character development

For my Character sophie:

ellen page

She is a very vunerable young girl there is no two sides to her, shes simpley a young school girl trying to work out life. When i was trying to create her personality and character i needed to decide exactly what her intentions where because i one of my genre focus films the young girl who is talking to the olderman on the internet in (HardCandy) Ellen Page plays a girl who we think first is the victim but it turns around that she was the one watching him knowing he was a pedophile and she was stopping at nothing to stop him. Ending the film with her(The little girl) having all the power of the protagonisits. This is not what i wanted my character to be like. I wanted her simpley the victim she had no other intentions so i think the best character you could compare my character to is the 14-year-old Annie in the film TRUST.

             Character Annie

This character is the victim throughout the whole film, this is a comparrision to my character. She is at school, only 14 years old and she only began talkin online to a guy when she got a laptop for her birthday.  her life becomes a nightmare however she doesnt die whereas my character doesnt get out so lightly. My character is the focus of this film So her part is cruical to play and my actress i have choosen must know exactly how she is meant to be, My actress for the role of 'Sophie' Is called Jessica. She is infact 14 years old which helps her to have a more relation to the character:

 

FOR MY UNKNOWN PHSYCO CHILD KILLER 'ONLINE' MAN:

For my man it was quite hard to relate him to any character as we never see his face and he never speaks to he is this unkown figgure who could infact be anyone. I wanted him to be a mystery which makes the trailer that bit scarier because we dont know who's she's dealing with. The hood up is to create that mystery and because you cant see his face you feel almost threatned, think if i was a lonly long round or a dark night and you saw someone with his hood up following you, you would feel very vunerable and threatened rather then someone whos face you can see. Look at how intimidating these three guys look with their hoods up:

Its the unknown which scares us. This is exactly what i want my man character to have. Mystery, unknowing and to feel threating and creepy.

Film Classification.

The BBFC classifies the submitted works of films and other media related products in one of the following categories:



The certificate that is given is a guidance on how the main issues (for example, sex and violence) are demonstrated and applied from ‘U’ through to ‘R18’. This is a very important part of the film as it distinguishes the audiences and works out what film is suitable for certain people as you wouldn't show a 'horror' for instance to a young child who watches Disney films. Its common sense but as well it vital for films to have to right certificate otherwise it could jeopardise the reputation of the film itself. Leaving a poor review and less viewers.The British board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental and funded by the fee's it charges people who submit their films and video works for the classification. This is various video works which include; video games, films, programmes released on DVD or blu-ray, or which is distributed by the downloads or streaming on the Internet. The local authorities who license cinemas under the 'licensing Act 2003' are classified on behalf by the BBFC. The video works are released and classified as video recordings under the video recordings act(1984).The importance here is that the BBFC will not classify material which it believes to be in breach of the criminal law. The BBFC takes its responsibilities appropriately particularly in order to protect the children from any harm which may be caused. This is done by; if the film/video work is inappropriate in certain parts the BBFC can cut the film but if it is inappropriate through all of it, it can in fact be rejected. Before allowing a child to view a work, parents are advised to consider carefully the classification. The BBFC regularly updates its guidelines. These Guidelines are the product of consultation, research and the experience of the BBFC over many years.  This is who reflects on DVD's, films and video games regulations. The certificate for a film is important to the audiences who watch it, anything classed incorrectly could be prosecuted for allowance of a younger person to watch something inappropriate to the usual films they watch.

FILMS WITH THE CERTIFICATES:

Finding Nemo is classified as a 'U' Because it is suitable for all ages, a U film is for any age their is no old restriction and very young children can watch it with their parents knowing nothing obscene and inappropriate like sexual references or swearing would be shown or said. Perfect family friendly film.

Cats and Dogs is classified as a 'PG' this means it is suitable for all ages once it has had parental guidance from the child's parents as some parts in the film could be seen as slightly to suitable for a young audience depending on how the parents feel as everyone is different.

The Dark Knight is classified as a '12' this means the film is only suitable for a child 12 years old and older. With a DVD to have the certificate of 12 means any child younger then this cannot buy or rent a DVD with a classification of '12'.

With 12A, this certificate is only given to films when showing in the cinema for a adult can take a child younger than 12 to the cinema if they accompany them. Once changed to a DVD is classified as a 12.

