Consideration of representation (Planning)

International

Representation Of Stereotypes

In an Action/Spy genre films Men are normally portrayed as the protagonist due to the stereotypes that represents them as independent, muscular and dominant therefore giving them more prevalence in the films than the female characters. However our trailer undermines the stereotypical male action hero, as our protagonist is a strong, intelligent and fearless woman who tries to get revenge by herself, subverting the “damsel in distress” characteristics.

The antagonists in an Action genre are usually males who give off a mysterious aura because their identity isn’t revealed; we will use this effect for the beginning of our trailer. The twins “Kingsley Brothers” connotes evil and will be represented as the stereotypical villains who have committed a crime which then has an impact on the protagonist. Due to their first impression the audience will be notified about their role in the film.

Planning update - Locations

International

Update on Locations

This is an update of the locations we want to use and the collection of shots we hope to shoot at all of the locations, by having everything organised and clearly written out if should help us when we are on location to get all the shots and not have to spend valuable time trying to remember what we're supposed to be doing.

Locations:

• Washington
• NYC
• London
• Shot of Kingsley brothers getting into car (back alley – safe, good lighting, easy exit, phone signal for police)
• Airport?
• Running after train (Southbank)
• Train station - Epsom
• Them at a party?
• Miller researching (Clarks café/
• Colleagues explaining brothers are back
• Bump into him down street – drive off
• Prepare weapons, Briefcase from under bed
• Holding Rashmi at gun point (collecting money)
• Graveyard
• Taking pills
• Angry at people
• Throwing stuff
• Fight with someone
• Car park
• Flashback

Filming dates:

27/10/15 – 11am – back up shots in front of St Pauls, shots of them getting into car (alley), Phone call, step outside, running down Southbank, they get on train, me trying to catch them, train leaves, hit wall, bump into him down the street – drive off,  graveyard, fight with someone, car park, holding Rashmi at gunpoint,

After school one day – garage scenes (beaten up), researching media, taking pills and throwing things, gun being shot (scream)

Café scenes – reading newspapers, meeting with colleagues

Car park – racing up to top/stand off

Shots of America – establishing shots, Lincoln memorial, picking up package, looking at pictures                                       

Script (Planning)

International

Script

Establishing shot of Washington, long shot of Lincoln memorial, cut to shot of Miller walking and sitting down on the steps out the front of the Lincoln memorial, match on action of her looking at her phone reading an article about the Kingsley brothers who are on trial for murder. She places her phone down whilst looking out to the horizon - finally has there been some justice? Her phone rings, its her friend

A.M: hi (low angle shot just phone and part of the face)

F: have you heard?

A.M: (looking confused, fearing the worst) what, no why

F: (interrupting) they got out. (cut to shot of them getting into car) 5 witnesses, finger prints on the murder weapon (shot of murder weapon, gun going off), hair found on the bodies (shot of them walking away pull focus onto hair on top of dead body)...and they walk free

A.M: (MS put face in hand, trying to conserve anger, exhales)

F: and a report just came in,(flicking through report - pick up photo) same style, same weapon, same marks of their hands - they've killed again

A.M: (distraught) 

F: Mccolin is in New York waiting (stands up angry, marches off), he anticipated this news and he has something for you

Cut to NYC establishing shot, shot of A.M picking up package from Mccolin, open it up and see pictures of twins meeting with a lawyer - the person who has helped them manipulate the system, also pictures of them murdering a man (the piece of evidence that went missing from their trial) - too good to be true. On plane - looking at picture of mother, finally there might be justice, plane landing, establishing shot of London, cut to inside shot of boat party, phone rings Miller steps outside to answer

A.M: agent miller

F: they're there. they're at the party (shots of party, chaos)

A.M: (looks around quickly phone still to her ear, panicked, eager to catch them)

F: we've been tracking them since they were released, they were spotted leaving the building a few minutes ago

A.M: (still looking around POV shot) okay 

F: they were seen heading north up South-bank a few minutes ago - heading towards Waterloo, if they get on that train we lose them

A.M: shit (hangs up phone starts to run down South-bank after them)

Shots of them walking casually down South-bank (low angle shot of their feet) cut to fast paced shots of Miller running, dodging past people trying to catch them, shot of them arriving at Waterloo walking through, Miller not far behind, shot of them getting on train, Miller running onto platform just as train leaves, shot of train leaving, Miller out of breath hits wall out of frustration 

*change in music* shots of Miller researching previous cases, flashbacks of person beaten up, Miller drinking, flicking through sheets, typing. 

F: 68 cases, over 227 murders over the course of 18 years and the number of successful convictions - none. (SRS Miller and F sat in cafe/office/train) This isn't just about your family - they've murdered in Philadelphia, Sydney, Cardiff - they're killing on an international level.

