MEST2: Film Pitch & Audience Focus Group

MEST2 Film Pitch

Title and tagline:
The title of the movie is "Transgression" and the tagline of the movie is "Their fate belongs to the hour".

Topic from brief (e.g. Modern-noir, Urban Life etc.):
The topic that we have chosen from the brief is Modern Noir.

Genre (and sub-genre if applicable):
For our 30 minutes film, we have chosen to make it a "Thriller" with a lot some slight emphasis of it being a "psychological thriller" where it is riddled with a lot of enigma codes and generally gets the audience thinking and hopefully ends with a cliff hanger that leaves the audience asking for more.

Logline – one sentence that sums up the film and hooks people in (25 words or fewer):
A psychological thriller that explores the division between reality and the false distortions through the eyes of dysfunctional teenagers.

Other successful films that are similar to yours:
Gone Girl, in terms of the mentally disturbed protagonist.

In terms of cinematography and actual filming styles:
House of Cards, different depths and variety of things being in focus/ out focus, foreground/background etc
Whiplash, use of colours and palettes
Run Lola Run, use of solid colour tint overlays which helps to drive the narrative and multiple personality or narratives of characters

Narrative structure for full 30-minute film – what happens and in what order (max 100 words):

The film will start with a bored group of teenagers going to their hangout place, where they invent a new version of spin the bottle, the objective of the game is to change your life within an hour if you have been chosen. They begin to play the game and the protagonist, who is mentally unstable gets chosen. With the hour he has been given he decides to invite a vulnerable and naive friend to join him, which she immediately does. The naive friend is unaware about what he is planning to do but continues to eagerly join him on their walk to the woods. This is where he brutally murders hers and disposes her body of. When the protagonist arrives back after an hour his friends ask where the naive and vulnerable friend is, he dismisses the questions and says she went home. Over the next 2 days people begin to grow suspicious, with Friend 2 starting to accuse him over her sudden disappearance. Despite this the group of friends decide to continue playing the game and when Friend 1 gets chosen, she is put under pressure by Friend 2 and decides to kill him before killing herself by self drowning in a river.  The scene ends with a suicide note stating “Gone for an hour”.
Main protagonist, their desires, the conflicts they encounter etc.:

The main protagonist, who is the killer, has a manipulative characteristic which he hides through his charisma and charm, it could almost be argued that he’s mentally unstable. He desires power and attention, something which he lacked before he brutally murdered a vulnerable friend. His killing gave him a sense of superiority, but it also adds onto his paranoia. He faces several conflicts such as one member of their friendship group getting suspicious about his sudden change in personality, as his lies increase and increase.  

Other characters and their role/audience appeal:

• Vulnerable friend (female): She’s quite naive and easy to manipulate. The quieter character of the group, her characteristics and tragic death will create some pity for her from the audience
• Friend 1 (Male):  Humorous character, he is quite lively and is the driving force of all their friendships
• Friend 2 (Female): She is quite reserved and laid back but pays attention to surroundings in quite a lot of detail. She is the character who gets suspicious, and her intelligence appeals to the audience.
• Friend 3 (Female): Close friend of the vulnerable friend, she is who kills the protagonist. It is quite surprising for the audience as her friendly characteristics contrast the crime she commits and her sudden decision of committing suicide.

Target audience for your film (age, gender, social class, interests etc.):

• The main target audience would be for young adults 15-24, hence the 15 certification of the film  
• I believe male and females would watch it, it has an appeal to all genders i.e. the friendship, the conflicts and the violence.
• Working class/middle class
• Those who are interested in thrillers with a psychological element to it, or who want an insight into the lives of teenagers with an interesting twist.

The three-minute extract you will make and where it would appear in the film:

The three-minute extract would appear about 5 minutes into the film. It will consist of the group of teenagers spinning the bottle and starting to play the game and the protagonist, who is mentally unstable (his friends aren't aware of this) being chosen. He is given “one hour to change his life”, and this scene will consist of a shots of him trying to kill the vulnerable friend after leading her on. The scene will end with the protagonist walking away, which will create a cliff hanger and enigma codes on what happens next.