Pretty woman has been classified as a '15', this means that anyone younger then 15 cannot watch this film in the cinema and cannot buy or rent a 15 if they are younger then the age. This is because it will have more violence and sexuality in it then say a 'PG' or a family 'U' would have.

The Godfather is the highest certificate you can give as it has a much more detailed violence and sexual acts that can only be seen by 18 year olds or older in the cinemas and only an 18 year old or older can buy or rent an cert 18.

The R18 is the same as an 18 in the UK etc it is only classified as a R18 in America.

Institutional context research into film companies and YouTube.

UK Film studios.

BBC films is a british company, and is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It produces and co-Produces some of the most successful british films, It makes strong British Films with range and ambition, bringing the best of the British talent to audiences. BBC Films is at the forefront of British Independent Filmmaking, and co-produces around eight films a year, the BBC film works in partnership with major international and UK distributors. The head of BBC films is Christine Langan, She is responsible for the development and production slate, strategy and business operations. Many of these Successful British films include; Street dance 3D (the first ever 3D movie britain had ever made), Fish tank, An education, Stage beauty, Nativity, Match point, A Cock and bull Story and many others.

Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, It is owned and operated by Channel 4. It has been involved in making many films in the UK. Film4 didn't originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters on its channel. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor. Channel 4 owns a film production company, 'Film4 productions', It shows many of its in-house productions. Productions include:  Four weddings and a funeral which is a British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell starring Hugh Grant, Awarding winning Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, directed by Danny Boyle.

WorkingTitle Is a British film production company based in london. The company was founded by Sarah Radclyffe and Tim Bevan in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, This includes film star comic actor Rowan Atkinson. Eric Fellner and Bevan are now the co-owners of the company. This company is the one behind the box office hits including films like shaun of the Dead, although the working title was contractually allowed to produce any film with a budget of up to $25 million. WorkingTitle is located in London, and is known for having a limited number of employees. The company also has other offices located in Los Angeles, and Ireland.

Aardman Animations, Ltd. is a british animation studio which is based in Bristol, UK. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring plasticine characters 'Wallace and Gromit'. However this studio successfully entered the computer animation market with 'Flushed Away'. this Studio was founded in 1976 as a low budget project by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who wanted to realise their dream of producing an animated motion picture. The partnership provided animated sequences for the BBC series for deaf children, With Aardman Animations their hit animation 'Wallace and Gromit' a comical pair, with the character Wallace being a naive english green-knitted-tank top wearing inverntor and good old Gromit being his intelligent best friend but silent dog Became a huge hit for the studios.



 

USA Film Studios

Columbia Pictures is an american film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia Tristar motion picture group, This is owned by Song Pictures Entertainment. Columbia is one of the leading film companies in the world and it is also a member of the so-called 'Big Six' The Big six is a major film studio that is a distribution company and movie production that releases a substantial number of films. It is consistently commanding a significant share of the box-office in the given market. Columbia was also one of the 'Little Three' which was among the eight major film studios of hollywood in its golden age.

Warner Bro's.  Is an American Studio producer of film and television entertainment. Warner Bro's is situated in various places with its headquaters in Burbank, California and New York. It is one of the major film studios, It has serval companies that make up Warner Bro's 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 Comics. Basically Warner osn half of the CW television network. The company is made up of the Founders who are of course all brothers 'the Warners' who are; Jack Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner. A very Successful company.

MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.) Is an American Media Company which is just involved in the production and distribution of films and television programes. it was founded in 1924, when an entertainment entreprenueur Gained control of the Metro Pictures his name was; Marcus Loew. He also gained control of Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. The company is an independent, privately-held motion picture, television home video, and theatrical production and distribution company. It does infact own the world's largest library of modern films, Which comes to approximately 4,000 titles, and it has over 10,500 episodes of television programming. The film library has infact received over 200 Academy Awards. This means that it is one of the largest award-winning collections in thw world. The films this company has been involved in is very famous films like; James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky. Recently however on the date of; November the 3rd 2010. MGM unfortunatly filed for a chapter 11 bankruptcy. The headquaters for this company is in the the Century City in Los Angeles.