Cut to establishing shot of MI6 building

A.M: look at these, this is what we've been waiting for, this is good evidence

B: have you not seen the news? It's good but...(shakes head, looks speechless) it'll never be enough

A.M: (angry, kicks something over as she leaves) 

Out on the street bumps into one of the twins (flashback of shooting, gun going off) realise who he is, see's him again follows him, he meets with his brother, she spies on them from behind a wall, they drive off and see her in rear view mirror, try to follow them but lose them, angry, decides to take justice into her own hands

At home she pulls out a briefcase from underneath a bed and pulls out her gun, clears it and places bullets down on the table, walking down the street see shes holding a gun, pan up to her face as she holds Lawyer at gunpoint, cut to shots of lawyer picking up large sums of money from the twins

A.M: how did you do it? how did you manipulate the jurors? 

Down back alley ends up fighting with someone, seen sneaking into building to find files

F: Miller, you need to stop...you're not well

Looking at picture of Mum, seen visiting grave, unwell – obsessed with the case, taking pills, stressed, being shot at, angry at everyone, throwing stuff, throwing paper of table, fight with someone, Miller racing in her car 

A.M: (dialogue over the top of montage) I cant, I need justice

Diary of filming - 21/10/15

Date: 21/10/15
Location: House/Garage
Cast: Chloe Hicks/Amy knight standing in for Cottee brother

After School today we went to my sisters house in Fetcham to shoot some interior scenes in the house of Agent Miller researching and some garage scenes showing someone getting beaten up which we will use as part of the flashback. We got most of the desired shots and played around a bit with camera angles as we had some extra time, we hoped to get some shots of a fight sequence outside the house but the camera died on us and we realised it might be better to shoot this elsewhere to add variety to the trailer.

Layout of trailers

International

Layouts of trailers

Although I have analysed over 15 trailers, something which I didn't focus enough on was editing and therefore before finalising the layout of our trailer I thought it would be good to research the brief layout of other trailers of successful action films.

Spectre - setting scene, comedy line, iconic soundtrack kicks in over titles (0:19 - 0:22) 2 production titles then establishing shot London, clips of bond, dialogue over the top - re-establishing bond

another establishing shot at 0:42 (new location) 0:50 another establishing shot - new fancy location

montage until 1;17 then setting scene more, music dies down around 1;30, 1;45 montage until end then film titles

Hitman: agent 47 - inside building no establishing shot, see characters head, titles (0:11 - 0:14) 1 production title, setting scene, montage starts 0:52 - 1;10, 1st establishing shot 1:03, dialogue over montage setting scene more,2nd establishing shot 1:49, final montage, impressive cgi scene to end 10 seconds long then film titles

Taken - titles to start (0:05 - 0:08) 2 production titles, setting scene until 0:22, things turn for the worst, 0:50 girl been taken, slow montage begins building in pace with dramatic monologue over the top, finishes 1:36 film titles at 1:40 then actors names listed, heavy breathing in background - date for film

Gangster Squad - establishing shot, antagonist, montage, titles at (0:24 - 0:26) 2 production titles, low pitch music begins, more shots of antagonist, pretty girl seen, shooting, 'good' team established, montage of guns, good guys, fights, 1st tagline (1:12), love interest, more violence, change in music, montage, "not anymore" 2nd tagline (1:36) date, explosions, love interest, antagonist, shootings, gun shot in time with music beats, 3rd tagline (1:51), car chase, explosion, 4th tagline (1:54), violence, montage, actors names, date

Taking lives - setting scene up to 0:15, 2 production titles, introduced to protagonist

From this research I have found that most trailers start with an establishing shot - something we plan to begin our trailer with as it helps in setting the scene and is a clear signpost for where the character is in the world. Montage's are also key with trailers including 2-3 fast paced montages of action shots including shootings, explosions, fights e.c.t. Something which surprised me was that in 2 out of the 5 trailers the actors names were listed individually near the end matched with shots of the actors in the movie, this may only be when the actors are part of the unique selling point of the film so we will probably not include this in our trailer. There are also changes in music to signify a change in pace in the trailer whether its switching from dramatic scene to back story or vice versa and is something we expect to use in our film trailer. 

