Soundtrack research

We have listened to various different soundtracks to help inspire us for the creation of our own original soundtrack for our two minute opening. When creating features of the actual film we made various references to Christmas lights in the streets it reminded u
s of a song we have once listened to in the past and helped to build up a vision of how it must feel to be alone in the festive period. The first song we listened to was 'Christmas Lights' by Coldplay which was released in 2010. Judging by the lyrics they hint that the theme of this song is a relationship which has broken down very near to Christmas. The song narrator emphasises his lonliness through the use of imagery and symbols; making many references to Christmas lights. This is similar to our idea in our film as we are going to use the Christmas lights as our symbol of our main characters hope to find her parents. However we are not going to use diegetic music. This is because we are using a monologue so therefore diegetic music will clash with our monologue. However in this song we love the constant tune of the piano which is featured on it's own at the start of the song. On it's own it symbolizes loss which is a feeling our main character has experienced for the course of her life; she is not complete without her parents. We can relate many features of this song to our main character however there are a few differences; the song narrator has lost someone they love whereas our main character is on a journey to find her parents. We will probably decide to combine the tune of the piano with either a violin or a guitar. When this particular song gets into the chorus it sounds more upbeat; this type of song would be ideal for a trailer to show her finding her parents however we need to emphasise her sadness; so this song is not what we want. However many of the features of the song have however inspired us in our ideas.



The next song we listened to was found on youtube, we searched various soundtracks. We simply searched 'Piano music instrumentals' to find this soundtrack made up of two and a half hours of music. The first track on this soundtrack is a simple yet effective tune using a piano. As soon as we heard this song we absolutely loved it however we could not identify what all of the instruments were that we're included in this piece however we can identify that the piano was combined with a guitar. Within the first minute this song it really helped to inspire us on what sort of music to use for our film opening. To us the opening of the song really gives us the image of a person on their own watching people go by as just the piano is played at the start of the song. This gives us a vision of emptiness which would be able to help us give the audience an insight into the characters feelings. Ideally we really want to try and make the audience able to relate to a time when they have felt this way, so therefore it is vital to compose a piece that will do just that.
 

The final song we listened to was found on the same soundtrack. The song we found starts at 1:56:37. We decided that this tune was almost perfect for our film opening, it has so many different instruments used in it however it is not over powering; it is simple. It gives a bit of an urban vibe as acoustic instruments used give an empty feel and some other instruments used make a sound similar to wind. This will really go well with the surroundings as our main character is on her own in the streets, it is a cold winter night so wind will most likely feature. Later in this song more of a beat features which would go perfectly with the part in our film when the main character finally decides to find her 

parents, through this beat it will give be audience the idea that the main character is actually getting somewhere. Therefore both this track and the above track have really helped to inspire us with what type of music we will include in our opening.

Film title questionaire

We asked 20 people to choose a film title from a list of 5. We did this to get an idea about what our target audience would be more drawn to. Our first idea for a film title was 'The Search' but we wanted to get a response from our target audience to see if our ideas were acceptable.
A nameless foster child has recently been kicked out of her foster parent’s house for stealing. She is homeless and alone at Christmas. All she wants to do is find her biological parents, who could be anywhere. Follow her journey as she goes through all the experiences of being homeless and the emotions of losing everyone around her. An outstanding and touching true story that will leave you breathless...

 

Which film title do you think goes well with the above film plot?

·         The Search

·         The Desperate Pursuit

·         Going Down

·         Roaming The Streets

·         The Unprotected

The results are as followed:

 

 

From this we discovered that the majority of people are drawn to either 'The Unprotected' or 'The Desperate Pursuit'. This shattered our first idea of 'The Search' which we were very keen on and were hoping people would see this simple title as effective. We decided to choose from the two most popular because it’s what our target audience want to see, and to attract our audience we need to include titles that they approve of.

Finally, we agreed on 'The Desperate Pursuit' for our film title. We chose this because it draws you in more and it sounds more dramatic, making the audience want to know more. We like this film title for our movie because it reflects the story really well. The young girl is on a 'desperate pursuit' to find her parents. The title is fitting, which a film title needs to be and overall we are pleased that we decided to ask people what they thought.

Institution research- Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures entertainment is an American television and film production company. It is based in Culver City, California and serves as Sony's main global production company. Sony pictures entertainment was established on the 7th August 1991. Sony pictures has a television group which produces iconic American sitcoms like Seinfield and Days of our lives. Films produced by Sony pictures entertaiment include Spiderman, Men in black, Skyfall and 21 Jump street.

