Film Pitch Presentation

Pitch for ‘Dyers List’ from Joseph Dunkerley

Title Generators

As part of the process of selecting a title for our film, I used a variety of online movie title generators for inspiration. Unfortunately I was unable to find a one which was suitable for the type of film my group had in mind. This was because the majority of the title generators which I were able to find were not solely intended for actual film naming processes, but were designed with comedic purposes in mind.

(http://phrasegenerator.com/actionmovies)

The first title generator which I used was ‘Action Movie Title Generator’. I used this website because the film which I am creating shall be a hybrid genre combining crime, action and thriller elements. This website generates a range of ‘movie titles’ by combing two action related words from a large word bank which they have created. I found these titles to be unusable as they seemed either too generic or unfitting for my film. I believe that these titles were more intended for fully action movies such as Rambo and Die Hard. As can be seen in the screenshot, one of the titles which the website generated for me was ‘Fatal Punishment’.

(http://www.gandronics.com/bmovie.php)

The next generator that I used was called “B-Movie Title Generator”. Unfortunately the titles which it was able to produce were fairly limited and lacked quality. As shown in the screenshot, it came up with overly generic titles such as ‘The Gangsters’. This was not the sort of thing that my group members and I were looking for and we ended up not using any of the titles.

(http://www.hanttula.com/exhibits/b-movie-title-generator/)

The next generator used was also called ‘B-Movie Title Generator’. It provided a wider range of titles than the previous generator, but the titles which it came up with were too specific and ridiculous. Also the titles seemed to be primarily science fiction and horror based. One of the titles generated was ‘Revenge of the blood-thirsty space robots’. This site was clearly meant to produce only comical movie titles and was therefore not appropriate for use in our project.

(http://mdbenoit.com/rtg.htm)



The following title generator was simply named ‘Random Title Generator’. The good thing about this title generator was that it displayed six new titles each time, thus allowing for a faster time with less hassle. Unfortunately the majority of the titles were not suitable as they were primarily fantasy based and our trailer is to be for a crime and action movie.

We ended up deciding not to use any of the titles that were generated as the vast majority of them were either unrelated to the genre or undesirable. Instead of using title generators to create the title of the movie, we simply had to come up with a selection of names ourselves.

Music Selection

In preparation for the trailer I am going to make, my group and I have selected a range of songs which we are considering using for our trailer. We have chosen to look at these songs before the actual filming and editing so as to get a general feel for the pacing and mood of the trailer.

These are the songs which have been considered:

 

Royksopp - Keyboard milk

This song had a steady build up and a nice pacing to it. In addition to this it gives the feeling of a journey and is gives the feeling that it would work well in a trailer for an action movie. My group felt that it was fitting and have decided that we shall definitely try using it in our trailer. The only issue that we may encounter with the song is copyright protection. Copyrighted music would be bad as we would be risking the possibility of the video being removed from youtube due to copyright protection. This would result in us failing the course.

Radiohead - Everything in its right place




This song sounded very appealing and had a good pace. However we ended up feeling that it was too light-hearted to be in a trailer for an action movie and was therefore inappropriate for usage. Another of the negative aspects of the song was the vocals as they would confuse the message our trailer was giving. 

Caspa - Cockney Thug Remix

This song was suggested due to its catchy rhythm and tune. It gave us the feeling that we were looking for but unfortunately we decided not to use it. This was decided due to the use of swear words and the excessive repetition of the melody. The swearing would limit the audiences that the trailer was able to reach as it would not be allowed to be shown on a range of different television channels and at a selection of film viewings.


Pegboard Nerds - Razor Sharp

The group decided that this song was simply too intense for the trailer and would thus lower the overall quality of the film. In addition to the intensity, the vibe felt too positive at parts which made a weak contrast to the rest of the song. If we used it the trailer would end up lacking credibility as we would be unable to produce a product which fitted suitably with the song.


