Film Distribution: Then and Now

How does a film make money for the studio?
- People watch the film if it is popular and has a good cast, they see it at the cinema, then follow on to buy the DVDs or Blu-Ray versions of the film so they can watch it at home. They could also buy merchandise for themselves or people they know which spreads information about the film.

Where does the money come from?
- Profit from things such as; merchandise, cinema tickets, premiere tickets, soundtrack, advanced showings of the film, DVDs

Who decides to produce the film?
- The producer makes the decision to produce the film after being pitched the writer's idea and how the director wishes to put the film into action, the cinematographer would also suggest how it could be filmed.

Where does the money to make a film come from?
- The budget for the film comes from the companies which invest in the film, the film company has to pitch their idea - the more investors interested in the film, the better the budget should be (because people can drop out of investments).

What was the relationship between studios and Cinemas in the 1930's/40's?
- These years were some of the most popular and successful times for cinema and studio systems, more than 600 films were being produced per year.

How has that changed? When?
- The studio system ended in 1959, along with the death of RKO; this is because technology became more advanced so people didn't need to use the studio system any longer.

How do studios make money from Video/DVD sales? What rules govern DVD rentals?
- DVDs make the film an ongoing feature in the world, with the introduction of Blu-ray DVDs as well people are now going to buy their favourite DVDs all over again in Blu-ray's high definition. Rented DVDs have law and age restrictions on them and must be returned within a certain date which is why it is cheaper to buy a film in the long-run.

What ways does a studio have of making sure that a Film is profitable? (Stars, property, marketing)
- The budget is decided before making the film so they can limit their money to each area; they would start by deciding which locations are actors are possible to get for the film. This would then follow on to smaller costs.

What other ways does a studio have of making money?
- Studios advertise everywhere and anywhere, from obvious places such as billboards and cinema trailers to sending messages via Bluetooth when people are near cinemas with Bluetooth switched on. There are also now bar codes that Blackberry phones can scan to receive updates or free downloads of particular things such as a clip of the film or a release date. Other forms of advertisement are posters, texts, emails, leaflets in cinemas, buses, taxis and TV interviews.

Research of Case Studies

Research of Case Studies

What is the impact of New Technologies on the Film Industry?

What is the Impact of New Technologies on the Film Industry

Kick-Ass

As a class we watched Kick-Ass the movie, we had to pick out the seven key areas of representation: Gender, Age, Ethnicity, Sexuality, Social Class, Physical Ability/ Disability, Regional Identity and also, the four key areas of Textual Analysis: Camera Shots, Editing, Sound, Mise en Scene. 