MEST2: BBFC Institution Research

1) Research the BBFC: what is the institution responsible for? How is it funded? What link does it have to government?

The British Board of Film Classification is a non-governmental organisation that was founded in 1912 and is responsible for the classification and certification of age requirements of films across the United Kingdom. 

2) Read this BBFC guide to how films are rated. Summarise the process in 50 words.

One person examines and watches the film submitted, and with each film the examiner will log the details of the general context of the film, its use of bad language/sex/drug references and the times of the scenes where these are presented. The examiner will then create a report with a brief synopsis, details of the certificate and why it was issued based on the guidelines.

3) Read this BBFC outline of the issues faced when classifying a film. Summarise the debate in 50 words.

The issues that the BBFC sometimes faces can greatly affect the overall decision to award a certain certificate, one reason could be the overall theme of a plot line and it's underlying intentions could ultimately have an effect on the certificate whether or not it might include the things needed for that certificate. Another factor could be whether the material is in conflict with the law or has been created through a criminal offence.

4) Read this BBFC section on controversial decisions. Why did The Dark Knight generate a large amount of media coverage regarding its certificate? Do you agree with the 12A certificate The Dark Knight was awarded?

The Dark Knight's certificate resulted in a lot of controversy because it was awarded a 12A certificate, and many people complained that the brutal fight scenes and violence was too strong for the certificate that was awarded. Especially considering that one of the antagonist has his entire half face burnt and is scarred for the remainder of the movie, many people complained that these violent and brutal imagery wasn't suitable for younger audiences and the movie should have had a higher minimum age requirement. I personally think that this rating was fine for the movie, because Batman is a super hero that many young people look up to, and the violence or dark imagery was necessary to portray the overall theme of a much more gritty, realistic Batman set in a modern age. 

5) What are the guidelines for a 15 certificate?

In a 15 rated film you can expect to see the following:

• Strong violence
• Frequent use of strong language
• Portrayals of sexual activity
• Strong verbal references to sex
• Nudity
• Brief scene of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• Discriminatory language or behaviour
• Drug use

6) The BBFC website offers an explanation of every classification it makes and detailed case studies on selected titles. Choose one 15-rated film from the BBFC case studies section and summarise the classification the film was given and why. 

The film that I chose from the case studies section of the BBFC is Hot Fuzz which was given the rating of 15 because of the several use of strong language and only two uses of very strong language. It also had a lot uses of violent and horror imagery especially considering that the finale of the film had a massive shoot-out in a town. The violence was considered and treated in a different manner than most 18 rated horror films because the film made use of an overall comedic theme for the plot-line and as such did not dwell on the pain or injuries of the violence. The strong language was considered okay for a 15 rated film as there were many uses of the F word, but the two cases of very strong language were the C word which normally indicate an 18 rated film however in both those cases those words were used in a non-aggressive manner. Finally there were only a few sexual references but were moderate in tone and did not present a problem for a 15 rated film.

MEST2: Arthouse film institution research

Production: Independent film studios

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Produced by: Anonymous Content (Steve Golin) and This is That Productions.

Anonymous Content: Babel, Winter's Bone, The Revenant

This is That: Super, Adventureland, 21 Grams, Nothing is Private (Towel Head)

Drive

Produced by: Marc Platt Productions

Marc Platt Productions: Mockingbird

Hero

Produced by: Beijing New Picture Film Co., China Film Co-Production Corporation, Elite Group Enterprises, Sil-Metropole Organisation and Zhang Yimou Studio.

Beijing New Picture Film Co.: House of Flying Daggers

China Film Co-Production Corporation: Fearless, Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Pan's Labyrinth

Produced by: Estudios Picasso, Tequila Gang and Esperanto Filmoj.

