Homework 9 part 2: My completed trailer storyboard

Homework 9 part 1: Selected scenes for my film's trailer

• Future city - establishes future world and other races.
• Prison and guards - shows oppression in city and the power guards have over civilians, establishes disruption.
• Joe punching guard - shows power Joe has in overpowering guards.
• Joe and Flor - establishes flor as a character and reveals origin of the voiceover. Introduces love interest. Gives hope for resolution.
• Joe and Flor in flying ship - demonstrates action in film. 
• Exploding building - demonstrates yet more action. 
• Axe - introduces villain, binary opposite.

Homework 8 part 2: Shotlist for my film's opening sequence

1. Helicopter pan across city. ES pan. City sound FX.
2. Camera zooms in to Joe chasing Axe. LS. City sounds and high pace music.
3. They run into the road. Joe shoots at Axe but misses. LS. City sounds gunshots high paced music.
4. Axe runs into road and this slows Joe down. He aims at Axe but his gun clicks. Crowd and high paced music.
5. Joe realises his gun is out of ammo and puts it away. MS. Gun clicks, high paced music.
6. Axe runs into abandoned building through broken window. LS. City sounds high paced music.
7. Joe follows. Camera zooms out to show building. LS. City, suspenseful riff.
8. Joe creeps along and peers through darkness. MS. Suspenseful music drips and echoes.
9. Joe turns on torch and looks around, sees contraptions. MS. Suspenseful music drips and echoes.
10. Axe is on a rafter, looks down on Joe. MS. Suspenseful music drips and echoes.
11. Axe pounces on Joe, Joe drops torch. LS. "AAH", Suspenseful music drips and echoes.
12. Axe gets out knife, pins Joe to floor. MS. Grunts, action music.
13. Axe about to cut Joe but Joe punches him. CU. Punch, action music.
14. Joe Punches Axe and they both fall backwards. LS. Punch, "AAH", action music.
15. They fall into cryogenics machine. MS, "AAH".
16. Machine shuts and screen says "3000 YRS". CU. Machine noises, abrupt action music.
17. Graphics of frozen body parts. Graphics: Christian Bale. CU. Electricity. Theme tune.
18. Graphics of frozen body parts. Graphics: Lawrence Fishburne. CU. Electricity. Theme tune.
19. Graphics of frozen body parts. Graphics: Scarlett Johansson. CU. Electricity. Theme tune. 
20. Graphics of frozen body parts. Graphics: Producer Christopher Nolan. CU. Electricity. Theme tune.
21. Graphics of frozen body parts. Graphics: Director Paul Greengrass. CU. Electricity. Theme tune.
22. Graphics of frozen Joe and Axe. MS. Electricity. Theme tune ending. 
23. Graphics: 3000 YRS. Abrupt noise.

Homework 8 part 1: Storyboard for my film's opening sequence

Homework 7: Iron Man 2 marketing research

One of the strong points of the marketing of Iron Man 2 is the brand tie-ins. The film collaborated with over 12 different brands, including Audi, Burger King and LG. This meant that you were bound to see a tie-in with some sort of brand that you like or know, building a trust and recognition with the audience. These tie-ins benefited both the film and the companies, as both subjects are being simultaneously advertised. Tie-ins included websites, adverts, branded products and competitions. This gives a vast variety of ways for the audience to interact with the film.

You cannot bring out a film these days without an accompanying website, and IM2 is not short of these. Among them are an LG microsite, an Audi microsite, a Royal Purple microsite, a Land O' Frost online game, a viral Stark Expo site, an Oracle microsite and an augmented reality app, as well as the film's main website. Unfortunately, as IM2  has come and gone, most of these websites have now been shut down. All these websites help the audience  really delve deep into the film and make them excited about the film, creating a hype.