From the very start of the film we see who the hero will be, Dave, who later on becomes the superhero Kick-Ass. He is a typical white middle-class American comic book nerd and wants to help the world as a vigilante. The binary opposite of Kick-Ass, is the villain, a white business man with lots of money who is in charge of lots of people. We see other types of villains who seem as though they're important, like a Red Herring; they're stereotypical criminal gangster characters, dressed wearing chains and vests and walking with a typical gangster swagger. 
There are many close-ups within the film, mainly when there are particularly gruesome parts, for example the stabbing and when Kick-Ass has blood all over his face. There is a repeated scene involving Dave, a girl and their lockers in a school corridor, the camera work creates a tense awkward feeling for Dave but shows that the girl wants to talk to him, and they keep exchanging looks. During a more upbeat scene in the film, there is a contrast in scenes from a bright fast-paced chase with loud music through the middle of New York City and the quiet, dark alley where Kick-Ass is trying to be a hero and save a cat. The scenes then collide as the criminals involved in the chase turn down the back street, Kick-Ass gets involved and the camera work involves fast shots to increase the impact on the audience; again there are close-ups of action shots and injuries.
As the film is set in New York City, there is a reputation of the city housing some gangs and violence, so in the centre of Times Square it's light and bright and colourful, whereas in the shadows and back streets it's not a friendly place to be walking on your own. This proves that regional identity is present in every city; the effect of light and dark is also shown with the lighting used in the film. During one scene in particular the lighting is dim outside and it's a quiet suburban neighbourhood, Kick-Ass has gone to try and make peace between two people, the flat he goes into is full of black people, stereotypically they're smoking and drinking and playing violent video games, there are also lots of weapons around the room, and only one girl, who looks as though she's a prostitute. Hit Girl is introduced and she saves Kick-Ass from being killed, she is around 12 years old and knows more about the world than Kick-Ass, she can use any weapon put in front of her and kills everyone in the apartment; this is a very fast paced scene as the child's talent shocks the audience.
Another character is introduced later in the film, Red-Mist, he also claims to be a superhero but really he's the villain boss man's son. This causes trouble as he comes across as a genuine hero, but beneath the mask he's involved in the gangs his father is in control of. Red-Mist then gets Kick-Ass, Hit Girl (and her father, Big Daddy) involved in trouble, there is a factory fire which includes lots of hand-held camera work and added sound effects such as the sound of fire and the music in the background. Towards the end of the film, there is a long action scene involving the heroes, Kick-Ass, Big Daddy and Hit Girl; against the bad guys, the boss man and his hired gang members. The sound is incredibly loud and there are many added sound effects for the sound of guns firing and stabbing, the lighting is very dark and there is upbeat music playing throughout. Night-vision is used at one point as Hit Girl saves Big Daddy and Kick-Ass, she succeeds but at the very end the last gang member alive sets fire to the floor surrounding Big Daddy, this involves close-ups and wide shots of the area the scene is set in. An emotional scene at the end of the fight between Hit Girl and Big Daddy shows their faces half lit and slow, quiet music is played. 
The whole film consists of action scenes with fast paced camera shots and loud music and sound effects, there are some shots from below and some from above at key points in the film, for example when Hit Girl and Big Daddy are keeping something secret from the audience the cinematographer uses a camera looking up to them from where the object would be, this is then revealed near the end of the film. 
The ultimate heroes in the film are Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and Big Daddy, they are all white middle-class American people, of all different ages. Big Daddy is approximately 40, Kick Ass is around 18 and Hit Girl, 12. In the final scene Hit Girl fights against the boss man villain, this involves binary opposites against each other, old and young, male and female.
The music throughout the film is effective and a wide variety of genres, however the last scene in particular shows a contrast in music every few minutes. For example, western style music is played as Hit Girl convinces some security guards that she's an innocent child, the music let's the audience know she's up to no good; then there is some rock genre music with drums and guitars when she takes on a group of about 15 security guards; and as Kick-Ass comes to save her, one of America's most well known anthems plays, 'An American Trilogy - Elvis Presley'. The special effects are well used, for example flying, fighting and the make-up used makes the audience more involved in the film as it appears more realistic. There is a wide shot as Kick-Ass and Hit Girl fly home on the jet pack over New York City, this fades into a sunset. The ending of the film shows Red-Mist taking over his father's role and sitting in his office chair, he then turns and fires a gun at the camera - the film ends with the flash of the gun. The song 'Make Me Wanna Die - The Pretty Reckless' plays during the credits, the song relates to all the death in the film and the idea that Red-Mist's character doesn't think the war is over yet between himself, Kick-Ass and Hit Girl, so it leaves the audience thinking that there could be a Kick-Ass 2.

Task 4 & 5

 Task 4

Place the following genres into their correct category.

The News, EastEnders, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Friends, Horizon, Cribs, Qi, The Bill, Holyoaks, Life On Mars, I’m A Celebrity..., House, Escape To The Country, X Factor, Coronation Street,

Information	Identity	Social Interaction	Diversion
The News Qi Horizon	Cribs Escape to the country	Eastenders Coronation Street Friends Life on Mars The Bill Hollyoaks House	Who wants to be a millionaire? I’m a celebrity… X factor

Which of the above programmes might be guilty of employing the ‘Hypodermic Model’ and which therefore might also reflect Blumer’s views on audience?

Social Interaction programmes could be an example of the ‘Hypodermic Model’ as the audience get involved of the life of a soap opera character.