Tequila Gang: Chronicles, Rage, The Devil's Back Bone

Esperanto Filmoj: Gravity

Old Boy

Produced by: Egg Films and Show East

Distribution: Independent film distributors

• Before any film is made or even pitched, an idea has to be produced, this idea can be from anything, but recently it's most commonly based on books or other literature. 
• The target audience must be identified and then that should be developed so the film should be developed in a way that it appeals to your target audience.
• Do the research to find out the potential budget, and work with other institutes such as cinemas who could possibly screen your film and find a distributor who would be in charge of creating the sales of your film and marketing it.
• A lot of pre production work must be done before actually making the film such as a script and title, a list of finances, i.e. the budget and potential profit.
• A contract of the rights to release the film needs to be made and signed by the appropriate people.
• The release needs to be planned, in terms of what format it will be released in and which countries will get the film and when.
• The release date needs to be decided, it  is essential to try and find a time that'll enable a large profit to be made, such as during the summer where most people are on holidays and are much more likely to go watch your film. This would be greatly dependant on your target audience and its demographics.
• The film needs to be advertised through trailers, interviews, conventions if possible or film festivals and social media. Merchandise such as posters could be developed or competitions could be held with the prize being tickets which could help to create more interest in your film
• Things that are associated to your film need to be properly licensed to prevent illegal copies being made.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Distributor: Focus Features

Budget: $20 million

Box office: $72.3 million

Drive

Distributor: Film District

Budget: $15 million

Box office: $76.2 million

Hero

Distributor: Miramax, Quentin Tarantino

Budget: $31 million

Box office: $177.4 million

Pan's Labyrinth

Distributor: Warner Bros Pictures, Picturehouse

Budget: $19 million

Box office: $83 million

Old Boy

Distributor: Show East, Tartan Films

Budget: $3 million

Box office: $15 million

Curzon Artificial Eye

Curzon Artificial Eye is a British film distributor. They mainly specialise in independent, foreign-language and art house films for the cinema and home entertainment. Since 2006, Curzon Artficial Eye has been part of Curzon World, a group of companies in the film entertainment industry which also includes the Curzon chain of 11 cinemas.

45 Years
What was very intriguing and eye catching for me with this trailer was the magnificent and beautiful use of cinematography, the camera work is very unique in the sense that there is a variety of things in focus and out of focus which helps to create a very unique depth. I think this is something that I would love to incorporate into our production.

Kiss of the Spider Woman
This was a very unique trailer as it used the bold and stylistics of a film noir genre. It also had unique colours and the stereotypical femme fatale as one of the iconic imagery of the entire narrative. I think using the noir style would be very useful for our production.

The Choir
The film's trailer uniquely showed a main character that a lot of people can relate to, someone who is faced with obstacles and has to figure out ways to overcome them. He's also a teenager who is faced with the challenges of "finding himself" as he grows up. I think the raw emotion of this narrative would be very useful as it leaves the audience feelings something.

Exhibition: Arthouse cinemas

Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Rd, London W11 2ED. This weekend, until Sunday, the cinema is showing the following films:

• Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict
• Big Hero 6
• Bridge of Spies
• The Dressmaker
• The Wolfpack
• Sleeping with Other People
• The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay part 2
• Black Mass
• Carol
• Brooklyn
• Sunset

Most if not all of the films are either 15 or 12A, which suggests that they are attracting a younger target audience, possibly families with children. They have a specific event called Electric Scream! for horror movie fans and the Kids club aimed at parents with children. The cinema also offers seating and tickets for pairs which suggests that they want to attract young couples. The prices are a bit more expensive than the average cinema so it might be targeted for a much more middle class group of audience.

A case study in independent film production: Film London and Microwave Film

Film London

Film London is London's film and media agency and is one of nine regional screen agencies throughout the UK. It aims to ensure London has a thriving film sector that enriches the capital’s businesses and its people.

Film London’s objectives are to:

• Grow the film industry in London
• Maximise investment in London through film
• Sustain London’s film culture
• Promote London to the world through film

Microwave

Microwave is a unique funding scheme for UK feature films by Film London. The Microwave scheme funds films and give development and mentoring support to short-listed projects as well as production finance, distribution support to the final films.