Institution research- Other companies

Below we have written about the six main production companies in the world. These are the main companies, but of course there are many other companies that produce film on a much lower scale. These companies has much lower budgets but still release hard hitting movies that people around the world love and relate to.
The 'big six' are the major production companies, but there are other companies which are called the 'mini-majors'. These companies are big companies but just not as well known and popular as the big six.
The 'Mini-Major' companies include:

DreamWorks -
DreamWorks is a California film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totaling more than $100 million each. Most of DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios.
Films by DreamWorks include: 'Chicken Run', 'Shrek', 'She's The Man' and 'Just Like Heaven'.

Lionsgate Films -
Lionsgate Films is a Canadian film production/distribution studio and a division of Lions Gate Entertainment. It is the largest and most successful mini-major film studio in North America. It focuses mainly on foreign and independent films and has distributed various commercially successful film series.
Films by Lionsgate Films include:'The Twilight Saga' (partially), 'The Hunger Games', 'Saw' and 'The Expendables'.

Open Road Films -
Open Road Films is an American film distribution company based in Hollywood, California. It was launched in March 2011 by the two largest U.S. theatrical exhibitors, AMC Theatres and Regal Entertainment Group.
Films by Open Road Films include: 'The Host', 'Side Effects', and 'Silent Hill'.

Relativity Media LLC
Relativity Media LLC is an American full-scale film studio. It acquires, develops, produces, and distributes films and produces television programs.
Films by Relativity Media LLC include: 'Mirror Mirror', 'Movie 43', 'House At The End Of The Street' and 'Safehaven'

The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American mini-major film studio. Its films are released on DVD and Blu-ray by Beverly Hills–based Anchor Bay Entertainment, due to the 25% purchase of Starz Media, which is Anchor Bay's parent, and it has an office in Beverly Hills.
Films By The Weinstein Company include: 'So Undercover', 'Lawless', 'I Dont Know How She Does It' and 'Silver Linings Playbook'.

Looking at the filmography of these companies, nearly all the films i know and have seen. This just shows that the 'big six' dont produce all of the blockbuster films.

Institution research- Walt Disney studios

Walt Disney Studios is one of the largest and best known Studios in the world and is one of the six major film studios. It produces many kids films which we all would have watched as a child.

Disney was founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney. They were the leaders of the animation industry before diversifying into live-action films, television and travel. In 1986 it expanded its operations and started divisions for theatre, radio, music, online media and publishing.

Disney also owns the ABC television network, Disney Channel, ESPN and ABC Family. It also owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world.

Films produced by Walt Disney include: 'Cinderella', 'Mary Poppins', 'Bambi', 'Peter Pan', ' The Jungle Book' and 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarves'.

Television shows produced by ABC and ABC Family include: 'Lost', 'Greys Anatomy', 'Nashville', 'Twisted', 'The Fosters' and 'Pretty Little Liars'.

Institution research- Paramount pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation (also known as Paramount Pictures) is a film and television production studio founded in 1912. Based in LA, it is one of the largest film studios ever and the fifth oldest still in continuous production. It is a division of the American media company Viacom. On August 21, 2006, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films became full labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group.

Films Produced by Paramount Pictures include: 'Mission Impossible', 'Save The Last Dance', 'Zoolander', 'The Italian Job', 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days', 'School Of Rock' and 'Coach Carter'.

Institution research- Universal studios

Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures)  is an American motion picture studio, and is one of the six major movie studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City.

Universal Studios was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley and Jules Brulatour. It is the oldest movie studio In the USA and the fourth oldest in the world that is still in continuous production behind Gaumont Pictures, Pathe and Nordisk Film.

Universal Studio has a theme park situated in Hollywood, California. Themes from movies and television shows are integrated into the rides like The Simpson's Ride, Jurassic Park: The Ride, and Revenge of the Mummy. There are now two more theme parks in Orlando, Florida and Japan. The theme parks only show you how high budget and high profit this company is. The list of films produced by Universal Pictures in endless and the amount of money the company make is ridiculous!

Films produced by Universal Pictures include: 'Meet The Parents', 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 'Bridget Jones Diary', 'The Holiday', 'The Mommy Returns', 'Despicable Me', 'Transformers' and 'American Pie'

TV shows produced by Universal Studios include: 'House', 'The Office', 'Suits', 'Law And Order: LA' and 'Lipstick Jungle'.

Institution research- Warner bros

Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. or simply WB is an American producer of film, television, and music entertainment. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Entertainment. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.

Warner Bros was founded in 1903 by the four Warner brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack.

