Casting

Casting

 

 



We agreed to cast myself (Ellie) as the main character in our film. The reason we thought I'd play the character best is because when we imagined our character, we thought of 'innocence', 'vulnerability', 'feminine' and after discussing it as a group we said I would be best suited for this character. My appearance also fitted the character as I'm small with light hair and eye colour. I don't have much past experience with being on camera or acting but everything went as planned.

 

We also agreed on our friend Kayleigh Roberts to be the other character - the killer. The reason we thought she would play the character the best is because she enjoys doing drama and she was very enthusiastic about taking part in our film. Her appearance also fitted the character as she has fairly dark hair and owns a lot of appropriate clothing that would fit the characters appearance.



 

 

Film institutions

After entering 'film institutions' into google I found a really good slideshow that has a lot of research on all the different film institutions. That being 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, Hammer Productions.

20th Century Fox

• 20th Century Fox is a film corporation which is one of the 6 major American film studios.
• This corporation has become one of the most recognised film institution in the world.
• Although 20th Century Fox prefer to create comedy/fantasy and family films because they are most popular and profitable, they also do create horror films. (This is relevant because my group are producing a horror film.
• Some horror films that 20th Century Fox have created are: From Hell, Alien, The Omen, Jennifer's body, The Haunting Of Molly Hartley and Shutter.
• 20th Century Fox prefers to distribute horror films rather than produce them. If I was to pick 20th Century Fox as the institution for my film, they would be able to distribute my film worldwide.

Warner Bros

• Warner Bros is a global leader in the creation, production and distribution of all forms of creative content.
• Warner Bros produce and distribute a variety of films in different genres. From comedy, romance, fantasy, adventure, action and horror.
• The Warner Bros are dedicated to producing a variety of films to suit different types of audiences.
• Compared to 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros have produced more well-known, successful horror films.
• Some of the best horror films Warner Bros have created are: Orphan, Friday The 13th, One Missed Call, Sweeney Todd, The Wicker Man and House Of Wax.
• Since Warner Bros have produced and distributed more horror films than 20th Century, and they were more successful, I would choose Warner Bros to distribute mine as they have more experience with horror films.

Universal Pictures

• Universal Pictures creates and distributes theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment.
• Like 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures prefer to focus on creating films on the drama, romance and adventure genre. The reason they focus on these genres is because their films that are most successful are within this genre.
• Some of the well-known horror films created and distributed by Universal Pictures are as followed: Drag Me To Hell, The Strangers, Dead Silence and Dracula.
• Universal Pictures experience with horror films isn't as promising as Warner Bros, so if I was to choose now which institution I'd like to use for my horror film out of the three I've looked at, I'd still choose Warner Bros.

Lionsgate

• Lionsgate produce and distribute motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment and family entertainment.
• The majority of Lionsgate's films were in the same film genre and these genres are drama, action and thriller.
• Horror films are produced often by Lionsgate, some better known than others. The best horror films produced and distributed by Lionsgate are: Saw 3D, Saw 1/2/3/4/5/6, The Last Exorcism, My Bloody Valentine and The Eye.
• However, Lionsgate has only had success with their horror films in the past 5 years.
• Clearly, horror films are not Lionsgate's strongest genre to produce and distribute as they have only just had recent success. Therefore I would not choose this institution.

Hammer Films

• Hammer Films is best known for a series of Gothic Horror films produced between the mid-1950s until the 1970s.
• Hammer Films would be a great institution to use as they focus all their production on horror films. Some of their best produced and well-known films are: The Curse Of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and The Phantom Of The Opera.
• The 4 other institutions were all American based, however Hammer Films is British based.
• Compared to the 4 American institutions, this British institution is definitely a smaller company. Lionsgate, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros are all huge successful companies which have been running continuously for years, unlike Hammer Films.
• Another difference between them is that Hammer Films is better for producing independent films and the American companies produce mainstream films.

Out of all the 5 institutions I have looked at, the best to represent my film would be Hammer Films. The reason for this is that Hammer Films specialise in producing and distributing horror films and they have a lot more experience in the field. But also, because they prefer to create independent films, it would be more suited for our film as it would be cheaper to produce and since they specialise in creating horror films, they will use the right settings, characters, costumes, props etc.

Tribes

After taking the test, it is apparent our perfect audience member would be a townie. 

Clothing wise, townies often wear clothing from stores on the high street - Primark, New Look, River Island, Top Shop etc. 

Townies live for Saturday night shows such as The X Factor, Britains Got Talent etc. They enjoy fast food/takeaways while they're watching these shows.

Townies like to listen to chart music, they like to be up to date with all the coolest songs. Singers vary from Ellie Goulding to Sam Smith.

Townies live for the weekends - they like to go to local places like the pub then hit the clubs.

9 key shots

- Note: music is being played throughout the nine shots.

The film that I have chose within my genre to show the main key shots is The Black Swan. All the shots are important because it shows a story within the story of the film.

The first shot is a key shot because it introduces the title of the film. The colours used are fitting, the use of the colour denotes innocence which is exactly what the main character is portraying. However, the black background denotes to the unknown.

The second shot is of the main character that is significant in the film. You can tell her importance almost immediately by her being in the middle of the shot with the light centring on only her.

The third shot is a close up of her feet. This shot is key because it shows the audience what the film is about - dancing. I chose this shot because it is important to the storyline. The use of the close up also signifies it's importance.

The fourth shot is of her in the middle of dancing. It's a key shot because she is in the centre and you're now able to see her costume. The lighting again denotes her importance as a character.

The fifth shot is a key shot because we're now being introduced to the next character. This character is sneaking up on her while she is unaware, the fact that he is dressed in black signifies power and control, it is intimidating and unfriendly. An over the shoulder shot is used.

The sixth shot is a close up of the female characters face with the male character just behind her. The close up allows the audience to see her emotions and reactions. It's a key shot because it shows us something is just about to happen.

The seventh shot is the encounter between the two taking place. It is an important shot because it is the one where it leads to the final outcome. Both characters are now in the lighting.

The eighth shot is when the main character finally becomes who she wants to be (the swan) after defeating the evil antagonist. It's a key shot because this shot is when she changes costume on screen although she is still in white.

The ninth shot is another close up of the protagonist. We can see her emotions here clearly.