London Calling

London Calling is a initiative by Film London that is a competition, for which the winners are offered production funding. Also, the winners are offered and recieve training, expert mentoring and distribution skills. This scheme is mainly targeted to new upcoming independent film makers and helps them to make their films.

Lilting

https://youtu.be/I8HhLd07fYY

This is an art house film because it focuses on a ethnic minority and explores the challenges and perspectives of a traditional cultural issue that is generally not often spoken about. It focuses much more on raw emotion rather than the actual drama or the conflict.

Borrowed Time 

https://youtu.be/sJZD3uGTjtg

This is an art house film because it has a narrative in which two unlikely characters bond due to an unlikely event. It's a very unique narrative that has characters which although are quirky and unusual, the audience can very easily relate with. The humorous tone of the narrative and it's cultural urban theme would be targeted at a young adult audience.

iLL Manors

https://youtu.be/1hfxWjUcbzs

This is an art house film because it explores and portrays the conflict and obstacles of an cultural and regional issues. It focuses greatly on urban environments and how the traditional culture of the area can affect the personalities and influences of different types of people. It portrays the significant themes of sex, drugs, violence and gangs. I think this is a very dramatic film with action themes targeted at a young adult audience with it's compelling narrative that revolves around urban culture.

Tips from Microwave

• Having too many things going on in the script will have strain on the budget. It's a good idea to generally deepen the story and focus on a few things for a long time rather than a lot of things going on for a short amount of time. This generally helps to give the story a lot of depth.
• Have passion and enthusiasm for your script, make something you would eventually be proud of. Also, be able to consistently and concisely explain your story which greatly helps in terms of pitching an idea and drawing your target audience in.
• Clear idea of who you are intending your film for from the beginning, to concept to production to eventual distribution. Not everything has to follow the stereotypical ideals of a certain genre, so always try to focus on what your audience wants, put yourself in your audience's perspective.

MEST2: Existing product research

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

https://youtu.be/3lvNGhBXTU0

This movie was about a man who hires a company to erase the memory of a bad relationship. The film used a range of special effect techniques and camera work to depict the destruction of the man's memories and his transitions from one memory to another. In this scene particularly, what's interesting to note is that the camera is always at the height of Jim Carey's character, this also helps to make the camera work interesting because instead of cutting like we usually expect it to, the camera pans and changes focus as each character speaks. This helps to simulate the idea of eyes watching the conversation, and as the camera is at the height of the main character, it may allude to the idea that Jim Carrey's character is re-watching this memory from an outside perspective. 

What's also interesting is that the lane of bookshelves that they are in, has the books spines turned to the other side so that the audience can't read the titles, this is not true for the other lanes of bookshelves. What's also unique is that as the conversation is played out, the titles of the books slowly start to vanish, and as she finally vanishes he is left in an area with completely blank books. This was very effective in the sense that it helped the audience to feel for the main character and through the unique style of editing helped to create the sense of loneliness and bitter-sweet sorrow which helped to fit the narrative of the story.

The movie itself was rated R for it's expletive language, some drug and sexual content. It was generally a mix of drama, romance and science fiction. Due to this rating and it's genre I think the target audience might have been young adults and adults in general as it's narrative is something that everyone can relate to but also has very different layers of emotion and depth to it that might not be for children.

Drive

https://youtu.be/i5ufgkJ-uVE

This movie is about a unnamed Hollywood stunt performer who by night is a getaway driver for heists. It's considered a neo-noir arthouse crime film based on a novel.

This scene is very unique, especially considering that it has practically no dialogue at all. This scene is especially reflects the overall movie as it is a series of stunning visuals and graphic imagery and is a prime example of how the film conveys so many ideas and emotions through images rather than words. In the scene, the line between romance and violence is very abruptly crossed as the main character and the female character share a tender kiss before he violently stomps the hit-man's head. This ultimately results in the female character seeing as the main character in a completely different light. The director uses this scene to portray the main character as a hopeless romantic knight but also a complete and utter psychopath. The director also cleverly uses the elevator doors as a sort of transition wipes at the beginning and end of the scene.

