Thursday, February 11, 2010

Future for film, Cameron and Jackson

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/25/entertainment/main5188475.shtml

"(AP) "Titanic." "Lord of the Rings." "Aliens." "King Kong." "The Terminator."

The men behind those movies, James Cameron and Peter Jackson, are among modern film's special-effects kings, advancing technology in computer-generated imagery, motion-capture photography and 3-D.

They met up at Comic Con Friday for an hour-long discussion moderated by Entertainment Weekly about the future of film, sharing details on their latest projects, their high-tech hopes and the undiminished allure of original, character-driven stories.

The two filmmakers say they inspired each other. Cameron said it was the artistic use of "humanoid CG" in Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films that got him rolling on "Avatar," set for release Dec. 18.

Jackson has said that the technology he used was borne out of Cameron's CGI work on "The Abyss" and "Terminator 2."

Both are thrilled by the possibilities of 3-D and plan to convert their biggest hits, "Titanic" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, into the format. Then they lamented the shortage of 3-D screens."

All time box office records

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/
Found this interesting site, shows all time top films and movies box office records.
DOMESTIC Avatar $633,621,035
ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION Gone with the Wind $1,537,559,604
WORLDWIDE Avatar $2,240,712,214

RATED R Passion of the Christ $370,782,930
RATED PG-13 Avatar $633,621,035
RATED PG Star Wars $460,998,007
RATED G Finding Nemo $339,714,978
RATED NC-17 Showgirls $20,350,754

MOVIES THAT NEVER HIT #1 My Big Fat Greek Wedding $241,438,208
IMAX Everest (IMAX) $87,178,599

This is over time records.
Most of the top films are PG or family orientated. This is because it has a wider auidence and will atract more people because of the good feeling you get after the film.
As we have chosen the 15 target range this will drop our viewing figure numbers as we are loseing the family auidence market but we still will get a large number of people.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/

First cut of production

Media Production, R1 from James Wigger on Vimeo.


Here is the first cut of our media presentation, This will be updated and will be improved in the coming weeks.
Once we finished filming on the sunday, James went home and uploaded the footage And edited it all together for the first lesson back on the tuesday. We all put idea's together for the camera angles and what we should and shouldn't include in the film.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Semiotics

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of sign processes (semiosis), or signification and communication, signs and symbols.
Semioticians classify signs or sign systems in relation to the way they are transmitted. This process of carrying meaning depends on the use of codes that may be the individual sounds or letters that humans use to form words, the body movements they make to show attitude or emotion, or even something as general as the clothes they wear. To coin a word to refer to a thing (see lexical words), the community must agree on a simple meaning (a denotative meaning) within their language. But that word can transmit that meaning only within the language's grammatical structures and codes (see syntax and semantics). Codes also represent the values of the culture, and are able to add new shades of connotation to every aspect of life.
Guy Cook asks whether the iconic sign on the door of a public lavatory for men actually looks more like a man than like a woman. 'For a sign to be truly iconic, it would have to be transparent to someone who had never seen it before - and it seems unlikely that this is as much the case as is sometimes supposed. We see the resemblance when we already know the meaning' (Cook 1992, 70). Thus, even a 'realistic' picture is symbolic as well as iconic.


 
 
 
 
The HSBC advert aired in ......“The World's Local Bank”: Glocalisation as a Strategy in Corporate Branding. One of it's adverts was:

HSBC Earn 8%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics
and
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html

Friday, January 29, 2010

Film's showing in Brighton

These are all the films that are showing at the odeon cinema in Brighton and days of which they are shown, in this week.
2012- Thursday
3D avatar - All week
Alvin and the chipmunks 2 - All week
An education - All week
Astroboy- Saturday and sunday
2D avatar - Sat and sunday
Daybreakers - all week
Edge of darkness - All week
It's complicated - All week
Nine - all week
Mall cop - sat and sunday
Sherlock holmes - All week
The book of eli - All week
Toystory 2 3D - Not friday
Up in the air - All week
Where the wild things are - sat and sunday

http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_times/s71/

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Filming day + feed back

Last sunday at 4 o'clock we set out to start our first day of filming. This went extremely well as we most of all of the shots that we want and with a fue more decided on the day. I was very happy with the outcome of the filming and everyone played their part very well.

 
Today James Wigger came in with the frist edit of our OTS. As a group we were very happy with the outcome but a fue little details need to be reviewed. After showing the film to our teacher, she gave us some feed back on what we have to change and what looked good.
We have come up with a small list of changes:
  • Cut the van out, as it destracts you from the chase.
  • Make the music louder in the into, quiter later on.
  • Fade in some sound in some shot endings.
  • Cut the pan on the tree at the start. Extend clip 2
The possitives in the film are the little details of the watch, the overlay of sounds and narration and lighting. We will focus on these more to strenghten the film as a whole.
Our next plan is to come up with a title and insert the names in the film. The titles and names will feature on the walls and roads in the film.
The forts that we feel will work well for the titles are:
  • Arny pro
  • Bell gothic
  • Century gothic/school

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Planning 1

After sitting down with the teacher and looking though what we have to do and when we have found that we still need small details. This are a goon, possible played by my Dad but no conformation. We will be starting to film on the 25 of monday and work out any other dates after that.

