Thursday 26 September 2013

Second pitch ideas


These are the ideas of which we started to form the basis of our second pitch around. The planning allowed us to know which points we would need to highlight in our presentation and which aspects need further development before they will be convincing as an idea.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Detailed idea

Our story revolves around the relationship between a young boy and his favourite inanimate object, his Lego. The boy has no friends and spends almost all of his time in his bedroom playing with his lego, constructing his own fantasy world in order to gain back some of the control over his life that has been removed by his control freak of a mother. The boy's lack of friends and social life has very little to do with his lack of ability to make friends or a lack of people wishing to be his friend, he simply prefers the controllable relationship that he has with his Lego.

At the beginning of the story the young boy is a stereotypical 'Mummy's boy' who always does his mother's bidding and adheres to her wishes and demands no matter how controlling or unreasonable they may seem. This is reflected in the cleanliness and tidiness of his room and the pristine condition of his clothes and hair at all times, despite this being far from the norm when it comes to a young boy. The mother clearly adores her young son and still talks to him as if he were a toddler suggesting that she has a real fear of him growing up, perhaps explaining her need to be a control freak when it comes to parenting and disciplining the boy. Although the mother will not be shown much throughout the story her influences will be clear; whether it is through the boy's homework being done early instead of on time or a plate of food being sat in the boy's room 'just in case he gets hungry'.

Throughout the story the boy will be shown to be slowly growing tired of his mother's control of him and small acts of rebellion will begin to occur. Initially it will only be something small such as him leaving his bed unmade once he gets up in the morning, however, these acts of rebellion will soon get larger and more and more obvious. His emotions during this turbulent time will be shown through the world that he constructs using his Lego until he eventually snaps and, as the ultimate act of rebellion, he destroys all that he has constructed never to touch it again.

The act of him destructing everything that he has made shows him finally destroying the control which his mother has had over him up to that stage in his life. It will be at this stage that the story will end, leaving the audience on a cliff hanger but also suggesting that the boy will be leading a life free of his  mother's obsessive control from this point onwards.

Second pitch powerpoint



We decided to create a powerpoint in order to be able to convey our idea more clearly and more professionally during our second pitch. We looked in detail at the perspective from which the film will be shot, the set, cinematography, costume and music in order to show how we intend to convey our story.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Inanimate object ideas



I started to look at ideas for what object the young boy could develop a relationship with. I have started off by looking at generic toys and objects often associated with and enjoyed by young boys and the variety that there is available. Most of these objects/toys are easily accessible meaning that problems with accessing this prop should not be an issue. At the moment I am liking the idea of using either a fire truck, lego or teddy bear as the object. I will look at those objects in more detail in a later post.

Location ideas


As I started to think of possible locations for my story to be placed, I started to think of how the boy would be spending so much time in his bedroom (due to his lack of social life). This led me to start to look further into the different styles of young boys' bedrooms as I do not have much experience in this area myself. Due to the boy's control freak mother, I imagine that his room would be relatively bare and immaculately clean and ordered. I had a brief thought of the boy having an extremely messy and cluttered room as an act of rebellion towards his mother, however, I soon dismissed this as, at the boy's age, it is likely that his mother would take charge of keeping the room neat and tidy.

The main colour schemes that I identified in the bedrooms that I researched were blue of all shades, cream, orange, yellow, red and white; expectedly steering away from the generic 'girly' colours like pink and purple etc. 

Idea outline

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Research into sub-genres

Psychodrama

A Streetcar Named Desire




I was completely unaware of this sub-genre until I started to research the different sub-genres of drama. Although this film is relatively old and in black and white it shows the clear theme of varying degrees of psychosis throughout the film. I feel that this sub-genre would be extremely interesting to work with as it provides such an interesting basis for a range of stories. I am very interested in using this sub-genre for my trailer.

Crime

The Shawshank Redemption



Crime films are certainly an interesting one to consider as they can cover such a wide variety of topics. I wouldn't say that I'm particularly interested in doing a trailer that is entirely crime based as I do not feel like I'd be able to create a convincing story.