It is rated R for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity. Due to this I think the audience for this movie was especially adults as it had a many layers of both drama, romance, and action. It was also set in a realistic setting and location and showed raw emotional feelings through the film which helped to suture the audience and made them relate to the narrative.

Hero

https://youtu.be/AeeoEpmyb2Y

This movie is about a warrior with no name called Nameless and is based on the  story of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin in 227 BC. 

The scene uses a variety of stunning visuals and cinematography but more importantly sound to portray the fight to the audience. While it does use several very exciting visuals to show the depth and intensity of the fight, what's more fantastic is the use of the sound, the diegetic sound played by the old man is contrapuntal yet strangely parallel to the fight. The "yelling" depicted might confuse the audience as they might think it is the two men fighting that are yelling, but really it is singing and part of the song. What's also unique is that in this sort of "mind fight" there is the use of a black and white filter which shows the idea of ying and yang but also helps to depict to the audience that this is a fight scene taking place in their minds. A variety of all these helps to show to the audience that this wasn't just about a fight scene but rather was much more idealistic and had a lot more emotion than just your average action fight scene.

The movie is rated PG-13 for stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality. This rating means the movie is targeted for an teenage and older audience. This could be because of the fact that the movie is heavily influenced and based on martial arts, and this is something that young teenagers love to watch. It also involves a lot of drama and some romance which means that this could also be aimed for an adult audience.

Pan's Labyrinth

https://youtu.be/HhSjnG5pMOY

This movie is a Spanish-Mexican dark fantasy film about how a young girl imagines a fantasy world to block out the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.

In this scene, The doctor is a secret sympathiser for the anti-Franco rebels during the Spanish Civil War, chooses to defy Captain Vidal's orders and euthanises a tortured and broken prisoner. The cinematographer chooses to use two very contrasting colour tones in one setting, outside it is dark and gloomy but inside it is bright and golden. This however is also contrasting to the narrative, that although the inside is seen as bright, golden and happy it is the most dangerous place yet outside is safe but is shown with blues and is generally much more sadder. This also follows the general theme that the outside world at the time of the Spanish Civil War is very gloomy and filled with sadness. Finally, something that is also very unique is the poignant death of the doctor, the camera focuses directly on him as he walks away from the scene and the doctor is always in the foreground whilst his killer who shoots him in the back is in the background, this shows to the audience how the doctor was brave and that his killer, a person in great authority, was actually a coward.

This movie is rated R for graphic violence and some expletive language. Due to this, and it's dark genre with heavy use of drama, it is aimed at a older audience for adults. It is generally seen as aimed at an audience who are enthusiasts of the fantasy genre. 

Old Boy

https://youtu.be/APv5Jc0c7Qc

This movie is a South Korean mystery thriller with a neo-noir style. It is about a man who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years for no reason and with no knowledge as to who is captor is. When he is finally released, he begins to start his quest for revenge and find out who his captor was.

This particular scene is one of my favourites as it relies and uses heavily the classic idea of noir, with the main character narrating over the scene and the diegetic jazz sounds in the background. What's also unique is the use of camera work and framing that helps to create tension and also portray the varying characteristics of the main character. The neo noir theme is also enforced through the character's clothing and acting, he is very mysterious and dressed in all black which shows to the audience how he is not your everyday protagonist. Specifically, the shot where the camera is behind him, shows this mystery and is again reinforced as he takes his sunglasses off and blows out a puff of smoke from the cigarette. The iconography of the cigarette shows how he is a violent character and could almost be a borderline False Hero, we also never see his eyes which are normally identified to a man's personality and identity. Finally the director very cleverly uses a pillar in the setting as a wipe transition which makes the audience aware of the surroundings and setting in particular.

The movie is rated R for its strong violence, including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive and expletive language. Due to this and its heavy focus on action and fight scenes, I think it was targeted at a older adult audience. This is also evident due to its genre of and narrative having a lot of themes of mystery and drama. It also is able to masterfully incorporate themes of romance into its narrative.