Warner Bros specialise in a number of different things (hence the subsidiary companies) and produce many high budget movies.

One of the main things that Warner Bros have done is the WB TV network. This was founded in 1995 and found a large teenage following after producing shows like Charmed, Dawson’s Creek and One Tree Hill. In 2006 the WB network was closed and CBS and WB created what is now The CW network, cancelling many TV shows on the WB but transferring their most popular to the new network.

Major films produced by Warner Bros include: 'Kangaroo Jack', 'Two Weeks’ Notice', 'What A Girl Wants', 'A Cinderella Story' and 'The Polar Express'

TV shows produced by the WB (now CW) Network include: 'Charmed', 'Dawson’s Creek', '7th Heaven', 'The Vampire Diaries', One Tree Hill', 'Hart Of Dixie', 'Arrow' and 'Beauty And The Beast'.

 

Institution research- 20th century fox

20th Century Fox is one of the six major film studios situated in Los Angeles in the USA. The company was founded on May 31, 1935 when Fox Film Corporation was merged with Twentieth Century Pictures.

20th Century Fox has distributed many successful movies including Star Wars, Ice Age and Die Hard. Many television shows has also been produced by 20th Century Fox including The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Glee.

20th Century Fox's logo is one of the most well-known logos in film history and you would probably see it on the majority of films you watch. Many films have played around with the logo and the music at the beginning of their films or TV shows. For example on season 10 of the Simpsons, you see Bart running around the logo being chased. And also on the film Alien, the music has been played around with to fit in with the genre of the film.

Famous films by 20th Century Fox include: 'Home Alone', 'Avatar', 'White Men Can't Jump', '27 Dresses', 'Star Wars', 'Die Hard', 'Aquamarine', 'Life of Pi' and 'Runner Runner'

Famous TV shows by 20th Century Fox include: 'New Girl', 'Modern Family', 'Bones', 'How I Met Your Mother', 'My Name Is Earl', 'Life On Mars' and 'Glee'.

Paramount Pictures Corporation (also known as Paramount Pictures) is a film and television production studio founded in 1912. Based in LA, it is one of the largest film studios ever and the fifth oldest still in continuous production. It is a division of the American media company Viacom. On August 21, 2006, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films became full labels of the Paramount Motion Pictures Group.

Films Produced by Paramount Pictures include: 'Mission Impossible', 'Save The Last Dance', 'Zoolander', 'The Italian Job', 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days', 'School Of Rock' and 'Coach Carter'.

Research into recording our monologue

We have decided that if we record our monologue on a simple program like a laptop or a voice recorder, the sound quality will be extremely bad and the monologue will not sound as professional as we want it to be. To change this we were thinking of hiring a recording studio. This will allow us to get the sound quality we want, despite the small cost.

We started searching for recording studios near us and we found quite a few that are extremely close to us. Some of the studios we found were just too expensive and a little bit too far away, but we found two that were reasonably priced and close by in the town of Guildford where we were planning on filming. Guildford is a short train journey away from us so it’s a perfect area.

 

 

 

The first Studio we emailed was Silent Hill Studio's in Guildford. They were available to help us for little over £20, but we had a problem because they were only available during the week, which is when we are at school. This disappointed us a little bit but we decided to go on and email a few other places in and around Guildford.

 

 

The second place we emailed came back to us within minutes and said they would be available to have us anytime. The price was quoted at £30 for an hour and a half. We were really impresses at this and decided to go on the 8th December instead.

What’s really great about actually hiring somewhere for the first time while doing media is knowing for certain that you are going to get a good result as we will be surrounded by professional equipment and professional employees that will help make our monologue the best it can be.

Our monologue

The main feature of our opening 2 minutes is the monologue spoken by the main character over the top of the film. This needs to link to what is happening in the film at times and make the audience connect and sympathise with the girl.

We wanted to make the girl sound like the average teenager. She is not very literate when it comes to talking and quite informal. This makes her relatable to other teenagers, our target audience. We like the way the monologue shows the girl as not caring about her parents, but the monologue is easy to see through and hopefully the audience will see that she is lying to herself, and in fact all she cares about is finding them and being loved by them.