Professor Murder - Free Stress Test

The group liked this song very much so. However it was far too upbeat and positive for consideration in the video. If we were doing a slightly less dark production then this song would be very fitting for the trailer. Another issue faced was the possibility of copyright problems as the song is highly recognizable.


Birdy Nam Nam - Cadillac Dreams

This song fitted well with the setting of our trailer. Unfortunately the pacing was inappropriate and the lyrics were completely unrelated to the film trailer. If we had focused more so on the drug aspect of a action/crime film then this song would have definitely had more of a chance of being used.

Pre-Production

Pre-production is the stage of producing a media product that comes before the actual filming (if it is a live action movie), shooting (if it is for photography) or drawing (if it is an animation). How the pre-production of a product is handled and what is included in it shall largely depend on the type of thing being created (e.g. live action movie, animation, photo or music) and the amount of work put into the pre-production shall largely depend on the team creating it. For example, the pre-production of a multimillion dollar blockbuster such as Avengers Assemble, The Great Gatsby or Life of Pi shall largely differ to that of a school student’s media studies film. The multimillion dollar productions will have enormous teams, incredibly detailed storyboards, professionally written scripts, thousands of actors to audition and choose from and massive budgets to pay for it all. Whereas the student’s production will likely have four or less team members, vague storyboards with room left for improvisation, possibly no script, only a few actors to choose from (are likely to act in their own films) and often no budget. As the product which I am soon to be tasked with shall be a live action trailer, not an animation, photograph or piece of music, below are some of the key points of pre-production of films.

Film:

Location scouting – the director or a team of people shall travel to a variety of different places so as to find a location which fits into the planned setting. The scouts will take picture of the locations and then later decide on their favourite area. This is vital as having a suitable location vastly adds to the believability of a film. For example, it would be far more suitable to film a horror movie scene in a dark forest then in a busy town centre. I myself have collected a set of pictures taken in the locations that I may potentially use in the trailer I am going to be working to produce, so far they have been extremely helpful as they have allowed to select the most fitting location for my work.

Prop and wardrobe identification and preparation – in films props and clothing choices are vital. Characters need costumes which fit with the setting and time period of the movie. For example, a medieval themed movie would be completely ruined if one of the actors were to be wearing Nike shoes and a modern hat; therefore planning needs to go into the designs of each persons outfits (even the extras, many of whom shall receive very little screen time). Also, props are needed to enhance the scenes and bring a film to life. For example, a battle scene in a world war setting would feel empty if there were no props (e.g. guns, knifes, vehicles, etc). However if the props are of a poor standard the film can lose credibility and overall quality (e.g. giving a cowboy a water pistol and a cheap plastic sheriff badge for a serious western standoff scene… unless the film were a comedy).

Special effects identification – It is necessary to identify what special effects are needed in a film before the scenes are shot as it allow the special effects teams to prepare themselves and decide whether or not it shall be possible to achieve.

Production schedule – Production schedules guide the crew as to when each section of the film is to be made and whether they are achieving their targeted dates. This is very important as it gives an indication as to when the movie shall be ready for release and when to publish trailers and other promotional materials.

Script – Scripts are one of the most important elements of films. Script tells the actors exactly what to say, when to say it and give them various stage directions. They are absolutely essential unless the film has been made to be improvised (for example Jackass and Borat). However a lot of contain short moments of improvisation, a brilliant example of this is the iconic line from the Shining in which Jack Nicholson shouts “Here’s Johnny” (a line made up on the spot whilst filming).

Marketing Research: Avengers Assemble

Film Title: Avengers Assemble

Release Dates:

USA – 11^th April 2012

UK – 26^th April 2012

Production Companies:

Marvel Studios

Paramount Pictures

Main Distributor:  Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Other Distributors:

Budget: $220,000,000

Gross: $1,511,757,910 Worldwide (29 December 2012)

Records:

(Click to enlarge)

Trailer:

Website:

Merchandise:

The Hook:

The Avengers combined the heroes (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Hulk) from four separate box office hits and combined them as a team in one movie. These super hero movies were already incredibly successful by themselves. Iron Man (2008) grossed $585,174,222 worldwide (2nd October 2008), The Hulk (2003) grossed $245,284,946 worldwide, Captain America (2011) grossed $368,608,363 worldwide (31 December 2011) and Thor (2011) grossed $449,326,618 worldwide. To build up excitement for the film, short teasers for The Avengers were released after the credits in each film.

