tells the reader the villains name, the fate it is set and a website to go to if they are interested. Though the poster is stark this interests the view of the poster and makes them curious of what this poster is advertising to advertise. This poster may be the type of advertising used on web sites and if clicked on it will link you the site mentioned on it.

Web Design Week Two

There have been vast improvements form last weeks website.  I have changed a great deal in terms of layout and information shown.  We have also created a mobile website for the film so that people can view the website when their on the go.  The URL for the website is http://m.wix.com/406482/blindmansbuff

This is the home page for our mobile website.  It has a simplistic and minimalist background with it being very plain with just black with white stripes.  this is a good connotation for our film because we want our film to be seen as being of a dark nature but also the white connotes a sense of achievement and in a sense a light at the end of the tunnel.  The Home page consists of a page about the film itself which is mainly a synthesis, a contact page where a fan can email us for example to find out more about the film, another information page about our blogs and release date etc and two social networking site which are twitter and facebook where a viewer can become a fan or follow the progression of our film.

This is the about page.  Its tells the viewer what the film is about.  It does this because this is the synopsis that we have used for our film.  It is not too wordy and is quite easy to read which is something we felt was essential becasue the majority of people who use mobile websites (teenagers and young adults) do not want to read a lot of text about something otherwise they may become bored.

The next page is a contact us page.  It includes different ways in which someone can contact the website about a particular thing they are interested in or if they want to know something about the film that is currently not on the website they can email or call us and find out about it.  We feel that this will benefit our mobile website because now if someone is interested they have the opportunity to contact us and find out more about the film.  this should make them more interested and this could spread the word about the film so that it can reach a wider audience which is something we are trying to achieve.

This page is similar to the information page.  It basically displays other websites where they can view more information about the film.  all of these websites are of our blogs which is a brilliant place to find out more information about the film.

Survey Research Analysis

Once we had sent out our surveys we looked at the results we were shown and we analysed them so that we can gain knowledge from them.  from the results we hope to improve our film.  We may be able to do this if we can identify a target audience we can aim our film at and see what they want in a trailer.

The first question we asked was if the people answering the survey is either female or male.  Te reason for this is that we can identify a certain demographic to aim at and from this demographic we can show what that particular gender wants.  Females are commonly stereotyped as wanting to watch "chick flicks" which generally include a romantic storyline with a handsome man in it.  On the other hand men are more commonly represented as wanting to see violent, fast paced films with swearing etc.  As you can see the main audience is males with 70% of the people answering being men.  This leads us to believe that more men will watch this film then women.  The second question asked the audience their age.  We found that most of the people who answered were between 11 and 20 years old.  This is consequently the target audience we will target.  This specific age group prefer to watch fast paced films and are not too worried about storyline.  If the audience were mainly 30 + then we would have to consider making the film have a more in depth story line that perhaps does not have as much action.

From the third question that asks whether or not people knew about steampunk.  The reason for this question is that we wanted to identify whether or not this was a popular or well known genre.  from our finding we can clearly see that it is not that well known.  This consequently means that if this film was presented to the general public we may have to target it at a more niche market who actually knew what steampunk was.  However from looking at the results we were surprised.  Most of our group did not know much about steampunk when we started our project and we feel that 30% is actually higher then we expected.  Therefore we could potentially release it to a major audience and our film could potentially be a innovative piece that makes the steampunk more popular in the modern film culture.  The fourth question we asked was asked to try and find out whether or not the people doing our survey had ever seen a film about Jack the Ripper.  We found that the majority of the people who answered had seen a film about Jack the Ripper however the results were very close.  This tells us that a film based around Jack the Ripper is not very common.  This is good for our film because our film will not be seen to be similar to another film which is something we are trying to achieve with our film because we want to be seen as having an original film.

The fifth question questions whether or not a film based around Jack the Ripper would interest the public. we found that 60% would find it interesting.  Obviously we would prefer to have a higher percentage but this is still a good section of the public that would like to see our film.  This proves that our decision to make a film about Jack the Ripper was a good decision as it will appeal to a majority of the public.  The sixth question asks whether or not a story set in the nineteenth century would interest you.  similar to question 5 the results suggested that they would be interested.  This is excellent for our film because it will appeal to a broad audience.  We feel that our decision to set our film in the nineteenth century and make the film about Jack the Ripper was a good decision and the data we received from our surveys backs up this hypothesis.

Question 7 asks whether the audience would prefer a fast paced trailer or a slower paced trailer that reveals more of the story line.  This is a very important question to ask because the majority of films gain advertising from their trailers as this is how most modern films advertised in the modern film era.  This therefore means that we need our trailer to be very good.  The results were very close however the majority say they prefer a faster paced trailer.  This means that when we are editing our film we will try to make it have a fast pace to the trailer.  The way we will do this is by either adding a fast background music that will make the film appear to be going at a faster pace.  We may also have scenes that are cut very short and change regularly.  If we use this then the film will appear to be fast paced.