Creating a hype in the lead up to a film is vital, and IM2 managed to do this well. By leaking small snippets  of information about the film before its release, audiences become intrigued, and want to learn more about the film. One way of doing this is through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where people associated with IM2 like Jon Favreau, the movie's director, write about creating the film and generate yet more interest. Initially, there was a single teaser poster, right, as well as a fake newspaper clipping, left. These were gradually followed up by various full trailers and posters, for example this interactive trailer, which I cannot embed for some reason.

As well as all this, there were various products made to market the release of IM2. The soundtrack was a fairly big part of this film, and to fit with this, Sony Music released an ACDC collectors box set, with IM posters and comics. There was also an official game released, which is fairly normal for the superhero genre. Following are also images of just a few of the products released in association with IM2; Dr Pepper limited edition cans, Burger King toys and Diesel Cologne.

I think the IM2 marketing was, if not that innovative, then still very effective. After all, over $100 000 was spent on the marketing of this film, and if that won't pay for effective marketing, then nothing will. The film's main focus was on a strong brand association, and I think this was achieved very well. I think the marketers had a pretty easy job to do, as whatever marketing they did, there would be a large fan base from the previous IM film, as well as IM comic book fans, ready to see the film no matter what. In the end, the film grossed $312,433,331, so I think it's safe to say that IM2's marketing strategy was very effective  

Homework 6: Moodboard to represent men and women in A-A films

I found it pretty easy to do the men's side of the mood board; A-A is a genre dominated by men, and the archetypal male character has not changed over the years. This character has become a solid A-A staple that will be hard to change. I found the women's side much harder as women feature much less in the A-A genre. As I filled the page with images, I realised, unlike men's portrayal in A-A, the archetypal A-A woman has changed over time. She has changed from a helpless damsel in distress, who needs a man to save her, to someone equally as capable as the man, sometimes even more so. 

My Film's Iconography

There will be the typical iconography of a futuristic sci-fi world in my film; hovercraft, laser guns, alien races mixed in with humans etc. There will also be the usual A-A conventional iconography, with explosions, high speed chases and shoot outs. As the main character is a detective, he will be wearing the normal detective outfit, consisting of a long coat and a badge. He will also say the usual police phrases, like "freeze" and "the target has escaped". The film is set in an oppressive city, so there will be guard robots, and lots of cameras and monitoring devices floating around. The aliens will all speak lots of different new languages.

My Target Audience Profile

As the film features both a male and female protagonist, it would hopefully attract males and females. However, inevitably, as with all A-A films, more males will want to watch the film than females. This is because they feature explosions, fighting, and big vehicles. The presence of an attractive female star in the film would be another reason for males to want to see the film.

The age would be 15 - 40, as the film contains all the conventions of A-A that attracts a younger audience, while featuring the actor Laurence Fishburne, who would appeal to older audiences.

The very obvious sci-fi elements would attract fans of that genre, while also containing the normal plot that attracts a wider audience. In order to maintain a wider audience, the film would avoid alienating viewers less attracted to the sci-fi part of the film, by not going too deeply into any of the technology/scientific concepts of the setting, instead using the setting as a useful way to move the plot forward. The two main actors, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson would also attract fans of their films.

My Film's USP

The USP of my film is A-A in a future setting, featuring someone from our time period. This will help viewers empathise with the character, as he yearns for things we know and love, that other characters in the film will not understand. This has most famously been done in the cartoon series Futurama. The film portrays an oppressive society being set free, and has the unconventional love of a woman 3000 years older than the man. 

Homework 3: My Film Pitch

Three Thousand Years

Joe Diamond: Christian Bale
Axe Mason: Lawrence Fishburne
Flor: Scarlett Johansson
Producer: Christopher Nolan
Director: Paul Greengrass

Genre: Action Adventure/ Sci Fi

Plot: Joe Diamond is a private detective, who has almost cracked a case he has long been working on against crime lord Axe Mason. The film starts with Joe fighting in a final chase and showdown. The chase leads to an abandoned cryogenics building, where they fight and both accidentally fall into a cryogenic freezer, which automatically shuts them in.