"This is my story. I’d tell you my name but what’s the point? It doesn’t mean anything.  You see a typical family has two parents, a couple of kids, maybe a dog. My family, it’s just me. And my best friend Jo, she’s the only family I have now. I lived in a foster home for a while. John and Kelly were nice but I knew they didn’t love me like they loved Jake, their real kid. See my parents gave me up when I was born. They couldn’t hack it. And now look at me, I’ve been to juvi. I’ve been in and out of foster homes, and now I’m pretty much living on the streets. John and Kelly kicked me out when they realised I stole from them. I know it’s a terrible thing to do but I guess I just needed to get out of there and that was the only way to make sure I did. All I’m focused on right now is finding my real parents. I have a lot to say to them. Why did they leave me? Why did they allow me to have such a crappy life? Are they even still together? Probably not.
You see being in foster care is like being in a world of your own. No one to worry about you, no bedtime, no love. I guess if my parents were still around I'd be a different person. I wouldn’t be so messed up or angry. But my parents aren’t here and I’ve adapted myself to deal with that. I’m fine on my own, but I need to find them. I just need to. I need to let them see what they’ve missed out on."

Costume research

We want to research deeply into the costumes of our characters because we believe they fully express the characters personality. Our main character is a homeless teenager. She is angry, hurt and alone and we want clothing to reflect that demeanour. We also need to make sure the audience believe that she is homeless, to do this we need to make sure we research into what homeless people would wear.

The usual stereotype for a homeless person is that they are dirty and addicted to drugs. They are also considered illiterate and lazy. For some people this is the case but in many circumstances homeless people are just helpless lost souls.
Our main character is defiantly not considered a bad person because she is homeless; she is just someone who has no love in her life and no one to look after her. She is just a child and wants to be loved.

The clothes the girl wears need to reflect how desperate she is and how much she wants to get out of her situation. We were thinking that maybe she could wear clothes that any normal teenage girl would wear but scruff them up to make the audience believe she is actually homeless. We want her to be wearing a winter hat and a long scarf to really show how cold it is. This will make the audience sympathise with her. Other pieces of clothing we will use are a winter coat that is too big for her. This will show how people don’t care enough about her to be buying her normal sized clothing. She will also wear scruffy trainers. All of these items of clothing will emphasise the fact that she is homeless.

Although we want the girl to look scruffy and dirty, we want to make her appealing to the audience. To do this we will make sure that you can see that the girl makes the best out of the clothes she has.

Location research

 We have decided to film our opening two minutes in Guildford. This is our closest town centre so it will be easy and cheap to get to. Also there are lots of people around in Guildford, especially at Christmas time so we would like to film there to emphasise the fact that the girl’s parents could be literally anyone and it will be a struggle to find them.
We want to film nearer Christmas, when the lights are on. This will make the girl seem more alone and really show how everyone else is perfectly happy and her life is in pieces.
Another reason we have decided to film when the Christmas lights are on is to get good artificial lighting because it will be hard to see the characters if it is fully dark. The lights will create not only a festive feel but it will light up our characters in different colours which will make it feel more Christmassy.
The way Guildford High Street is set out will make it easy for us to really show the Christmas feel because the lights hang from building to building making it obvious that it’s Christmas. Hopefully the town will be busy and we will be able to capture families having a good time Christmas shopping to show how alone the girl is.

 

 

 

Certificate research

We decided to give our film a certificate 12A. This is because based on many drama films the age certificate is 12A, most of these films are not very hard hitting and are effective because they show normal peoples struggles in their daily lives in everyday situations. We did not decide to give out film a higher certificate, this is because higher certificates are mainly associated with horror and thriller films and this is not our chosen genre. Higher certificates also use sex scenes and strong language and the main character in our film is a young girl and her struggle to find her biological parents. Therefore sex scenes will not be appropriate for our film opening; the only focus is for her to find her true parents. We will not use strong language in our film opening; this is because the character hasn’t got that sort of personality. Besides she is so desperate to show her parents what they are missing out on and what a good person she has become. Although a strong part of her wants to shout and swear at her parents, she does not choose to do this because she knows that this language won’t solve anything. 

Own film treatment

 We first came up with the idea to do a drama film, after watching the opening of several different popular drama films. The first drama film we watched was Forrest Gump. This film opening shows a melody playing while a camera follows the trail of a feather. Watching how there was no dialogue for the majority of the opening inspired us to do the same. From watching this we decided to only use a monologue over the top of a quiet melody. This will show the audience a peek of the genre and plot straight away making it easier to relate to.
Another film we made a conscious effort to watch was Juno. The film Juno shows the struggle of a young girl after she gets pregnant. The main character gave us an idea of how we want our main character to be like because they are both struggling.

One big influence in our opening was TV shows like Life Unexpected, The Fosters and Tracy Beaker. Each of these programmes shows foster children on different journeys. This gave us really clear ideas about the personality of our main character because there is a main theme in all of the characters on these shows. They are all severely damaged by their situation, in more ways than even they know themselves.