Question 8 is relevant to us because we need to know if we should attempt to add special effects to our film.  A common convention of Hollywood films is to have spectacular special effects where as a independent film does not have as many special effects.  We found that an independent film is more popular choice then a hollywood film.  This therefore means we may not include that many special effects and we may attempt to make it more indie which is a convention of independent films.  Question  9 is very relevant top our film as we have decided to create a website for our film.  The research we got from this question shows a 50/50 split.  This is not ideal however even if only 50% of people who view the trailer visit the website then it is still a success and worth creating.

Most of the responses we received from this question showed the same thing.  The major thing that viewers want to be shown is based around the date of release and the cast.  The directors, editors etc is not as important as many people worried if this is not included.  With regards to the images shown the main response was aren't that they wanted to know a bit about the film and what the story entails but they also do not want too much to be given away as they want to be kept on edge.  This is better for us because if we execute a cliff hanger correctly then this may lead to more people wanting to see the finished film if we were to actually create it

Creating our Production Logo

This week we have been creating our production logo for our trailer, a few tweaks were made to our name, such as changing "Supernova Productions" to "Euphoria Pictures"; this is due to our teacher advising us that sparklers do not give the effect of space and black holes.... So Joe thought that Euphoria may be a good title due to sparklers link to childhood and the "pure euphoria" of innocent play.

This is the document on live type, we decided to make the length of the logo around 7 seconds so that it was long enough to cut it and do whatever else we need to.

This is text we decided to use. We thought that the use of the text blue prints was a good choose as the graphic colours itself in while it is being shown on screen. This implies childhood and youth.

Due to the colours on the image we had to find the perfect colour for the text, we need it needed be obvious against the bright garish background. We choose blue as it was completely different to the black, whites and yellows in the photo.

 

Our Production Logo!

Production Logo from Evie Anderson on Vimeo.

This is our production logo for our trailer, the quality on the Vimeo website is not too great but you get the idea of what we are trying to create. There were slight issues with the colour to use for the text due to the typical colours I would think to use (black and white), were in the photo we are using so would blend in easily. The effect used on the text was called Blueprints, which looks like the letters are being formed and coloured in, I thought this looked a bit like some a child would do, so linked to the idea of happiness and euphoria.

Here Comes the Boom Website Research

The second website we looked at is the website for the film Here Comes the Boom

This is the first page when you go onto the website.  Like the Skyfall website you see the main character take up the middle of the page.  the lighting around him puts emphasis on him by only illuminating his face and having the outer parts of the page black.  The main character is played by Kevin Hart, a well known Hollywood actor that has starred in films such as Mall Cop, Hitch, Grown Ups and Kings of Queens. This attracts people to want to see more of the site because if they know that he is a famous actor then they will believe that the film will be good.  Also on this page is a section where you can book tickets.  This is typical of Hollywood films who wan to make as much money as possible.  there is also advertisement in the bottom right hand corner.  This shows films that viewers may want to buy.  This is another classic example of a company trying to sell their items.  Also, 3 of the films include the main character in the middle of the page.  This tells people that may not know who the character on  the screen is who he is and that he is a famous actor because he is in multiple films.  Also, there is a lot of information on release dates and updates about the film.  This is information for the viewers to try and  tell them when the film is released so that they potentially go and see the film.

Once you have entered the website this is the page you go too.  This website differs to the Skyfall website.  The main difference is that for this website you scroll from left to right to see different information.  Unlike the Skyfall website where you have to change pages.  We will adopt the same template as Skyfall because we do not have the resources to emulate the Here Comes the Boom website.  As soon as you go onto this page you can see the synopsis.  This shows the viewer what the film is about.  This is important for a new film with no history because they need to display what the film is about quickly so that viewers do not get bored.  Unlike the Skyfall website which obviously has history.  Kevin James is in clear view when you go onto this page.  the reason for this is because  he is the main character.  He is also a famous actor.  |On the chalkboard you can see thefilm title here comes the boom.  It is all in capitals and this therefore makes it stand out.  It also has the release date for the film on it.  This is improtant because it displays to the viewers when the film is released.  The background of the webpage is very interesting.  It is a clear representation of a stereotypical American classroom, you can see this by the chalkboard. singular desks and the use of children in these seats.  This will appeal to American children (the target audience) becuase they may believe that potentially that this could happen to them.

When you scroll along you see this page.  You now see two more characters from the film.  One of them is Salma Hayek.  She is a famous actress who has starred in films such as Onca upon a time in Mexico.  She has a similar effect on the viewers as Kevin James where by it adds credentials to the film because they are well knwon actors and actresses.  Also on this page you see the Cast and crew list.  It incldes other famous names such as Adam Sandler and Henry Winkler.  These are also famous actors and actresses.  The school background is still on this page.  It adds to the feeling that a school is intergral to the storyline.

After continuing to scroll along the page you see this.  This is a page with Kevin James punching a boxing bag.  This represents the use of boxing or fighting within the film.  When compared to the school theme that you see in previous pages this is a complete contrast.  However it further explains what is included in the film.  Within the page the Title of the film is clearly displayed and is very easy to read. The reason for this is that it is trying to advertise the release date of the film to the viewers of this page. There is a downloads section in the page. This is a classic sign of convergence between different companies.  The aim for this convergence is to try and get people to download the images that are provided.  This will help the film because a younger generation (the target group for this film) heavily use social networking sites such as twitter and facebook.  Therefore they may decide to download these images.  The effect they have is that even when the viewer is not viewing the website they are taking in the advertisement from the website as they look at the images and see the film title.