Below are these scenes:

The Incredible Hulk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9cByNCQwXA

Iron Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnvHbetUSGo

Captain America -

Thor -




Posters:

Magazines:

Conventions:

Spin-off Series:

Film Marketing

This diagram shows various types of film marketing. They are as follows:

Trailers –

Trailers are a fantastic way of marketing films. They entice the audiences by displaying a preview of the films footage. This is generally done by displaying a sequence of exciting non-chronological scenes in a way which will give the audience an idea of what is happening but without giving away any major spoilers. As part of this media coursework we are tasked with making a trailer for a fictional film.

Promotions –

Promotions cover a wide range of different things and are important for getting the film publicity. This can include a large selection of possibilities such as giving away toys in cereal boxes and allowing discounts on film merchandise if the customer has purchased a certain item from another company e.g. a phone contract. Promotions often work both ways, advertising both the film being promoted and the product of the promoter. My group may consider using promotions for our film but it is unlikely to occur.

Festivals –

Festivals allow films to reach larger audiences as well as granting them the possibility of winning awards. Festival awards are massively positive for films as they give them extra recognition and cause a wider amount of people to want to see them. As the video we are creating for our coursework is only a trailer we will be unable to submit it to any movie festivals. However it may be useful to include fictional festival awards on the movie poster that we need to create.

Posters –

Posters are large static adverts which stir people’s interest in the films. They are often highly stylised and give a feel of what the movie is about. As one of the tasks of the coursework we are required to create a film poster. This provides an interesting opportunity for me as it’ll allow me to apply the image manipulation skills that I learnt last year to a new type of product.

Premieres –

Film premieres are the first time the films are shown publicly. They are often large events which are heavily publicised by the press. In addition to this the majority of the major actors often attend the event thus adding to the hype of them. Unfortunately we shall be unable to do a film premiere as our film is non-existent and is only in trailer format.

Media Advertising –

Media advertising is anything advertised in media format e.g. videos, written reviews and promotional images. Technically all of the final products that my group and I are creating will be a form of media advertising.

Merchandising –

Merchandising is selling products which are related to the film e.g. shirts with a quote from the film on them. Due to our production having no budget it is highly unlikely that we shall be able to do any merchandising for our film. However I would like to create a few mock-up designs for possible merchandise opportunities if I get a chance to.

The Internet –

The internet allows for global publication of content and is massively accessible countries with enough wealth. All of the work related to this project shall be posted to the internet, therefore my group and I will be partaking in marketing our product via the internet.

Film Reviews –

Film reviews display people’s opinions on the film. They can be either a positive or negative form of marketing. Positive reviews will attract a potential audience for the film, whereas negative reviews will mean that people are unlikely to want to go and see the film. Since we are only creating a trailer we shall not be able to have any legitimate film reviews. However we shall still be able to obtain feedback from people for the trailer.

Practise Video

In preparation for the upcoming task of creating a film trailer my group decided to create a short film. This short film was created to test a variety of different things. The main reason for the creation of the short film was to see how my project group members and I functioned together. We discovered that we were indeed able to function well as a group and be able to coordinate things efficiently and work correctly. It also gave us an insight into video editing as it allowed us to test out software that we were relatively new to. We decided to edit using a piece of software named Sony Vegas. As I was the most experienced with Sony Vegas I was able to show my other two group members the basics of editing as well as some more advanced techniques. Another skill with we were able to practise was audio manipulation and sound recording. This particular skill is displayed in the narration of the video, various sound effects and music changes.

Overall this small video project was a success. It introduced us to the basics of video editing and sound manipulation, as well as giving us a feel for how we were able to work together in a group. Hopefully the skills learned from this experience shall be of some use in the final project.