Minute Meeting Notes

Lo x

Development of our Opening Sequence; Research Stage

After sitting down with our teacher Jason, he started guiding us in the right direction in terms of research. We made one mind map showing research into films which follow the same idea or based on the same class of people, and then we developed a mind map based on locations and props. Before making any finalised decisions we are going to create an emaze presentation which lays out all of our research in a simple way making it easier for us to sift through as a group and make final choices.

Lo x

How would we make money from our film?

Films production companies don't just make money from screenings through gross ticket sales, but also through merchandising such as DVD's, t-shirts, games, toys and theme park rides. Universal Studio's is well known for it's theme park in Orlando which includes many rides based on films, an example being 'Revenge of the Mummy' which is based on the epic 'The Mummy'.

Because Rich Kids is targeted at an older audience perhaps in terms of merchandising more money would be made from DVD's and a more mature board game or T-shirts. Streaming movies on websites such as Netflix would help not only make more money, but also reach out to a wider audience who perhaps don't go to the cinema or buy DVD's. It's important to remember that majority of young adults watch movies online nowadays. This could be because it's less hassle, easier to watch and easily accessible.

'A successful Hollywood film can make about $120m from the box office...

On top of that, it can generate about $60m from ancillary products, such as videos, DVDs and pay-per-view.' 

(source BBC article, Mr Gaydos; executive editor of industry publication Variety in London)

Lo x

Why would Universal Studios suit our film?

I think that Universal Studio's would be the perfect film production company to produce our film. It all leads back to my inspiration for Rich Kids, which stemmed from Riot Club; a film about wealthy young adults who go to Oxford university and are part of a society involving only 10 people. Here is a description of the film which was sourced from their website; www.theriotclub.co.uk

"Set amongst the privileged elite of Oxford University, The Riot Club follows Miles (Max Irons) and Alistair (Sam Claflin), two first year students determined to join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening."

Here is the trailer to the film:

I was mainly inspired by the idea of rich youth and how they don't realise that their actions have implications. This is an idea which is heavily embedded in our story and will be made apparent in the opening sequence as there will be shots showing the rich kids in their natural state surrounded by extreme wealth, and then contrasting clips of them being interrogated and (mildly) tortured.

I believe that our film would fit in perfectly with the extensive list of thrillers already produced, and because Universal Studios has such a wide range of audiences our film could appeal to both the younger youth and also adults. 

Lo x

About Universal Studios

Universal Studios is an American Film Studio which has been around for 102 years. It is considered to be one of the Hollywood's 'Big Six' film studios. To this day, three of their films achieved box-office records and became the highest-grossing films ever at the time of their initial releases; E.T, Jurassic Park and Jaws (all of which were directed by Steven Spielberg).

Universal Pictures produces a variety of films over a range of genres, but thrillers are one of the most prominent film genre that this film studio produces. Here are some examples of their most famous thrillers...

Just as there are a variety of genre's, with that comes a variety of audiences. They have produced many films such as The Cat in the Hat, Peter Pan and Hop which are aimed for a much younger audience but majority of their films are aimed at a more mature audience (teenagers to adults) which is perfect for our target audience of 15-25.

Lo x

Evaluating my pilot

What were you filming and why?

 My group and I were filming the pilot to our opening sequence. We did this to get a taste of what the filming process is like, and to get a visual idea of how our sequence may potentially turn out.

What substitutions did you make in the test filming and why?

 Instead of using a male actor, myself was used to play this role. I used mime through this process, for example when I had to 'put on the cufflinks' instead of actually using the item itself I just made hand gestures to signify the cufflinks.

What camera angles did you make in the test filming and why? 

 We used a lot of extreme close up's, and close up's when filming my character 'getting ready' and walking out of the 'mansion'. We did this to emphasis the wealth that the characters have.We also used panning when taking a video of the the car. This was done to make it clear what status the characters represent.

Did you find this process useful as a group?

 Yes, we found this process extremely useful as it helped us understand what shots would work and what ones wouldn't.

What worked well? What didn't?

We found that panning shots looked quite messy, but that could be because of the hand camera we were using which made the footage wobbly. Other than that, the close up's worked really well as they draw the viewer's attention to all the items of the wealth that our actors will have. Subconsciously we would be drilling the idea of spoilt, 'rich kids' into our viewers mind so that when they see the rich kids being tied down in chairs and attacked they almost feel happy for them as they want to see them struggle.

Pictures of the process-

 

  Lo x

 

Understanding the concept of a pilot

What is a pilot? Why use one?

 A pilot is a television or radio programme which has been made to test an audiences reaction with a view to the production of a series. Film production companies generally use them to make sure that the series that they will be producing will be succesful. By testing a pilot of it on an audience, they can make a decision on whether to continue with the series of the programme based on the reaction they got.

What is in-camera editing?

In-Camera Editing is a technique where, instead of editing the shots in a film into sequence after shooting, the cinematographer instead shoots the sequences in strict order. The resulting 'edit' is therefore already complete when the film is developed.

How useful is this as a planning exercise?

This is very useful as we can get an idea of what our opening sequence would look like, and what camera shots and angles we are going to use.

Lo x

My Pilot

Here are two different versions of our pilot. We used a website called Magisto which puts all your footage together with backing music and transitions!

First Draft of our Storyboard