TKTM Case Study Introduction

1. Film genre and type of production?

• Teen drama/thriller
• British independent feature film
• Low budget
• Shot on green screen
• Certified 15

Yorkshire Evening Post Article

2. What's the film about?

The film is a 'British drama about teenage gang conflict and the pressures faced when starting at a new school.' A bully makes Paul deliver a message to a rival gang which starts a fued.

Themes:

• Gangs
• Belonging
• Change
• Knife Crime
• Bullying
• Friendship
• Life and death
• Growing up

                                    BBFC

3. Global and UK release dates? Where and what formats?

UK Release Date: 15th July 2014 on a multiplatform premiere; National Media Museum (Bradford), Museum of Science and Industry (Manchester), Franks Cafe (London)

Kickstarter launch: 19th May 2014

No global or theatrical release however there will be a DVD and VOD release.

Release Schedule

4. Nationality of the film?

• British crew,setting and audience
• Cast are mostly from British TV or just general British youth
• National
• Small
• Localised to one region
• British slang

Official Facebook Page

5. Institutions behind the film's production and distribution? Where are they based?

Production:

• Gloucester Place Films                   
• Green Screen Productions (York)
• International Pictures Three        
• Knife That Killed Me
• Premiere Picture                   

Distributors:

• Universal Pictures UK 
• Stealth Media Group (Brighton)

Mild Concern review

6. What's the film's production budget? What's the source of finance?

• Approx. £3 million
• Funded on Kickstarter, reaching £20 094 of their goal of £20 000
• Gloucester Palace Films, International Pictures Three and Premiere Picture all aided with budget

Matador Pictures

7. Any connection with other films?

Production connections:

• 300 (Green screen style)
• Sin City (Green screen style)
• The Adventures of Tin-Tin (Green screen style)
• Novel of same name
• Dementamania (Another project completed by Green Screen Productions)

8. Who's the director? Reputation?

• Marcus Romer - won three M.E.N awards, works as a British actor, director, playwright and actor as well as graduating with a BChD in dentistry
• Kit Monkman - an experimental British artist and film-maker, he has built an international reputation for developing a new genre of interactive work with long term collaborator Tom Wexler under the banner KMA

9. How has the film been cast? Who's in it?

'A casting call for the role of Paul was posted on October 26 2011 and another for 'Yorkshire-based teenagers' was posted on January 9 2012' - BBFC entry

Casting Director: Jeremy Zimmermann
Starring:

• Jack McMullen as Paul (best known from Waterloo Road)
• Reece Dinsdale as Paul's dad
• Jamie Shelton as Roth
• Haruka Abe as Serena
• Oliver Lee as Shane

10. Core audience? Secondary/tertiary markets?


The core audience is British teenagers and young adults, specifically those based in Yorkshire.
The secondary/tertiary markets are teenagers and young adults from the rest of the world. Also parents of these teenagers, residents of Yorkshire, fans of indie films, fans of the book.

Official Website

Big Hero 6 Case Study Introduction

1. Film genre and type of production?

• 3D and 2D computer-animated superhero-comedy feature film
• PG rated
• Mainstream Disney blockbuster
• Event film
• High-concept film

Big Hero 6 Official Website
Kerrang! Magazine Article on Soundtrack

2. What's the film about?

'Set in a fictional metropolis called San Fransokyo, a young robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada and his robot Baymax uncover a criminal plot and pull together a team of inexperienced crime-fighters to solve the mystery surrounding the crime.'

Wired Magazine Article

3. Global and UK release dates? Where and what formats?

• Premiere release: 23rd October 2014 at the Tokyo International Film Festival
• US release: 7th November 2014 (theatrical release)
• UK release: 30th January 2015 (theatrical release)

Staggering the releases means the distributing companies can monitor which areas do well and which don't. It also generates word of mouth all around the world.

IMDb list of global release schedule

4. Nationality of the film?

USA.