James Bond Website Research

We have decided to make a website for our film trailer.  The reason for this is that it will be able to show a lot more information about the film that isn't in the trailer.  We have also seen that most of the films we have looked at all have a website and this therefore makes it a common convention.  This is therefore why we have decided to include it.

The first website we looked at is the website for the new James Bond movie, Skyfall
























This is the home page for the website.  There are a lot of interesting parts on the website.  The first thing i noticed was the picture of James Bond in the middle of the screen.  This dominates the page and draws the viewers eye.  This shows us that we will need to implement this into our website when we decide to make it.  The colour scheme that is used is very interesting.  There us a limited pallet used with only black, white, blue and grey being used.  These colours convey a serious tone to the website. This is the tone we would like to have in our film.  This mean we may implement a similar colour scheme to that of Skyfall.  Whilst you are on the home page you notice a slight background music being played.  This sounds like classic bond music and creates the atmosphere that has been created throughout all bond films of seriousness and also of stealth due to Bond being a spy.  On the homepage you don't actually see the name 'James Bond' mentioned at all.  However you do see the 007 sign under the title Skyfall.  this is clear brand recognition and it shows how powerful the James Bond franchise is because you do not even need to see the James Bond name to relate this film to the vast history of famous James Bond films  The website is very simplistic.  There is not a lot of information on one page and this makes everything easy to read and clear.  We will use this philosophy to display our information.  The release date of the film is clear to see.  The aim of this website is to give people information about the film and therefore the date is necessary.  On the front page there are links to Skyfall Videos, Half a century of Bond and New from the set.  All of these links offer information about the film to the viewers.  We will use this because we want to create a similar effect on the people who view our website.  The image in the centre of the screen is of James Bond.  This image changes after a few seconds to something else.  This shows a lot of information but uses a small amount of space. This makes the page condense which is good because then there are not countless pages that viewers have to go through.

This page shows the story of James Bond.  The purpose of this page is to describe what the film is about and the story behind the film.  Next to the story is the iconic image of Bond in the barrel of a gun.  This emphasizes the importance of Bond in the story.  We will include this in our website because it is simple to do and it shows the viewer what the film is actually about.  The transition from page to page is interesting.  It is a fluid motion to a different page.  Also the Movie title comes up on the screen.  This smooth transition creates the feeling that the website is very professional which is the effect the creators want to have on the viewers.  It also appears whenever you change page.

The next page is the gallery.  This includes many images form the filming of the film.  A lot of the pictures include James Bond.  The reason for this is because he is the centre of attention in the film because the film is about him.  Images of other famous actors are also included in the film.  Judi Dench's picture is seen at the beginning, she is an intrigue part of the James Bond Franchise playing M for many years.  This shows loyal fans that she is still in the film and will draw an audience because she is such a successful actress.  What is interesting is that most of the images show the characters is a serious stance.  This creates belief that the film is very serious and possibly a lot of drama.  When you scroll down you see images of the actors and actresses filming.  They are all smiling and appear to be having fun.  Therefore it shows the viewer the film is also fun to watch and that it is not completely serious.  We may include a gallery of shots from our film because it will, along with the trailer give an insight to the film and what is actually in the film.

This page displays the videos that have been filmed to display information about the making of the film.  The purpose of these videos is to show how certain aspects of Skyfall were filmed.  There are multiple pages all displaying different videos.  Interviews are also included in the videos.  These are intended for the fans of James Bond who may be interested in knowing how the actors/actresses felt when they were filming the specific scene.  As a group we feel this would be good for our website.  The reason for this is that it is very interactive and it will be able to show how the filming occurred.

In this page you see the extras for Skyfall.  The extras include a mosaic and a explore video.  The mosaic provides the viewer with an artistic interpretation of James Bond which some viewers may find entertaining.  However this will not be included into our website because we do not believe that it would fit our target audience.  The explore video shows the film trailer however an interactive quiz has been implemented into the trailer.  The purpose of this is to provide entertainment and a quiz for fans of the James Bond franchise.  We will not include this in our film because our film is a one off.  Therefore we would not have anything to quiz an audience on due to no previous films.

The last page I looked at on the Skyfall website was the downloads page.  On this page users are offered to download wallpapers, Facebook cover photos and Twitter skins.  These are interesting because Twitter and Facebook are both predominantly used by teenagers and young adults.  This makes you believe that the website is aimed at this age group.  This is possibly why there are a lot of videos and not a lot of writing because teenagers and young adults do not want to read a lot of information they would rather have the information displayed to them.

We have learnt a lot from the Skyfall website and we are now able to take certain aspects away from the film and try to implement them into our website when we create it for part of our practical piece of work for our A2 media studies study.  We have also seen certain aspects from the website that we will not include in our website for certain reasons that have already been explained.