Film Production Mark

The mark you received at moderation for your Film Production is Level 3 - 45/60.

Targets: you need to improve the titles in your film - include the names of the actors, the editor, the producer and the director (in this order in the film). Add music to create suspense throughout the film - during tense moments and action.

Swan Song

Please note the last 13 seconds of the video is not part of our opening.

Swan Song - Video Diary - Filming

Swan Song - Guard 1 / Director interview

Swan Song - Guard 1 interview

Swan Song - Animatic Storyboard

Swan Song - Codes and Conventions

The codes and conventions of our film are similar to that of an action film, being fast-paced with fights and shoot-outs. Our film opening also has a chase scene. These are all typical, expected conventions in an action film. Another convetion of action films is that there is always a motive, this is similar to Swan Song as Dan (Grove) has a motive to kill Aran as is shown by the flashbacks while he is walking into the school. Lastly, one of the most common conventions of an action film that we have included in ours is death.

Swan Song - Documenting of Influences on Production

I picked up a video camera and really fell in love with making videos let alone films, which was the first real step into the film business. Prior to that I was absolutely in love with movies from a young age, I never thought about it as a career but when I picked up a camera I thought "is it possible" and I just started experimenting from there. Here are some things that have influenced me to make the film I have made:

Director - Steven Spielberg
Undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. Spielberg has countless big-grossing, critically acclaimed credits to his name, as producer, director and writer.He sets himself to be a good role model, as we aim to make our film as good as his.

Location– Therfield School

Using this location was convenient for us to use as my associate and me came up with the script, we would struggle to film it anywhere else. The school is a big location, we can get many types of shots in, and we used it to say that one of our main actors is back to education so it’s the college he attends.

Films

Skyfall, involves a lot of action, me, as the director of ‘Death of a Narcissist' believed that the newest James Bond film (Skyfall) is marvellous and we should follow the steps of it, if not, surpass it. There are a few other films such as The Bourne Ultimatum, and Casino Royale (another James Bond film) which include tremendous fight scenes, chases and more, these films inspired us and influenced us to direct an action film, the almighty ‘Death of a Narcissist'.

We have a broad range of films we're working on. We like to do a film, if you take for example ‘Death of a Narcissist' that is a film with a very specific demographic. We really wanted to make a film that pleased that younger adult mass and I am sure I will score incredibly high with that audience.

Swan Song - Actors

The actors in our film were selected carefully according to who we thought would fit the role the best. Eventually we came up with the actors for each role:

Daniel Malamud as Ross Grove. He has been chosen to act as one of the main actors in this film, although he doesn't have much experience in acting, he has taken the risk in directing and acting in this film. Giving him a massive amount of work to do. I believe this will be a good challenge for him. As he am willing to put a lot of hard work into this project.

 

 

Aran Alisiroglu as James Baker- Aran has acted in 'The Pursuer' previously to our 'Death of a Narcissist'. He is also currently involved with the new coming film 'Rise to the Top(RTTT)'. Aran has accepted a vital role in this film acting as the main antagonist, knowing this film will be a major hit and also suit this role as an actor, keeping his reputation up as an actor.

 

 

 

Zubin Parekh as Tré, Guard 1 - Zubin knows his art form, and he knows his drama. We are so lucky to have Zubin acting in our film, however small his role might be. He will be working as a guard. We chose Zubin for this part as he is better at the physical side of drama then the vocal part. He was the most physically able of all the actors who came to play the part, and seeming as the guard needs to be that.

 

                                                

 

Richard Young as Cameron Turner - previously starred in the Sins of the Martyr, Richard has accepted a small role in this film. Acting as on of the guards. Richard has recently starred in the Osiris Unbound, and has a very busy acting career ahead of him due to the reputation he has build in the films he has acted in.

                                             

 

Muhammed Rahman as Humza Alfieri - Guard number 3, directing ‘Empty Barrel’ and ‘Rise to the top’. Although having minor roles in both films, Muhammed, will have a minor role in 'Death of a Narcissist'.

 

Our Camera - Sony HDR-HC3 High Definition Camcorder

16:9 Recording Format: Yes

3 CCD Technic: No

3 Chip Technic: No

Chip Type: CMOS

Compact Flash Card: No

Depth in mm: 139

Digital Input: Yes

Digital Zoom (Ratio): 80

Firewire IEEE-1394 Interface: Yes

Handheld Position: Horizontal

Height (mm): 78

Highest Focal Length in mm: 505

Image Stabiliser: Digital Image Stabiliser

LCD Screen Size in Inches: 2.7

Lowest Focal Length in mm: 50.5

Maximum Aperture Tele: 2.9

Maximum Aperture Wide: 1.8

Maximum Pixel (in Megapixel): 2.1

Memory Stick: Yes

Multimedia Card: No

Optical Zoom (Ratio): 10

Photo Resolution Heigth in Pixel: 1728

Photo Resolution Width in Pixel: 2304

Resolution: High Definition

Secure Digital Card: No

Smart Media Card: No

USB Interface: Yes

Video System: Mini DV

Viewfinder: Yes

Weight in Grams: 510

Width (mm): 82

Wireless Interface: No

xD-Picture Card: No

Swan Song - Title Research

Below are some of the titles we were planning to include in our film;

This title was a possilbilty, but we are going to use a dark background, so black font colour won’t be seen well with it:



Alternatively, we can use a white font colour in order to make our title stand out more.

 

Again, black title, black background, wont work, although it was generally a good title, we unfortunatley dismissed it:

 

The type of audience that this font intends is people who are interested in drawing by hand. I think this because the letters itself look like someone has drawn them. The font is easy to read and again it is bold and clear. This font would suit a website/leaflet/poster etc aimed at children.

This title made the movie seem like it was a horror film. Our film genre is an action thriller and we dismissed this title:

 

Blog Tick List

RESEARCH	Done?	Comment?
Genre Research and mind-maps (3 posts)	Y
Uploaded YouTube videos of openings – analysed (10 openings)	Y
Opening titles analysed in detail – font researched	Y
Uploaded YouTube videos of similar genre openings analysed in detail (3 posts)	Y
Costume and location research – google earth and pictures you’ve taken. (At least 2 posts)	Y
Actors and props photos and interviews	Y
Soundtrack research (non-copyright music)	Y
Audience Research and Profiling (typical audience member and similar films)
Institution research (Paramount etc)	Y
Certificate research	Y
PLANNING
Own film idea brainstorm	Y
Own film treatment	Y
Relevant Online Tutorials (on filming and editing) and Comments (At least 2 posts)
Documenting of influences on production	Y
Shot lists	Y
Consideration of representation in your film and stereotyping – use theory from G325.
Questionnaire (and feedback) Get some feedback on your initial ideas!
Diary of filming/editing etc with photos and screen grabs (At least 3 posts)	Y
Mood board	Y
Script	Y
Practice titles created and uploaded	Y
Storyboard – animatic.	Y
Time Management Schedule – what you did& when, problems you encountered& solved
Codes and Conventions featured in your Opening Two Minutes	Y
Ensure that all posts have a title, detailed comments and relevant pictures which are commented on.	Y

Swan Song - Certificate

We decided that our film would have a certificate of 15, we chose this as for similar films that i have looked up, the audience are in the age range of 15-18, therefore it seems to make sense that our film is a 15, in terms of the content of our film, it contains mild violence and swearing, giving us another reason to put our film in the 15 certificate