Poster Analysis - I Am Legend

   In this poster, we see Robert Neville (Will Smith) in the bottom center of the poster, along with his trusty companion Sam the German Sheapard. Their position within the poster indicates to the audience that they are the central characters within the movie. The background indicates to the reader that a catastrophic disaster has impacted the environment in which the character lives in. The discoloration of the sky also indicates that the world is not as it should be. The dilapidation of the bridge also indicates that some time has passed from the present day. In the poster there appears to be no other people, which could make the audience think that he is a survivor or the only person left in the world. The tagline for the film 'The Last Man On Earth Is Not Alone' indicates to the audience that there could be some sort of threat involved in the film, or some unknown presence that our main character is not aware of yet. The withered plants also make the audience believe that the world in which our character is in is dying. The whole desaturated look of the poster give the audience an overall feeling of emptyness and withering, that the man is alone on a dying and withered planet.

Poster Analysis - The Hunger Games

   This is the poster for The Hunger Games, the first film of the four part Hunger Games series.
   The audience are instantly drawn into this poster as the two main objects are the fiery Mockingjay pin, which is a very symbolic image throughout the Hunger Games series (This symbol is what fans would instantly recognize for The Hunger Games) and the second, protagonist Katniss Everdeen. She is also very recognizable by her iconic hairstyle, now known as the 'Katniss Braid'.

   The colours that appear most in this poster are red, black and orange. We can only see Katniss's back which could make the audience assume that she is a secretive and/or protective of her identity. Identity is a major theme throughout the first film. The lavish background represents the central city of the Capitol, the capital of Panem. The blackened sky looms over the Capitol, which could be a message of foreshadowing, which contrasts to the brightness of the Capitols lights and colours. This also makes the Mockingjay stand out more symbolically in the dark sky. We can see in the audience that the Capitols residents are dressed very differently than our main character, already creating a social and class divide between them.

Jennifer Lawrence In The Hunger Games

   Jennifer Lawrence is a 22 year old actress born in Kentucky, USA. For the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games, the widely acclaimed YA (young adult) series, she took a while to accept this offer. Many other actresses such as Saoirse Ronan, Abigail Breslin, Kaya Scodelario, Hailee Steinfeld, Chloe Grace Moretz, Emma Roberts and Shailene Woodley were considered for the role, but Lawrence ultimately won. Lawrence was 20 at the time, a bit older than the character. However, author Suzanne Collins said that the actress who plays Katniss has to have "a certain maturity and power" and said she would rather the actress be older than younger. Collins states that Lawrence was the "only one who truly captured the character I wrote in the book" and that she had "every essential quality necessary to play Katniss."Katniss has received mostly positive reviews. In a review for The Hunger Games, Stephen King said she was a "cool kid" with a "lame name," before adding, "once I got over her name...I got to like her a lot."
   Francisca Goldsmith in Booklist said, "Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents’ next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own.". Publishers Weekly says, "It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likeable."
    The Cleveland Plain Dealer stated in a review for Catching Fire that "Katniss in a pensive mood seems out of step with the kick-butt assassin," before adding that her loyalty and kindheartedness were enjoyed. John Green, in the New York Times, called Katniss a "memorably complex and fascinating heroine". Also in The New York Times, Katie Roiphe said that Katniss in Mockingjay was "a great character without being exactly likable. She is bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly", and commented that this is what makes many recent literature heroines likable. Entertainment Weekly compared Katniss to Bella Swan from the Twilight Saga and said that "unlike Twilight's passive, angsty Bella, Katniss is a self-possessed young woman who demonstrates equal parts compassion and fearlessness."

   Laura Miller of Salon.com finds Katniss too virtuous and without motivation, negatively contrasting Katniss to Bella of Twilight, saying, "In some ways, Katniss is more passive than Bella, allowed to have all kinds of goodies but only if she demonstrates her virtue by not really wanting them in the first place," and, "For all her irritating flaws, Bella, at least, has the courage of her desire. For what, besides a well-earned vengeance, does Katniss Everdeen truly hunger?" However, Miller did think that she was "in many respects an improvement on...Bella". However, The Daily Telegraph's David Gritten labelled her "a great role model for girls" who "has love interests, but doesn't mope passively over boys".
  In my personal opinion I believe that Jennifer Lawrence is a fantastic role model to teenagers and young women as she as a person promotes a good body image and a down to earth personality despite her dramatic rise in her career. She is often asked about her weight in interviews and has replied with...