Task 5

Look at the opening of ‘Nanny McPhee’. Think about the way the text has been constructed through the use of codes. What has been encoded for the audience to decode?

The target audience of Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is families, this is because the exciting story and characters appeal to children, but the storyline of having a nanny appeals to parents and older audiences. It also allows the older audience to see children act in the film and experience their childhood again. The trailer shows that the main character, the nanny, has a special power which makes the children want to see it as it seems extraordinary; the adults also want to see it but to find out the outcome and see the humour within the film.
The colour green at the start of the trailer could appear a 'happy' colour to the child audience, this links to bright green generally meaning happiness rather than jealousy from a child's point of view. The actress playing the nanny is made up to look ugly and in some ways hideous as she's got witch features in the way that she has powers that normal people don't have; this can appeal to children as she looks unusual but to adults as they know the role of an ugly witch from previous films and tv programmes.

Representation - Age

This, is Carl Fredricksen; he is one of the main characters from Disney Pixar's 'Up'.

Stereotypically old people (60 - 65+) are racist, anti-youth, narrow minded, deaf, hunchbacked, set in their ways - prefer things 'back in my day', stubborn, ill, wrinkly and keep themselves to themselves. They are often very racist and like to do things traditionally, they sleep a lot and are known for their hobbies, like knitting or tapestry, they tend to appear lonely and grumpy and we always see them as wearing flat caps and sweater vests. Usually they live in villages in small communities and there is a stereotypical idea of old women having lots of cats.

Although Mr Fredricksen comes across as being the traditional old man with his wrinkly appearance and smart clothing and glasses, he isn't old in his mind, he's still living the life of his middle-aged self. At the start of the film we see a montage of Mr  Fredricksen's married life, spent with his wife, Ellie, they plan to go travelling to a Lost Land in South America together, but they don't make it there before she passes away. He is told his house must be knocked down because of buildings being built around it, he ties hundreds of balloons to his roof and takes off in his house to the Lost Land. This shows that Carl still has passion in him even though he's old and people believe old people shouldn't have the same types of dreams as young people.



I chose Mr Fredricksen as I believe he shows a non-stereotypical personality of an old man, at first he comes across anti-youth as shown at the start of the film, he seems grumpy and jealous of the fact they can still run a mile. However, once you get to know the character throughout the rest of the movie, the audience see that he has a big heart and is just too stubborn to show it - also linking to the fact old people are stubborn and like to do things their way.
As he is paired with Russell throughout the film, an 8 year old boy scout from his neighbourhood, Carl has to learn to cooperate with children's needs - this could cause him to feel emotion again (after Ellie's death) and release his 'inner child' during the rest of the film. Russell is a typical 8 year old, living in the modern world and experiencing the present day events and activities of children's lives. He relies on his parents a lot, in this case he relies on Mr Fredricksen a lot throughout the film, he can use technology and there is a particular scene in the film where he uses a satellite navigation pad. He also is experiencing the subculture groups at school and in general life, just like other young people, involving geeks, goths, townies, grebs, emos and chavs etc. - this is typical of young people in the modern day.

Theories -

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908 - 2009)
Binary Opposites, e.g.
Good / Evil
Black / White
Tall / Short
Old / Young
etc.


Vladmir Propp (1895 - 1970)
Character Roles, e.g. 
James Bond - Goldfinger

James Bond	Hero – character who seeks something
Goldfinger	Villain
Q	Donor – provides an object with some magic property
Felix Leiter	Helper – aids the hero
Pussy Galore	Princess – reward for the hero, often the object of the villain
	Princess’ father – rewards the hero
M	Dispatcher – sends hero on his way
	False hero – seems to be heroic, turns out evil, AKA red herring*

*Red herring: character or object introduced as seemingly important, but is then left behind/forgotten/never mentioned again, they in fact had/have no importance.

Not every character type is visible in every text.

Tzvetan Todorov (1939 - )

All stories begin with an equilibrium, this is disrupted, then restored.
A classic beginning, middle, end - narrative structure.