Another thing that can really help us when filming our opening is the fact Molly, my film partner has a a half-sister who was in foster care for the majority of her childhood. She can give us an insight into what it felt like being alone at such a young age. She managed to find her Dad who is also Molly’s Dad and she can tell us about her struggles in doing so and how hard it really is. Molly’s half-sister Chelsea was also homeless for a short while and I think we can really base our main character around her.

Mood board with annotations

We have decided on the image of the main character in our film. We have decided that the clothing is scruffy. The type of clothing she will wear will be ripped jeans and oversized clothing which will show how no one cares enough about her to be buying her normal sized clothing. However, we want to make her appear to make the best out of everything she owns, this will allow her to still be quite appealing to the audience.
We want our film title to be quite basic; this is because many drama films (with exception of the holiday which is a Romance film) have very simple titles. The simplicity is to represent that these films show the stories of everyday people as they go about their daily lives. Our favourite of the four selected film titles is ‘Les Miserables’. This is because although the title is simple a gradient is used which makes it more exciting which will attract the audience to the film.
The props that we need include a cheap take away coffee, a bus ticket, a sleeping bag and an old and broken phone. The coffee needs to be cheap to emphasise how little money she has. We will need to buy a train ticket to show that she is going on the search for her parents. The sleeping bag needs to be old as this is what usual homeless people have and we need the phone to be broken to show how much she has been through.
We decided to film our opening in a busy street in the festive season. It has to be busy to emphasise the fact that our main characters parents could be anyone. Our symbol in our film will be the Christmas lights as the character, being homeless sees them frequently and they symbolize the hope to find her parents which is even more so during the run up to Christmas where everyone is together. We will use a shallow focus to reveal the Christmas lights.
Some shots we will feature are a point of view shot, an over the shoulder shot, a midshot, an establishing and a high angle shot. A point of view shot will be used to help put the audience in the main characters shoes; to give them an insight into the life of a homeless child. An over the shoulder shot will be used when the main character buying a bus ticket. A midshot will be used to show the main character crossing the road. An establishing shot will be used to show the audience the location of the film. A high Angle shot will be used to represent the vulnerability of the character being homeless.

Film ideas mindmap

Film titles research

Forest Gump was produced in 1994, although this film was shot 19 years ago techniques such as CGI were in use. However this opening title is just simple which is used to portray an everyday person as they go about their everyday life. A high angle shot captures a feather swiftly falling from the sky. This music is quite calm which links with the motion of the feather falling swiftly. Unlike many film titles dialog is not used in the first 2 minutes, the effect of this is to draw the audience's attention to the feather and it's meaning. The feather connotes fate and the idea that everything happens for a reason, a feather falls and lands in a direct spot. Arguably this is a coincidence or it is fate. The white feather goes with the white font, this gives the idea of simplicity meaning that the film is a simple coming of age story of a mans transition from childhood to adulthood. The text of e.g. actors and producers appears slowly, each different actor or producer appears individually. This reveals the fact that the film is based on the story of one individual, therefore the way the text appears represents this. During the course of the falling feather the setting is shown to be an Urban location, this gives the idea of normality which is a typical feature in a drama film as they show the stories of everyday people as they go about their everyday lives. The feather slowly falls to the actors feet which reinforces the idea of fate and being there at the right time.

 This film was shot in 2008 and uses many effects to make the opening credits exciting. The music is dramatic which will attract the audiences attention straight away. The first shot shows an animated figure in the centre of a sunset, this shot changes to a medium shot of a the character showing him wearing suit. This shows that he has quite a high status. This shot changes to a low angle shot of the figure with the name James bond. This is effective as it shows the audience that he has the authority, his facial features such as his eyes are not revealed which portray that he is low profile and relates to the fact that he is a secret agent. The surroundings show a night sky, the darkness links to the fact of how he is low profile. A medium shot shows the character firing a bullet, the music's tone increases to draw attention to the bullet fired which has flames surrounding it to connote danger. The effect of this is to show the audience that he is dangerous and renowned for killing people as a gun connotes death. The camera follows the bullet flying through the air and the film title 'Quantum Of Solace' appears, the bullet flies alongside which indicates that violence is the main theme of the film. A desert location is revealed and dust fills the surroundings which hints to the audience that James Bond creates impact in certain situations. The location is exotic which is a typical feature of an action film. Actors and producers names appear then change from what looks like a type of code to their actual names, this transformation could portray James Bonds hidden identity, the fact that he appears to be a normal person when actually he is a secret agent.