Wikipedia entry for Big Hero 6

5. Institutions behind the film's production and distribution? Where are they based?

• Production: Walt Disney Animation Studios (US), Walt Disney Pictures (US)
• Distribution: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Argentina, France, Singapore, US), Forum Hungary - all for the theatrical release

Disney own everything about the film's production and distribution and everything else. Marvel are a production company but Disney bought them so now Disney has the rights to use all the Marvel characters.

 Marvel and Disney have a symbiotic relationship - there are mutual advantages for each company.

Disney is a vertically and horizontally integrated institution.

IMDb list of company credits

6. What's the film's production budget? What's the source of finance?

• High budget
• Unknown budget because the film is still in post-production
• Source of finance is Disney

Big Hero 6 Behind the Scenes Book

7. Any connection with other films?

• Marvel comics superhero team (all the Marvel superhero films)
• Frozen (budget of £150mil)
• Avengers (budget of £250mil)
• Tangled
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Feast - an animation short to be release with Big Hero 6 during its theatrical release

Disney Animation Projects

8. Who's the director? Reputation?

• Don Hall: Has worked on other high-budget Disney animations in the past, has been no
• minated for two Annie awards
• Chris Williams: Has worked on other high-budget Disney animations in the past, is an in-house Disney director

9. How has the film been cast? Who's in it?

• Ryan Potter (Supah Ninjas)
• Scot Adsit (30 Rock)
• Jamie Chung (Grown Ups, The Hangover Part II)
• Damon Wayans Jr. (Let's Be Cops)
• Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids)

The vast majority of the cast are all recognised from USA TV, small films and comedy.

IMDb list of full cast and crew

10. Core audience? Secondary/tertiary markets?

• Core audience: Children and young teens worldwide
• Secondary/tertiary markets: Older family members of children eg. parents, grandparents etc. Also superhero fans, manga fans, marvel fans, Disney + animation fans

Official Facebook Page
Official Twitter Feed

AS Prelim

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

1) I worked with Ela, Iggy and Alistair. We each worked on the pre-production together and merged all our ideas into one. During production, the roles were divided so that Alistair and I were the two main characters, Ela was on camera and sound while Iggy was directing. For editing, Ela and I created one sequence while Iggy and Alistair created a separate one. We created seperate ones so that firstly, we could be more creative by not closing our options so much and additionally, due to the fact that only two people were working on a sequence at a time, those two people could both work on it equally whereas four people working on one sequence together could get a bit tense and doesn't require everyone's full attention at once.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

2) We planned our sequence by first noting out our ideas in rough. We brainstormed all our initial ideas and then merged them into one. Once we had our idea set, the notes were transferred into a shot list and a storyboard. We tried to take into account the theories we have learnt such as match on action which we applied in the shot were Alistair walks through the door, shot/reverse shot which we used when filming the conversation between Alistair and myself and the 180 degree rule.

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

3) Technology we used to complete the task was a Canon HFG30 camera for shooting visuals. It was a good piece of equipment because it was very good quality and not too difficult to use - we used it with the tripod. We also used a microphone for recording audio while shooting and Premiere Pro software for editing. I already have experience with Premiere Pro so cutting up the clips and putting them into a sequence was quite straightforward.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

4) When planning, factors we took into account were scheduling, crew availability for meetings, how realistic our ideas were, props and costume. With our shoot schedule, we had to organise time slots between ourselves and the other group, as we all wanted to use the same location for certain shots. When shooting, factors were sticking to the 180/30 degree rules, using a variety of different camera framings and angles. When editing, we had to consider how concise and perfect the continuity was and we had to ensure that there was continuous action. We had to make decisions of which take from each scene to use and whether to use some scenes at all - for example, initially we were going to include a master shot in our sequence but eventually realised it spoilt our narrative flow so we deleted it.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

5) In terms of continuity, generally our sequence was successful however there were a few errors. Things that worked well were the match on action and the shot/reverse shot shots because the techniques were good. Also, the close ups at the end add a sense of drama and humour. Things we would do differently is be more careful with our narrative flow in the shot where I say 'Take a seat I'm really busy' and the following shot. In the former, I am stapling some sheets together then the shot cuts and is followed by a shot were I am at a different part of the desk holding different items. We would also plan out shot list differently so that we can include a master shot and have it make sense as part of the narrative.