Joe wakes up 3000 years into the future, to find that Axe is not in the machine anymore. The future world is a strange new place to Joe, with an oppressive, crime led dictator. Joe bumps into Flor, an orphaned product of this society who is living on the streets, and knows the ways of this city and helps Joe get around. Joe feels he must finish what he has started, and becomes determined to find Axe and finish him off. Axe quickly adapts to this new environment, and continues the life of crime he followed in the 21st century, developing a new underground gang and rising back to the top of the crime world, becoming its new king.

After lots of adventure, Joe finds Axe and kills him, restoring the city back to democracy. Joe marries Flor and lives happily with her in the new society.

Setting: The city will be grey and sooty, with lots of skyscrapers and factories. There will be hovercraft flying all over the city. Most of the life will consist underground where there will be many different races bustling together in a hive of activity. There will be lots of different languages spoken, and market places and food stands, selling lots of strange meats and stews.

Marketing Plan: Follow the usual A-A marketing plan, with teasers and then full posters, as well as a website following up to the film with blogs, clips etc. An action packed fast paced cinema and TV spot trailer.

Inspiration: Futurama, Total Recall, Robocop 2, Blade Runner

Homework 2: A-A NICS

Ferris Beuller's Day Off

Narrative

This film is different from most A-A films, as it doesn't particularly follow the three part structure of most. The equilibrium of Ferris going to school isn't really and equilibrium, as Ferris does not actually like this. He creates his own disruption by bunking off school, and his sister and headmaster both trying to prove that he has been bunking. There are then also many smaller problems, such as losing Cameron's father's Ferrari, and Ferris narrowly avoiding his own father. The build up to the resolution is in this clip, where Ferris races to get home before his parents, and then the resolution is Ferris being safe at home again.

Iconography

In the film, most of the iconography is based on pop culture from the decade the film was set and made in; the eighties. The music is mostly from the eighties, as well as the fashion and technology. There is also the iconography of the famous Ferrari featured in the film, of which only one-hundred were made. There are references to art when they visit an art museum, particularly with Cameron's fixation on a famous piece by George Seurat.

Characters

Ferris, the main character, is the glue that holds the movie together. He has a boyish charm, and strong charisma and wit, and could be seen as a role model (not necessarily in a good way) for other teenage boys. He also narrates the film with monologues that break the fourth wall. Cameron acts as Ferris's sidekick, and is reluctantly dragged around by Ferris. His nervous and eccentric character adds comedic value to the film. Ferris's girlfriend, Sloane, is a character that also attracts a more female target audience.  Ferris's sister and his headmaster act as the villains in the film, as they are the ones trying to foil his fun day off.

Settings

The film is set in Chicago, and has an urban feel, as all of the film takes place in the city. Ferris's boring suburban life could be seen as the reason behind his raucous behaviour. Some of the film takes place in a school setting, where the teachers in the school are made to seem 'square' and boring, making the audience root for Ferris, as they want him to show the dull teachers up.

Homework 1: Character and narrative analysis

The Other Guys

  

Characters

Princess: Sheila Gamble, wife of the hero, Allen.
Hero: Allen Gamble, the loser cop who gets picked on by all the others, but ends up solving the big case.
Villain: Sir David Ershon, multi-billionaire head of a corrupt organisation.
False hero: Terry Hoitz, Allen's cop partner, who isn't very nice to him, but they end up becoming friends.
Donor: Captain Gene Mauch, Terry and Allen's supervisor, who gives them the case to solve.

As with most comedies, in this film some of the conventional Hollywood characters are removed, and the narrative may be somewhat weaker in order to add more jokes.


Narrative

Equilibrium: At the beginning of the film, Allen is happy with sitting in the office completing paperwork, while Terry is bored and wants to get famous for being a good cop.

Disruption: Allen is convinced by the other cops to shoot his gun in the office, and as a punishment he is sent with Terry to do a menial job - check the permit of some scaffolding on a building. They discover that there is a bigger case behind this, and are subsequently sent on the case.

Resolution: The two eventually solve the case and arrest the villain, David. They realise they have become friends on their journey.