Tom's Sister is playing the FF.
Tom's Uncle might be playing the Victim.
My Dad might be playing the Goon.
My Dad will supply the car.
Location will be around Elm hill.

Test film - Night

On sunday The group apart from me went up the city to test the camera in dark conditions. I would've been there as they planned it for the day before but changed it at the last minute.
They were testing the locations and lighting conditions at different times in the day.

Media Practical - Test Footage from James Wigger on Vimeo.


Here is the footage from the test day.The first 10 shots are in the day, then the last are the same shots but a night time. I am very happy with what they achieved in the time given. They discovered that the perfect time to film would be from 4:30-6:00. As it reaches the perfect light to dark ratio.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Avatar a billion dollar film.

Last this thursday I went to see avatar with a family member, I went into the film with little information and knowledge of what it is about. I was overwelmed at how the film controlled the lighting and colour and effects. After watching the film I watched a short docmentary on how it was made that had interviews with the actor. The technology that was used wasn't green screen but coded into the camera so where ever they pointed the camera either at the floor, actor or sky they would get the world of pandora. So instead of putting in the effects after they were put in whilst filming. This movie was first writen before james cameron's other hit film titanic.

I would highly recomend watching this film as it is a every emoitional film that really links in with every character and has a story and background for every character. I went to see this in 3D and found that the effects were every good, the animal were very realistic. Pandora is shot like a technology hasn't reached earth yet and has evoloved to host though linking of trees and with every animal on pandora.

I would recomend this film throughly and to go see it in 3D as it is well worth the extra money.

<
Official Avatar Movie

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Location scouting

Location scouting by On saturday Me, James and Blaine Went location hunting For our OTS. After problems with my bike's I was forced out of this, so it was Blaine and James' job to find places.

Location hunting - Taken from James media mambo.

When I was given the link to look at the places, I was very happy with the locations that they have compiled.

http://jameswigger.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 7, 2009

Film Roles behind the camera.

Screenwriter- A Screenwriter creates a screenplay known as a written version of a movie before it is
filmed. This is either based on previously written material, such as a book or a play, or
as an original work. A Screenwriter may write a screenplay, then
try to sell it, or the Screenwriter may be hired by a Producer or studio to write a
screenplay on given specifications such as age range and style. Screenplays are often rewritten, and it’s not
uncommon for more than one Screenwriter to work on a script.

Producer- A Producer is given control over the entire production of a motion picture. The success or failure of the motion picture project, is put to the producer. The producer is involved with the project from start to finish.
His task is to organize and guide the project successfully. He organizes the development of the film, and is quite active in the pre-production phase. Once filming begins, generally the role of the Producer is to supervise and give suggestions.

Director-  The Director interprets the script from the film into his work. The Director must be able to lead and control people, have them do what he or she wants them to do, yet remain on good terms.While in production, the Director not only oversees actors, but also works with the Director of Photography, instructs the major technical people, Make sure that they are with in the budget, and deals with outside pressures. The Director is ultimately responsible for what happens on the set.



Director of Photography- also known as the DP, DOP, or Cinematographer, is responsible for the quality of the
photography and the cinematic look of the film. The Director of Photography transforms the Screenwriter's and
Director's concepts into visual images. Using his or her knowledge of lighting, lenses, cameras, and film
emulsions, the Director of Photography creates the appropriate mood, atmosphere, and visual style of each shot
to show the emotions that the Director desires.Working closely with the Director, he determines the camera angles, shot composition, and camera movement for every shot. The Director of Photography then decides upon the lighting equipment and the type and number of cameras that will be required for shooting. The Director of Photography orders the lights and cameras to be set up in such a way to attain the desired effect.

Costume Designer- conceives and draws designs for the costumes to be worn by the actors in the movie. The costume designs must be approved by the Art Director, Director, and Producer before going to the Seamstress, the person who actually makes the costumes.

A Stunt Coordinator- is responsible for choreographing stunts and making sure the stunt is relatively safe, but still realistic.

A Stunt Person (or Stunt Performer)- a specialist actor, actually performs stunts, which are often risky pieces of physical action. Stunts range from fight scenes to a fall from a cliK to a head-on collision with an oncoming truck. Many stunts are actually less dangerous than they appear because of appropriate camera angles, lenses, and editing.

The Sound Designer- oversees all the audio elements of a motion picture; similar to what a Production Designer does for the visual elements.

The Camera Operator (or Cameraman)- rolls the camera and stops it on
cue, as instructed by the Director of Photography. The Camera Operator's
responsibility is to achieve smooth camera movement and produce
satisfactory pictorial images.





Information from http://motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_newsletters_filmEss_10_film-crew.pdf

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Planning stage - sound clip


The four of us met round Tom's to discuss our openning title sequence in the style of film noir.  We sent a good 40 mins planning with location some details on clothing and what we wanted to include. Here is a sound clip made by James which includes part of the discussion.