Universal Studios is again one of the Six Majoy Movie Studios. It is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal. It is one of the oldest American film studios which is still in production today. It was founded by Carl Laemmle in 1912. The production stuiods are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. However this distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal is the second longest lived hollywood studio today, The company Viacom is only oldest by a month which is owned my paramount Pictures. The company Universal creates and distributes theatrical and non-theatrical filmed entertainment. Its high quality and diverse product mix is delivered to the growing global marketplace through a variety of internally developed titles, co productions etc. It has achieved many successful films with' Atonement, The Bourne Ultimatum, King Kong, Brokeback Mountain and many more. Universal has some key relationships with some of the worlds finest filmmakers and production companies. In 2008 Universal Pictures had the most successful year in the studios history with the box office hitting films like; The Incredibles, Hulk, Wanted, Mamma Mia. and The Mummy:Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor which all exseeded the $100 million mark in the ticket sales.

Dreamworks Pictures is an American Film studio which develops, Produces and distributes films it also does video games and television programming. It has produced some of the most successful films within the Box-Office some totalling to more than $100 million each. It was founded and began in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Dreamworks animation arm was spun off in 2004 into 'Dreamworks Animation SKG. Its films were distributed worldwide by paramount however the animation studio remained independant of paramount/Viacom. This studio has had finanicial success with its movies, mostly specifically animated movies. It has produced some of the highest grossing animated hits of all time such as; Shrek, Antz, Shrek the third, shrek Forever after, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and many more. So based on this films success. DreamWorks Animation has spun off as its own publicily traded company.

Paramount Pictures. Is Again an American Film production and Distribution Company. It is located at '5555 Merlrose Avenue' In Hollywood. It was founded and currently owned by the Media Conglomerate Viacom which founded it in 1912. It is infact America's oldest exsisting film studio and is the last major film studio still headquatered in the Hollywood District of Los Angeles. In all areas it has robust and multi-faced divisions including digital, home entertainment, network and cable television distribution, Studio operations and consumer products and recreation. The company has a global business which has operations including paramount pictures international, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Licensing, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Studio Group and WorldWide Television Distribution. Paramount has inface established a distribution deal with iconic comic book creator, Marvel Entertainment and reowned animated film producer, DreamWorks animation.

Youtube is a video sharing site, which anyone can make a free account and upload videos of their choices. It was created by Three Former PayPal Employees in February 2005.It is situated and based in San Bruno, California. It uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technology to display a wide variety of an user generated video content which includes movie clips, tv clips, music videos and amateur viedos. Most of youtube is uploaded and used by individuals however media corporations like; CBS, BBC, VEVO, Hulu which all offer some of their material via the site as a part of the youtube partnership programe. People who are unregistered to youtube can still watch the videos. Some videos are for users 18 years and older and to be sure your that age you would have to create a site for that video if you wanted to watch it. In novemeber 2006 youtube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for US$1.65 billion and now operates as a subsidiary of google.

The Walt Disney Studios is a very well known company it is been said it is the 'happiest place on earth' It is full of every childs dreams with its cartoons and characters and its bright coloured image. The company started in 1923 which began in the rear of a small office occupied by 'Holly-Vermont Realty' In Los Angeles. It was infact at this place where walt disney and his brother Roy produced a series of short live-action/animated films which were called the Alice Comedies. The rent for this small office was only $10 a month. But however within about four months the growing staff for this company had moved next door the larger facilities. Moving onto a year later in 1925 the Disney team put on a deposit for the Hyperion Avenue lot which is situated in the Silver Lake District of Low Angeles. Disney is home to the most iconic characters and cartoons of our history and the most famous charcter 'Mickey Mouse' was made in 1928, which then followed by our other great well known characters; Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, and the rest of the Disney Gang.

20th Century Fox (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) Is infact one of the six Major American film studios as of 2011. The company is located in the century city area of Los Angeles. The company and studios is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. It was origally founded by William Fox in just 1915 but then was founded in 1933 by a few men by the names; Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck, Raymond Griffth and William Goetz. But the recent founder was in may the 31st in 1935. It has many popular films we all know and love; Star wars, Planet of the apes, Avatar, X-men, Dolittle and many other films it also has many very successful tv shows including; Family guy and american dad. Im sure you regonise the name Shirely Temple as she was one of the most famous actors to come out of this studio. It also has other big names like; Marilyn Monrow, Jayne Mansfield and Betty Grable etc. Fox have had various successful production partners which include names like;  SpyGlass Entertainment, Lightstorm Entertainment, 1492 Pictures, lucasfilm, Village Roadshow Pictures, Dunne Entertainment and many more. This company piloted now by Rupert Himself has become a very successful film corporation.