3 part narrative structure
1) Equilibrium

2) Disruption of equilibrium

3) Restoration of equilibrium or new equilibrium

This is England '86

This is England '86 is a Channel 4 drama series, it was aired during 2010.
Directors: Shane Meadows and Tom Harper
Executive Producers: Mark Herbert and Shane Meadows
Producer: Derrin Schlesinger
Production Company: Warp Films
Funding: Screen Yorkshire Filming, EM Media

The aim of the remake series of the film This is England, was to show a new generation how life was in the 1980's, they show the mod revival rather than the skinhead culture shown in the original film. It also gives an insight to the recession that has continued to take place in the present day, which shows it has always been around. The series appeals more to older teenagers as they watched the film when it first came out in 2006 as well, so the production company will have taken this into account and made the series more teen-friendly. Shane Meadows also used the same original cast from the film, this creates a link for the audience as they know the characters already; the only difference in cast is that Lol's mum and dad are new characters. The TV series was also filmed in the same area, Sheffield, so that the links to the film are shown.
The budget for the series was higher than the film, by a lot, the film was £1.5 million whereas the series was £20 million, so this meant that they could use artificial lighting and more settings and locations, there were also a range of cameras used (not all hand-held like the film) and the editing was more advanced. One other change with the film is that Sean isn't the only main character, there are others who share the limelight in the series.

Disability - Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump – played by Tom Hanks

Created by – Winston Groom

Disability – little brain activity, bow legs
D.O.B – 06/06/1944
Hometown – Alabama
I.Q – 75
Occupation – soldier, businessman, shrimp boat captain, football player, professional ping pong player, lawn mower


Forrest Gump’s disability is portrayed well in the film as the audience see that he is simple-minded and doesn’t think through his actions. The film is set in 1981 but there are flashbacks to different events in his life, this means Forrest Gump is 37 years old throughout most of the story, this character is played by Tom Hanks; however the scenes involving him as a child are played by Joseph Urso.

The stereotypes of a mental disability are that the person is typically ‘not right in the head’; they’re often described as crazy or a ‘freak’. The audience can’t tell visually if a character or person has a mental disability, it’s usually shown through body language or speech.

The start of the film shows Forrest Gump sitting on the famous bench waiting for a bus, talking to a woman. He begins telling her his life story, this could show abnormality within the character; this is shown as the average person wouldn’t tell a stranger their life story on a normal day. He shows a personal level to the woman, the woman doesn’t react very much and just sits and listens, this could show that she knows he’s ‘not right in the head’.

The physical disability with his ‘bowed legs’ is shown twice vividly in the film, at first when he’s younger being chased by a group of boys, the famous quote ‘Run Forrest run!’ is shouted by Jenny, Forrest’s friend. This scene is repeated later in the film, during his adult life, the same group of boys are chasing him but in a truck as they’re all older; Jenny shouts ‘Run Forrest run!’ again. His physical disability is visually stronger when he’s a child as he wears leg braces to fix it, when the character grows up and becomes an adult his physical disability disappears.

The film, ‘Tropic Thunder’ shows a clip of two characters talking about going ‘Full Retard’, they say how no one can go full retard, however as Forrest Gump has both a mental and physical disability he is verging on ‘full retard’. One of the characters in the scene mentions Forrest Gump being ‘slow’ and having braces on his legs, but he’s a professional ping pong player therefore he can’t be ‘full retard’.




Jess Pardoe and Grace Keogh

Representation - Disability

As a class we listened to 'Spasticus Autisticus' by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, this was playing as the lesson started. Ian Dury had polio and therefore this illness stopped the growth in one of his legs, making him physically disabled, this song is aimed at disabilities but as he wrote it, it's accepted by the public. 

We discussed our views on disabled people as a class and how we feel around them; there were mixed reactions depending on whether a student had experienced being around disabled people before or not. The ideas we came up with were that it depends on the disability, whether it's mental or physical, we all came to the conclusion that we feel comfortable around them but more uncomfortable around mental disabilities than physical. We all agreed that we feel awkward around disabled people but we don't want to patronise them so we don't stare, this is harder for younger people as they can't help it if they see someone 'different'. It's easier for people to take the mickey out of disabilities than to empathise with the person, we try to avoid them in public places as we feel intimidating to them. 