Film treatment (planning)

International

Film Brief

Miller is a great agent working in America and although she has closed many cases in her career she is still haunted by her childhood memories of her mother being killed and herself being left for dead after a run in with the Kingsley brothers when she was only 8 years old  – she has a personal vendetta against them for what they did to her family and was happy to see them arrested and set to go to jail for the rest of their lives a few months previously. After closing yet another case in Washington she is forced to return home to the UK as she hears the news of their release as they managed to manipulate the jury to free them. She must pick up a package from NYC that will secure there demise before going back to London to find them and bring them to justice. Her mission may not be as straight forward as other cases though as these two brothers know how to work the system, after loosing them several times and with her evidence shunned by her boss she decides to take justice into her own hands. Researching deeper into their past she finds she's not the only family who has suffered at the hands of the brothers and this cases is bigger and more complex than anything she could have ever imagined - murders have happened all over the country, but more than that they occurred on an international scale. In trying to bring these two brothers to justice Miller discovers the death toll lies in the hundreds but what links all these murders together? As the stress of this case hits home and the people she once thought she could trust turn against her she realises she will have to put everything on the line if shes to have any chance of bringing these international killers to justice.

Moodboard (planning)

International

Mood-board

This mood board displays all the stereotypical conventions of an action film. The typical Mafia/ gangs who cause the masculine, attractive main man trouble, but due to his very skilled past in fighting he will always come out on top. His attractive love interest either converts to stereotypes and is portrayed as weak and vulnerable and needed to be saved, or the women can subvert and be equally as lethal as the man main. Both antagonists and protagonists have guns although the protagonist only uses it for the greater good, and kills bad people whereas antagonists use their weapons in a destructive and ruthless way, resulting in many deaths and heart ache. Typically in action films explosions, mass amounts of money, drugs and car chases are used all to create excitement and keep the audience interested. Generally based in a recognisable setting, such as a busy city. Finally the Police or FBI tend to get involved but never seem to be able to create justice compared to the main man.

Diary of filming - 15/10/15

Filming Diary

Interview with actors

Date: 15/10/15
Location: X3 study room
Cast: Matt & Billy Cottee

Today we filmed the interview with our actors asking them about their roles in the film, what sort of action films they like e.c.t and getting a general idea about the people playing the characters and what role they play in the trailer. We tried to use rule of thirds and place them in more interesting places within the frame (trying to replicate professional standards).

Diary of filming - 13/07/15

Film Diary

London - establishing shots

Date:13/07/15
Location:London
Cast: N/A - we mainly took establishing shots of the surroundings as we felt it would be too hard and too loud to get shots of our lead

We got several shots we needed of London looking visually stunning at night and we were also able to shoot a few long shots of the party which is good as this was a one time opportunity with the next social not until Christmas it would have been a push to get those shots edited on time and as there is unlikely to be an upstairs we wouldn't have been able to get the expensive crane like shots. We were unable to get shots of characters at the train station but this isn't an issue as we can simply shoot them another day when we go up to London to shoot other footage.

Film Trailer planning notes

Certificate: 15

Release date: Summer 2016

Film name: International

Cast:

• Matt Cottee {Kingsley brother 1}
• Billy Cottee {Kingsley brother 2}
• Chloe Hicks {Agent Miller}
• Amy Knight

Key scenes:

• Chase up to rooftop
• Ending – punch
• Drops picture of loved one
• St Pauls through two buildings
• Phone ringing (close up)
• Mi5 building
• Shots of Miller driving
• Walk across screen – shot changes
• Blood on her hands

Films to take inspiration from:

• Lara croft
• Hunger games – Katniss
• Divergent series – Tris
• Wanted (teacher)
• Mr and Mrs Smith – female spy
• Taking lives (FBI agent)
• In the blood – fights to find husband
• Untraceable – FBI agent (more of a drama)

Trailer Planning

Making our trailer

What to include

Since the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, clips are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and usually without producing spoilers. For this purpose the scenes are not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the film. A trailer has to achieve that in less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the maximum length allowed by the MPAA. Each studio or distributor is allowed to exceed this time limit once a year, if they feel it is necessary for a particular film. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(promotion))

How to make a great trailer:

The key ambition in trailer-making is to impart an intriguing story that gets film audiences emotionally involved, most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a feature-length film. 

• They start with a beginning (act 1) that lays out the premise of the story. 
• The middle (act 2) drives the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. 
• Act 3 usually features a strong piece of "signature music" (either a recognizable song or a powerful, sweeping orchestral piece). This last act often consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film and may also contain a cast run if there are noteworthy stars that could help sell the movie.

Key parts:
Music - helps set the tone and mood of the trailer. Usually the music used in the trailer is not from the film itself (the film score may not have been composed yet). Popular or well-known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric or lack thereof, or recognisability. Popular music may be selected for its tone (i.e. hard rock for an action film, lighter pop for a romantic comedy), or to establish context (e.g. the trailer for a film set in the 1940s might use big band swing). Alternatively there may be specially composed music which features in films such as Star wars, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Ghost and The Matrix.