Research into Soundtracks. all Copyright free sources.

For my soundtrack to my teaser trailer we are not allowed to use mainstream or any music that is not copyright free. So this is where i have to take into my research to find websites that consist of copyright free sounds and music that will fit the genre of my trailer and the shots the right way. For music is crucial for a trailer especially when it is a thriller for the audience needs the suspense.

www.freesound.org Is the website i found that has all the free sounds, some of which are perfect for my teaser trailer.

This website had thriller and horror sounds as well as many other different type of sounds all free and copyright free for me to choose.

In our trailer i have decided to use the sounds:

'ErdieBreathe'


'Ambience02'


'Reverse clang'


'breath_comp-piece2'


All of these four clips i downloaded from this site is what i use in our teaser trailer. All the other sounds i felt did not fit our trailer, they had horror screams which wasn't suitable, robotic horror/thriller which didn't fit our trailer but the ones i found i felt it contrasted with our visual images well.


MY SOUNDTRACK RESEARCH TO OTHER FILMS:

 'HARD CANDY'

The soundtracks included:

Elephant Women by blondeRedHead.

AND

freak by LFO


Both of these songs that are included in this films soundtracks have no contrast to my teaser trailer at all for my teaser trailer consists of atmospheric sounds rather than a song or ballad. I have come to the conclusion because of our teaser trailer having the soundtrack of sounds rather than music it has a different approach and not many trailers have this.

Research into influencers.

David Slade is one inspirational practitioner for me as he is the director of the film i have took a lot of feedback and style from (hard Candy). He started out as a maker of music videos for artists like; Muse, System of a Down, Tori Amos, Stone Temple Pilots, Rob Dougan and Aphex Twin. Hard Candy was in fact his first feature film and he really dug in deep to the real social situation his film had giving it a twisted turn and a ending you wouldn't forget. I like how he uses various shots including fast 1 sec shots to a long stretched out shot. His Camera has that realism natural feel to it giving it a side track away from mainstream and giving it its own look. Hard Candy was released in 2005. He kept it under $1 million so that the company who was investing wouldn't ask to make changes so that he could have his film his way. what i like with only a couple of lines modified in post-production. Only nine minutes of music are present in the film, with ambient sounds, such as heavy breathing, making up most of the soundtrack, The film was shot in eighteen and a half days, largely in sequence, and mostly on a sound stage. I am not allowed to use charted music in my film and it must be copyrighted free sounds so the fact that David has used many sounds to make up his soundtrack similizes to my teaser trailer making my influenza a very beneficial one.

Danny Boyle is known and famous for his natural social realist looks in films, showing the gritty truth of problems faced today. He doesn't tiptoe round the edges when it comes to making films and this is why he is very influential to me. His film trainspotting was a low key independent low budget film which made millions and made his name in the film industry, the reason this film is so successful is the rawness and He goes beyond the drug addiction to its serious effects and he also explores the urban poverty and squalor in 'culturally rich' Edinburgh. My film i wanted to have that independent look and both these influenza's use it in their films this is why they are ideal for me to research these two filmmakers.

Catherine Hardwicke became one of my influenza's when i saw her independent film 'Thirteen' It really was a successful low budget film where she and a younger 15 year old girl collaborated to making the script and film such a success. The film follows this young innocent girl who befriends a girl who ends up making her life a misery, this girl who makes her life a wreak is manipulative and crazy. The camera she uses has that gritty look just like my other influences and it shows more realism and this is exactly what i want my teaser trailer to put across in my coursework. She went on to direct the first 'twilight' film which made millions and because she is such a perfectionist she turned down to direct the second film for the producers wanted to get it out and realised within a year and she wanted more time. She is not a half hearted film maker in the slightest.

audience research.

This is our audience Research Questionnaire.

The standard questions such and 1,2, and 3 are just to get the basic information about the individual. Question 4 was designed to see how many of our target audience would actually watch our film in the cinema and therefore be susceptible to our teaser trailer.