We then listed famous people with disabilities;

Stephen Hawking - wheelchair

Heather Mills - one leg

Gordon Brown - one eye 

Stevie Wonder - blind

Verne Troyer - Achondroplasia

Muhammad Ali - Parkisons' disease

Gary Coleman - Achondroplasia

Albert Einstein - Autism

Leonardo Da Vinci - Autism

Michael J. Fox - Parkinsons' disease

Ian Dury - Polio

Terry Pratchett - Alzheimer's

Ray Charles - blind

Mozart - deaf

We went on to looking at characters in films that have disabilities;

Rainman - Dustin Hoffman

Forrest Gump - Tom Hanks

My Left Foot - Daniel Day Lewis

I Am Sam - Sean Penn

Born on the 4th of July - Tom Cruise

Waterboy - Adam Sandler

The Ringer - Johnny Knoxville

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt

Unbreakable - Samuel L. Jackson

iRobot - Will Smith

Million Dollar Baby - Hilary Swank

Avatar - Sam Worthington

Four of these films feature the disabled person as being a hero in the end, proving to the audience that even with disabilities people can win over others and be successful. Seven of the films listed above were nominated and/or won Oscars for Best Film and Best Actor, this shows that the public like to see actors playing characters who are 'different' and unusual, the films usually sell well and are very successful with awards and responses are often positive. 

Flowchart of Production

Flowchart of Production

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Media Essay - Film Production

Media Essay - Film Production

Rushmore

'Rushmore' (1998) is directed by Wes Anderson, he is well known for his work and has been described as an auteur, meaning his work is very recognisable and he has a good visual style.
As a class we watched the opening of Rushmore and focused on the main character, Max Fischer, we had to discuss our thoughts on whether he is a stereotypical teenager, we all agreed on the answer 'no'. This was because as we watched the opening it showed him taking part in every single club at Rushmore College. He tries everything possible in life to find something he excels in, this isn't the behaviour of the average stereotypical teenager, they're usually described as lazy. Max also dresses formally in his suit and tie every day with evenly combed hair and glasses, the stereotypical teenager would wear comfortable clothes and try and fit in with the latest fashion trends.
There is a montage sequence within Rushmore, this means that a short section of the film shows time passing quickly and the events within this time, the montage is usually accompanied by a suitable song. From watching the montage, we find out that Max may well participate in every club and more, but he is no good at anything he does. For example, he's the leader and founder of every team and club, however he's only on a yellow belt in karate, he's only flown for 4.5 hours in the flying club, he's the second conductor in the choir.
At the start of the montage it shows the Rushmore school journal cover, there are decorative bees flying upwards on one side of the journal cover, this could represent that he 'flies' from one activity to another leaving a trace of him behind in each group, just like a bee with pollen from flowers. Equally it could suggest that he's 'as busy as a bee' or that he is 'the bee's knees' which also stands out as not being the stereotypical teenager. My last thought on the meaning of the bees is that they could portray his hopeful attitude as they're flying upwards to the sky, insinuating Max's dreams as he looks up and imagines what life would be like if he excelled in something.
The music playing through the montage is 'The Creation - Making Time' the style of song is happy and hopeful, but also there is a lot going on instrument-wise within this piece of music, this could link to the fact a lot is going on in Max's life. The reason his life has so much going on in it is because he's part of 18 school clubs and teams:
Yankee review Publisher - he leads the others, and is dressed smarter than the other members of the school newspaper team.
French Club President - he is wearing his school suit with a red beret and sash to symbolise his role.
Model United Nations - he's representing Russia, which is a country with power - he has power over Mexico and India on each side of him in the meeting.
Stamp and Coin club Vice President - this is unusual for typical teenagers, is he the only member?
Debate Team Captain - Max is an outsider, wearing his school suit - no one else is... money?
Lacrosse Team Management - in his school uniform on the side of the pitch, sat next to the jocks of the school, organising some equipment.
Calligraphy club - president, perfectionist work, alone in the club?
Astronomy society - founder, wearing the red beret, holding the books whilst everyone looks through telescopes.
Fencing Team Captain - school chinos and fencing gear, looks content with the team (it's a rich boy's sport)
Track and Field JV. Decathlon - no one else runs with him, you would expect to see the whole team behind him, alone.
2nd Chorale Choirmaster - wearing the school suit, feels like a leader.
Bombardment Society Founder - posh name for dodge ball, still wearing his suit uniform whilst playing.
Kung Fu Club - yellow belt, which is one of the first stages within Kung Fu, he's the eldest member with the lowest position.
Trap and Skeet club founder - (clay pigeon shooting in England) wearing his suit, has correct headphones and a wingman though.
Rushmore beekeeping - president of the club, there are two members including himself.
Go-karting - wearing the beret from the French club, three people are going around the circuit, he has a rubbish go-kart compared to the rest... money?
Max Fischer Players - a drama club, he named it after himself - leaving his trace.
Piper Cub Club - flying club, 4.5 hours (amateur) wearing traditional scarf and goggles.