Romance

The Notebook




Romance would be very easy to pull off, however, I feel that it could appear very generic and cheesy if the plotline was not interesting and exciting. It does, however, provide me with quite a wide creative potential as there is such a wide spectrum of stories that I could use and create. It is, however, very hard to be original with romance films as they have mostly all been done before. 

Comedy

Silver Linings Playbook



Comedy is a very easily accessible sub-genre of drama as many films contain aspects of it, no matter how big or small. With that being said, it is very hard to write a good comedy script that is completely original as it is a hard genre to write for. This means that the end result is likely to be unprofessional and amateur. It may be possible for me to include parts of this sub-genre in my trailer, however, it would be unwise of me to attempt to create an entirely comedy based trailer concept.

Tragedy

Titanic



Tragedy films rely a lot on the temperament of the viewer and their personal experiences as to whether it will affect them. This means that it would be very hard to pull off well and write a professional script for with extremely in-depth research into the potential target audience. If pulled off well it could be a very professional finished product,  however, on my budget I am not sure that I will be able to achieve this. 

Pitch feedback

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Thinking about genres

I have looked at several genres in-depth to allow me to make the best decision on the genre of my film trailer. From just looking at the genres I have decided to rule out sci-fi and horror as, on my budget, I feel that it would be unrealistic to hope to be able to create a trailer in one of these genres effectively and to create a professional result. 

This leaves me with comedy and drama. I believe that I can create a professional and effective trailer for both as the budget for these genres does not necessarily need to be high as the main focus-point of the trailer will be the quality of the script and the actor. Both of these things can be easily achieved and found on an immensely small budget.

COMEDY

Pros:

  • Very entertaining if executed correctly in terms of script and performance.
  • Minimal props needed usually (although this doesn't help with me showing my ability to construct mise-en-scene).
  • Gives vast creative freedom in terms of the script writing and the kinds of characters involved in the trailer.
  • Actors suitable to play comedic roles are usually easily accessible.
  • A very popular film genre among a large variety of audiences, will appeal to a large group of people. 
Cons:
  • Needs a very strong idea.
  • Easy to execute incorrectly in which case it often appears amateur and unprofessional.
  • Script usually needs the knowledge of someone who is familiar with the comedy genre or there are great risks of it appearing amateur. 
  • Not suitable in terms of addressing certain things e.g. if you want to create something hard-hitting then this is usually not achieved through a comedy.
  • Depending on the theme there is a significant risk of something coming across or being construed in a negative way. 
DRAMA

Pros:
  • Huge creative potential to write a script on a broad spectrum of topics and themes.
  • The most likely genre to look professional as an end result.
  • Has the potential to be the easiest trailer to execute correctly which will, as stated earlier, create a more professional finished product.
  • Actors suitable for the drama genre are usually easily accessible, the only main defining point for character is usually gender.
  • A very popular film genre among a large variety of audiences, will appeal to a large group of people.
  • Props needed are usually easily accessible and cheap to obtain.
Cons:
  • If the idea for the script is not genuinely original the trailer may seem generic.
  • Can sometimes seem weak if not executed correctly to a large extent which will result in an unprofessional finished product.

Initial thoughts on genre


To allow me to make the best decision with regards to genre I decided to look at what each genre would entail for me if I were to make a film trailer of that genre. What became clear was that budget and availability of actors would be a major factor in how effectively I could create a trailer. This will effectively lead to me needing to decide how passionate I am about a genre as, if it is unlikely that I will be able to create a professional looking trailer in a certain genre, it is a better idea that I look at and explore the possibility of attempting other genres. 

Sunday 1 September 2013

Initial Mood Board


I have created this mood board as a start for further research into the drama genre. I am interested in producing a drama trailer and feel that the films shown in my mood board cover the drama genre spectrum, therefore enabling me to see all of the elements and conventions that are involved in drama posters, some of which can be transferred into my trailer.