Cast run - (a list of the stars that appear in the movie). If the director or producer is well-known or has made other popular movies, they often warrant a mention as well. Most trailers conclude with a billing block, which is a list of the principal cast and crew. It is the same list that appears on posters and print publicity materials, and also usually appears on-screen at the beginning (or end) of the movie. Studio production logos are usually featured near the beginning of the trailer. Often there will be logos for both the production company and distributor of the film.

Editing - a fast montage (especially if it includes explosions, car chases, girls, shoot outs) is always good and raises suspense and adds more action, also dramatic pauses in action trailers are a must have as well as dramatic pulses in the music.

Initial Planning (names)

Initial Ideas

Choosing a name

One of the most important things to decide when making a film is the name, this is the one thing that the audience will see on every poster and magazine, the one thing you want people to remember so they can tell others about the film. 'Avatar' and 'Titanic' are two short, cleat titles that accompany very successful films, the only exception to this rule is with films in a franchise, e.g harry potter..., hunger games..., lord of the rings... e.c.t where the audience has been established so they can remember the title better. Bearing this in mind we thought one or two word titles would be best and some ideas we came up with were:

- International

- Bad blood

- Justice

- Brothers

In the end we decided to go for International as we felt it made the film sound more expensive and more interesting, international implies it's something global and therefore will have multiple settings in multiple countries suggesting it has a big budget. Also we didn't want bad blood as the Taylor Swift song is immediately what people think off, Justice was good but sounded more like a a drama than an action and brothers put too much focus on the antagonists who have less dominance in the film than the protagonist who we want audiences to focus more on.

Initial Planning (music)

Initial ideas

Music research

We were able to find royalty free music which suited the action genre at http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/ ; there were numerous music clips we were able to choose from. We shortened the clips on https://mp3cut.net/ as we only needed certain parts for our trailer. 

• Volatile Reaction & Movement Proposition: Features blasting bass and percussion which is suitable for fights or chase scenes because it reflects the intense and aggressive actions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFccanl49Ts & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVDpmPh7GM
• Black Vortex: It’s an orchestral piece; it begins slowly however the pace builds up into fast and pounding melody. https://youtu.be/cMi9NIzdfFk
• The Complex: This piece is mechanistic and electronic which starts off loud, building up a powerful and mysterious feel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLd-inVgFaM
• Full On: Includes little sections of soaring French horns which could fit into a spy genre because the pace gradually speeds up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9lUw2D9MQ
• Junkyard Tribe: The pace accelerates with hits and electronic percussion however there is no melodies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8TwEDctFiE&spfreload=10
• Cut and Run: It’s a modern club music that we thought would go well with the party scene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1mVzSlddPo

Initial Planning (mind-map)

Initial ideas

Mind map

Initial Planning (Plot)

 Initial planning

Mind-mapping ideas

 (storyboard initial ideas)

 (Mind-mapping ideas for plot of film, casting, locations, film names ect)

We were pleased with our first planning meeting as we felt we made good ground and established a fair amount of things about our film. 

We now have some film name possibilities along with, more importantly, the beginning of an outline for our plot as well as an idea for who we will cast and a variety of ideas for locations.

Initial problems we found were that the plot needed to be complex enough to engage and maintain viewers attention but with lack of acting skills the dialogue is likely to feel fake and forced which is something we will have to work on solving, also timing is an issue as we don't have long to shoot all the necessary footage as it's hard to find times when we will all be available and also locations - although we wish to film in America we need to have a back up plan for if we are unavailable to shoot the desired scenes.

Diary of planning - 02/10/15

Filming Diary

Securing our actors

Date: 02/10/15
Location: S18 - media room at sixth form
Cast: Matt & Billy (agreeing to take part in our trailer)
Today we drew up our initial plans but more importantly we managed to secure our two protagonists and have them agree to take part in our film - this helps us moving forward as we now know who the 'bad guys' are in our film and can begin to structure the plot partially around them.

The two twins are Matt and Billy Cottee who are fellow students in our media class, they conform to conventions of action villains as they will be wealthy and we will have them dressed smartly (suits e.c.t) and as they are identical twins we are putting a genetic-scifi spin on things.

Research and Planning Targets

Chloe - you are definitely on your way to continuing success in your portfolio this year, well done!  Aim to annotate some texts to signpost your analysis before you look towards your planning of final production tasks. 

Analyse the following focuses:  Mise en scene, Sound, Camera, Editing, Genre Indictors, Enigmas, Narrative and Characters, Unique Selling Points, Representation, Trailer Conventions and how the  target Audience is Addressed, Comparison to Other Trailers of the same Genre.