"What are you going to do? Be hungry every single day to make people happy. That's just dumb"

 "Why do you want to discuss over my weight? I mean... it doesn't matter how much I weigh"

 "In Hollywood, I'm obese. I'm considered a fat actress. i eat like a caveman. Ill be the only actress that doesn't have anorexia rumors! I'm never going to starve myself for a part. I'm invincible. I don't want little girls to be like 'Oh I want to look like Katniss, so I'm going to skip dinner' "

Companies That Would Distribute Our Film

   I believe that Lionsgate would distribute our film as I think it is as suitable company. Lionsgate is an independent American entertainment company and has a range of films, but specialises in Horror, Thriller and action films. The company is famous for producing film series such as Saw and The Hunger Games. Lionsgate has many partner companies in which we could also distribute through, such as Momentum Pictures (which is a UK company).
 
 On the other hand, Colour Force, another small American company, which is owned by the producer of The Hunger Games, Nina Jacobsen, could be suitable for our film, but specializes in films that are from book adaptations, such as The Hunger Games and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. Although proving successful in independent films, this company may be suitable.

   Alternativly, Film4 could distribute our film. It is a renowned British film company that is famous for producing well acclaimed British films. Film4 produced How I Live Now which is one of the films that our film was inspired by. How I Live Now was also distributed by Momentum Pictures, which Lionsgate use regularly .                                                                                                                                                                                          

Sounds For Opening - Garage Band

   These are some of the sounds that I have found on Garage Band that I thought would be good for our film. Most of the sounds are dark and heavy, which goes hand in hand with our narrative. 

Soundtrack Analysis - The Hunger Games

   The score for The Hunger Games is what we are aiming for. The soundtrack is quite raw yet natural, including instruments such as guitars, violins and drums, but uses them in a way that the audience can connect to.

Moodboard

   In this moodboard/collage, I have used some dark and earthy colours. The whole mood of the film is quite dark, as is the the narrative of the film and I wanted to add in key points of the film into this moodboard. I have also added in four of the five title designs that we have made.

Title Design

   Here are some more title designs that we have all made. They all follow a simplistic outline and reflect the narrative. 

With this title, we thought that the mist/fog included worked well as in the opening we can clearly see the cloudiness of the characters mind. Also this reflects the opening environment. The title took inspiration from The Hunger Games.

This is the first of our designs (designed by Rosie Lines) to incorporate a photographed background. We thought that this was effective because it included more of the narrative in the title and was also visually appealing.

This is our second design that has incorporated a photographed image (taken by Fraiya Chandler). We thought that the bold capitalization of the title emphasized the narrative of the opening and it can be seen as quite hard hitting.

This is the same font used in the title design above. We thought we could experiment with this title and see what it would look like on its own. This title also took inspiration from the Children Of Men title.

Suspense

Suspense works carefully by feeding the audience with information, but always keeping something back. We need to keep a sense of enigma and leave a question with the audience. It is an emotional involvement of an audience with screen events which creates the thrill of expectation of something about to happen.

Filming Dates

   We have chosen to film our opening of our film on the 7th and 8th of December 2013. we think that we will achieve maximum effect and productivity for our film during this two day period.

Test Shots

   Here are some test shots that we filmed in October/November. As we have changed the location of our film, these will serve as inspiration for our current ideas.

Make Up - Testing

Here are some of the cuts and wounds that Laura Deverson has made for our film When We Wake. These will be used in the opening sequence and throughout the rest of the film. 

Character Costumes/Outfits

   These are the costumes/outfits that the characters in the film will be wearing. We wanted to keep the colours as natural and 'earthy' as possible. We needed the clothes for the film to be practical yet casual, as teenagers will be wearing them.

Title Designs

After looking at some titles for films similar to our genre, we have made this title. we looked 

(When We Wake)

We thought that the style of this title fitted well with the film. the use of the white 'ash' in the background of the title represents the fact that the teenagers within the film have survived a nuclear apocalypse, and ash would have been falling from the sky, almost like snow. We thought the font of the title was effective because the story-line is quite bold itself, which is why we used a bold and strong font, which also mirrors the characteristics of the characters. We also used the fade effects on the bold font as it looks out of focus, which also mirrors the state of Daisy within the opening sequence. It is faded, like her memories and cloudy, also like her memories, which also links with the theme of awakening. Here are some other film titles that linked with the genre and themes of our own film:

Prezi Presentation - Film Ideas/Brainstorms

Film Locations - Picture Slideshow

   Here are some picture that we have gathered from the locations that we wish to shoot in. Some of these locations may or may not be used for filming, but the locations serve as inspiration. 