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

6) I have a much clearer idea of how to aid narrative flow when creating a sequence such as using the different techniques mentioned before. I have gained experience with acting and editing too. This learning will be significant when completing the rest of my foundation coursework because it means my general quality of work will be a lot higher and I can incorporate more techniques to look more professional.

Accident Sequence

Narrative flow techniques
- We started off the sequence with a master shot where all of the shots were taken so all the shots were linked together
- In shot 2, Mario ran in the left direction so it seems as if he is running towards the tables which were in the previous and next shot
- Shots 3 and 4 represent the match on action technique as Mario walks towards the cup, the audience can see he goes to pick it up then the camera switches to a close up shot of his facial expression during that same action
- We adhered to the 180 degree rule by not crossing the camera over to the opposite side - we always stayed in front of Mario

What we could have done differently to aid the narrative flow
- We could have extended the establishing shot to show more of the field where Mario runs so that the audience has a clearer idea of location
- In the establishing shot, the cup is in the middle of the table but then in later shots, it is on the far right of the table
- Shot 3 could have been more clear that it was a direct continuation from shot 2 - currently, in shot 3, it looks as if Mario could have just walked out the canteen door instead of our intention of him running straight from the field to the table
- The match on action in shots 3 to 4 could match more because the emotion in the close up doesn't greatly follow up from Mario's facial expression in shot 3
- At the end of shot 4, the audience can hear giggling from the crew which ruins the narrative flow
- By the end of shot 6, Mario has already fallen and his face is on the floor but then the following shot begins with Mario's head up and then it goes back onto the floor. This is a breach of continuity and also breaks the 30 degree rule because the angles are too similar. We could alter this by cutting out the last shot altogether

Evaluation of AOTT activity

Brief synopsis and opening outline
Our idea is that Alistair, the main character, is a pupil at school who is being stalked by a malicious teddy bear. Our chosen genre is horror. In our opening, Alistair is doing his daily school routine however there are subtle hints that he is being followed by the teddy, and then the last shot shows him being viciously attacked.

The opening
Information included in our film opening is who the main character is, what his daily school routine consists of, how the main location is set, the billing of the star and director, and an insight into the plot about an evil teddy on a vengeance.

Titles
The titles link to the main film because they are conventional of the horror genre - white and capitalised. White is typical because it is such a blank and mysterious colour that it is quite unnerving. The capitalised font makes things seem more robotic and emotionless which is also unnerving. The 'based on a true story' title makes the picture seem a lot more creepy and horrific. The 'Teddy' title is the most important title because it is the most prominent and holds the most weight about information about genre, characters and plot.

Audience reaction
By the end of my opening the audience should be thinking about the teddy. Why is it evil? Where did it come from? And so on. They should also feel quite disturbed due to the distorted images creating an unnatural feel. The opening gives a clear general idea but is ambiguous about details of the plot because the main features are shown but there is no additional information.

Important features of construction of an opening sequence
1) Introduction of the two main characters - gives the audience an insight into what the film is going to involve.
2) Distorted location shots - implies the film's genre (horror) and unnerves the audience by being an unnatural version of reality. Also gives a clear understanding of setting.
3) Star billing - these credit the star and director and give the audience an idea of the type of film. For example, the star and director are both well-known pupils which implies that the film is going to revolve around a school.

Effectiveness 
I think our project is successfully effective as a film opening because it follows the typical conventions of the horror genre. It also hints insights to the film without giving away too much information. The grid is set out appealingly because the four blurred shots contrast well against the five sharp shots.