As our film is about online predators we designed question 5 to see how many of our target audience had kids, if we found that the majority did, then we could play on this by emphasising the element of danger and setting the film up in the trailer as almost a cautionary tale as this would entice parents to see it as it would be in their best interests.

 Question 6 was included as we wanted to know how many of our target audience were regular cinema go-ers, if they weren't that would mean the maybe we would need to make our teaser less ambiguous and more enticing as they would need to know more about the film in order to judge whether they would go to the cinema and see it as it would not usually be a regular thing for them.

Question 7 was designed to see what the most popular genre of film is most popular with our target audience, by knowing this we could add elements of the most popular genre in to our teaser, for example if horror was most popular, then we would add scarier clips in to the trailer to appeal to the majority.
Question 8 helped us see which was the most enticing form of advertisement , whilst question 9 can us insight in to how our audience consumes films as well as three thrillers which they previously saw, this meant that we could analyze them, pick out and mimic the key elements of their trailers.

Question 10, was designed to help us gain insight directly in to what our audience expect from a thriller and question 11, told us what they liked most.

Question 12, helped us establish what our audience thought the most important element of a thriller was so that we could incorporate that as a main element of our trailer.



PIE CHARTS OF OUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

 

 

We also carried out a controled find your tribe online surevey to determine what kinds of people our target audience were..

 

 

 

ONLINE. (The script of the teaser trailer)

FINAL SCRIPT USED:

EXT. OUTSIDE 
- SOPHIE IS WALKING BACK FROM SCHOOL DOWN A ROAD.

A CU shot of her face listening to her earphones. We hear the song playing. we have sounds of the wind and her breathing.
As we watch her walking we see a stranger following her in the background, standing on a stone path his footsteps make a noise and Sophie hears it ( her breath heavy with panic).

sounds stops.

BLACKOUT - A long held note creates a gloomy feel.




INT - A COMPUTER SCREEN.

We see an instant message conversation between Sophie and a Man.

We hear the sound of the computer key board.

*
(flash change) cuts to -
Sophies phone *ringing* "MrstrongCalling..."

(flash change) to -

EXT - BUS STOP.

Sophie is sat on a bus stop bench, and man's figure is brought into shot.

CUTS TO -

Two cups clunking together in "cheers"

Sophie

You think you know someone, but you learn to realise nothings simple anymore. Things are not what they seem. 

CUTS TO -

sophie drinking out of her cup, the mans hand strokes her hair off her face. She smiles.

Sophie

...and i learnt the hard way. My fairy tale had turned into a horror.

(FLASH CHANGE) CUTS TO -

draw opens, inside is a rope, duct tape, sicssors and a needle/pills.

Music heavy (gloomy.) 

BLACKOUT -  We hear screaming, breaking glass objects, struggle, heavy breathing.

*

(FLASH CHANGE) TO -

INT - INSIDE A HOUSE

Sophie is running into a room before shutting the door behind her, she looks scared. Sophie locks the door and runs to the other side of the room. 

WE HEAR THE DOOR KNOCKING AND THE DOOR KNOB MOVING. (the man is trying to get her)

Sophie see's a wardrobe and runs into it, She hides inside and the man breaks the door and looks round the room for her.

WE HEAR HEAVY BREATHING FROM HER AND HIM AND WE HEAR HIS FOOTSTEPS.

EXT - TRAIN STATION

We see Sophie sat on a bench at the train station. A train passes. We see Sophie looking around. We spot a unusual character on the other platform, when train passes he disappears.

BLACKOUT - PHONE RINGS* 

Sophie (v.o)

hello?

MUSIC BEGINS

CREDITS.

THE END

A brief synopsis on 'ONLINE':

Online is about a 14 year old girl who is just making her way through school and her young teenage years. However she begins to talk to an online stranger whom she met on an online chatting site. She begins talking to him for a long time before things start becoming a bit unusual and he starts to say things that scare Sophie. She agrees to meet him not thinking and her worst nightmare begins for he is actually a psyco child killer who has many mental problems. He likes to torture and scare girls once he befriends them then eventually kills them. Sophie has to think hard and fast about escaping when she eventually gets trapped inside his house. The question is will she get out or is this the end of her.

DRAFTS# OF SCRIPT:

(Click on images to enlarge)