The song playing in the background fades out at the end of the montage, the last line of lyrics is 'pulling the wool, acting the fool.' This suggests that the song is relevant to Max's character, he pulls the wool over peoples eyes and makes it look like he knows everything about anything, but he's acting the fool by wearing his suit all the time and generally not being good at anything he does.

Production Documentary

We watched a video on the importance of Production teams as a class, we were asked to make notes on each subheading.


Role
The role of the producer is to come up with the original idea, write the main storyline and organise/hire all the other workers such as, editor, director etc. The producer is the centre of everything about the film, they have the job of looking at the bigger picture of everything, they have to be able to let the director visualise the final ideas. Their role is also to protect the director, allow their ideas to be adapted if the director visualises it differently. The order or producing is, developing the film > raising money to cover costings > making the film > marketing the film. The producer must inspire the director with their ideas and script, this is so that the director simply puts the ideas into a practical performance including a beginning, middle and end.


Package
The package consists of 'who' 'how' and 'what'. 'Who' is the cast, who will play each role, casting is extremely important as the actor must fit the specification of the character and the dialogue that the character says. 'How' is how will the film be made, where will it be filmed and how will each scene be linked or staged. 'What' refers to the production team, which areas of production will be covered by which employee etc. 


Invest
The production team have to look into costings and what's affordable, such as locations. The UK is cheapest for UK film production teams, but different countries have different rules. There are usually 3 - 10 financiers interested in each film, this means there is more than just one person to pitch your idea to. Having just one funder is easier at the start of production, as you can decide on most things, however once the film is marketed they control what happens from then on.


Plan
The film is broken down scene-by-scene, the crew always film the most difficult scenes first to get them out of the way, they could be difficult because of location, actors or particular props. When casting they have to find actors who understand the idea of the film and match the script and storyline to ensure correct casting. The cinematographer is very important as they are the right hand man within production, they have to film your ideas perfectly as they have the hard job of taking the producer and directors ideas and making them visually connect and link together on camera.


Budget
This means investment, as the film is given a budget by the financiers/investors and the producer has to manage the costs evenly considering location, cast and director and editors wages etc. There are above the line costs, and below the line.
Above the line - The more expensive costs e.g. script writing, cast, screenplay, director, producer, cinematographer
Below the line - The extra small costs e.g. sales people, extras, shooting workers, set-up, set designing, costume, photos


Audience
The production team have to think about:
Which cinemas will the film be showing at? Main cities in England? Smaller cinemas? Global cinemas?
Who is the target audience? Does the genre fit the audience?
These two questions are important to think about whilst marketing the final product of the film. The audience also has to bring in at least the same amount of money as it costed to make the film, this way the investor and all workers gain from being involved in the film. 