Inspiration - Paramore 'Now' Music Video

   This video inspires the first scene of our film. In the video Hayley Williams is seen laying on the floor and smoke/fog is looming over her. This is what we want to try and recreate in our film when our character is lying on the floor unconscious. We will then draw inspiration from The Hunger Games for when she wakes.

Script Updates

   The script for the film has been completed and is currently undergoing small changes. The title for the film is now 'When We Wake'.

Script For Film - Updates

   We brainstormed ideas and came up with a rough story-line that I am currently writing the script for. The name of the film is currently undecided and we plan on making it a 15-30 minuet film, but only submit 2-3 minuets for the completed Media course. The plot will revolve around 5 characters; Daisy, Lucy, Sarah, Charlie and Joe, who have narrowly escaped a nuclear explosion.

Film Planning - Ideas & Inspiration

   My initial inspiration for this film was the films The Hunger Games, How I Live Now (to be released 4th October 2013) and a short film that I watched on the BBC Film Network called Coming Of Age.
   The basic storyline of our film focuses on a teenage girl who has awoken from an apocalypse and is lost. She is hallucinating and we see this by the distortion of the shots and focus of the camera. The weather conditions of the scene is foggy/misty to link with the cloudiness and confusion in her head, as she has been oblivious of what has happened before.

(The Hunger Games) 

(How I Live Now)

(Coming Of Age - BBC Film Network)

Here is the trailer for How I Live Now

Media Own Learning - Short Film Analysis

   In this blog post I will be analyzing two 3 minute extracts of the opening of films. The first film is featured on the BBC Film Network site and is called 'Coming Of Age'. It is about a teenage boy facing his own problems in a post-apocalyptic world.

COMING OF AGE

   I chose this film to analyse because I really like the genre of it. It is a post-apocalyptic drama about a teenage boy and his journey of survival after someone near to him (possibly a family relative) has died. I really love these types of films as it shows and depicts how humans live on after an global disaster and shows how they survive, which I think is a very interesting subject. I also think that these types of films and books are very important as it is a very real visualization of what could be in the future. I think this genre is widely becoming more popular among teenagers, literature and film as the audience of 'dystopia' grows.

Dystopia, an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one."

   Although there is little dialogue, the story-line is very clear. i think that the absence of the dialogue emphasizes the narrative and makes the audiences more focused and attentive on the story-line, as it is a very serious topic, which is probably why the director wanted no dialogue. The camera work also cleverly reflects the environmental state of the world and feel of the genre. Most of the camera-work is hand-held, which was commonly used in the extremely popular 'The Hunger Games' film, which is also of the same dystopian genre and theme.

   I also love the colours used in this film, they are all dark and gritty, which again reflects the events of what has happened. Mostly dark greens, browns and beige's are used in this film, which could link in with the theory of the world going back to a more natural state, and so do humans with their appearal (clothing is very earthy colours).

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00pb7wj

Lesson 1

   For the first lesson of Media Studies, we were asked to set up a blog and produce a post based on 4 films that we have researched into. These films are Avatar, Harry Potter (any one), The Kings Speech and Fishtank. We will be looking at the narrative, actors, directors, budget, production companys and locations used in each film.

1. AVATAR:

•  Narrative: A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
•  Actors: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi.
•  Directors: James Cameron
•  Budget: $237,000,000
• Gross Income: $2,782,275,172
•  Production Company: 20th Century Fox
•  Locations Used: Hawaii, California USA, New Zealand

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2

• Narrative: Harry, Ron and Hermione search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord.
• Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Evanna Lynch, Bonnie Wright, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Ralph Finnes
• Directors: David Yates
• Budget: $125,000,000
• Gross Income: $1,341,511,219
• Production Company: Warner Brothers
• Locations Used: Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK  
  
  

  Leavesden Studios, Leavesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

  Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
St. Pancras Station, St. Pancras, London, England, UK

3. THE KINGS SPEECH:

• Narrative: The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
• Actors: Colin Firth, Geoffoery Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter
• Directors: Tom Hooper
• Budget: $15,000,000
• Gross Income: $414,211,549
• Production Company: Momentum Pictures
• Locations Used: Buckinghamshire, Windsor, London

4. FISHTANK:

• Narrative: Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
• Actors: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender,
• Directors: Andrea Arnold
• Budget: $3,000,000
• Gross Income: $2,357,852
• Production Comapny: BBC Films
• Locations Used: London, Essex