Marketing 
There are additional costs of marketing, such as:
Global marketplace
Cinemas
DVD
TV
Soundtrack
The most important part of marketing, is trying to advertise the film as a 'need-to-see' so that people who watch advertisements on television, or see posters will immediately want to see the film. The difference between the British Film industry and Hollywood produced films is that British production teams start filming as soon as possible, and use instinct ideas, whereas Hollywood production teams plan really far ahead in terms of release dates and where the film will be shown around the world.

Lester Burnham - American Beauty

We watched the ten minute opening of 'American Beauty' as a class and were told to analyse the body language, voice and clothing of the character Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey. At the same time we were asked to consider the mise en scene which includes the set, colours, backgrounds and lighting used within the opening.


I wrote down bullet pointed notes about the character:


- 42 years old, American accent, confident and bold
- average body shape of a 40 year old man
- unhappy with his plain life
- gardening obsessed wife, one teenage child - Jane (plain name) - plain life, average
- combed hair, normal businessman suit, nothing special
- mid-life crisis
- defeatist attitude, negativity surrounds him, pessimist, cynical
- looks well off: decent car, big house, big shower, materialistic family, computer etc.
- doesn't love his wife any more, she doesn't either, fading marriage
- Lester himself is fading as a person, his life is complete and he's waiting for it to end
- everything that could possibly go wrong in his life has or will
- monotone American voice, unenthusiastic, same with his body language
- he seems the character who would sigh a lot, bored of his own life
- stereotyping: she drove the car, he was late; she has power and is dominant, he sat in the back of the car asleep like a child


Considering all my notes together sums up the fact that he has had his life and now he's slowly deteriorating until he fades away, he seems the type of person that, after he dies, people will say 'he was a nice man, never said much' about him. The words 'plain' and 'average' were a continuous chain throughout my bullet-points as I wanted to stress how much I thought he has/had an average and boring life.


The colours on set showed a theme of red, white and blue, this shows the continuity of the American flag colours throughout the opening. The backgrounds were very dull, monotone colours and textures, nothing stood out, this could have been to focus the audiences attention on Lester Burnham himself, and to suit his mood and life. Lester is trapped in his own life, there is no way out until he expires, he watches the world go by from his plain bubble in life where nothing happens.


Ultimately, there is no way around his average 'plain Jane' life, so he will have to put up with it until the day he dies.

Film

Creating a film

As a group we were told to come up with an idea of a film that we could pitch to African-American men, we struggled at first but then thought about the film ‘Freedom Writers’ that some of us had seen, and thought if we made it British then maybe another type of audience would watch as it would be very different to an American film. We decided to set our film in Ruislip College and locations nearbuy the college as people in the UK would recognise it from the Channel 4 show, ‘The Inbetweeners’; we have also chosen to hold the open auditions at the college, so that the students auditioning get a feel for the set.
So this was our brief pitch:

There are 5 stereotype groups in a college, these cause gang violence and because of this, the college gets shut down. One of the teachers of the college takes a member from each gang and brings them together to form a separate group for a youth project, everyone feels equal as the groups all join as one. The college is under inspection and they protest to get it re-opened, but the night before it re-opens, one gang member steps up and shows that he disagrees…

We chose to use the same director (Richard LaGravenese) as ‘Freedom Writers’ had used, the editor and script writer of ‘Remember Me’ as after reading reviews on the film, the script was described as moving, however from my own experience of watching it I feel the film editing was just as moving as the script itself.

As we were given a maximum funding of £5m we had to restrict our cast, so we chose to use open auditions. However our funding has been given to us by a Tax Schemes company meaning we don’t have to pay any excess tax that could risk us lowering our funding budget, so that helped us out.

Director – Richard LaGravenese, £2m overall

Editor – Andrew Mondshein, £10,000 a week [10 weeks]

Location – Ruislip College, £100,000

Cinematographer – Barry Ackroyd, £50,000

Cast – Open Auditions, £50,000 overall
- Venue: Main hall at Ruislip College [place of filming]

Script Writer – Will Fetters, £50,000

Plus the below the line costs, amounting to a maximum of £100,000