Group Wildernesse woods footage

Group: Audience Research

We used the website 'Survey Monkey' to complete a survey to receive some audience research.

Click here to take survey

GROUP: Treatment/Ideas

Treatment

A young character playing a boxer is working his way up through the levels of amateur boxing and soon finds himself one of the most notorious boxers in the country. His dad is his inspirational figure within his life, being a boxer himself. Throughout the boy’s childhood his dad tries to re-live his life through his son, however when the boy reaches the age of 16 the dad’s past criminal life comes back to haunt him and he gets brutally murdered. The young boy doesn’t take the hard hit too well, and finds himself in major depression, however he knows he must fight through and do what his dad wanted for him and continue on boxing, and be the best.

Characters for Opening Sequence

•                Protaganist (main boxer)

•                Trainer

•                Antagonist

•                Father figure

Plot Outline

·      Starts with voice over very little dialogue.

·      Panning up shot of boxer sitting down, hood up.

·      Montage editing of running and training

·      Flash backs to fathers influence of his life.

·      Fast forward giving the audience a slight appetizer of whats to come.

·      POV shots of either hitting speed bag or sparring shot through ring ropes.

·      Blood washing from hands in the sink

·      Bright lights and digetic crowd noise however blurred vision acts as a cliff hanger of what’s to come

Location

Boxing gym

·      Industrial environment

Soundtrack

•                Non-diegetic soundtrack - atmospheric, major key, inspirational, fast paced.

•                Digetic - selective sound of gloves connecting with bags, chants from the crowd, footsteps, cameras.

LF:Costume

http://www.sugarrays.co.uk/shop/adidas-b8-boxing-robe-black.html

This is a great website for selling boxing attire, I really like the simplistic black gown with a hood allowing us to create a mysterious personality of the main protagonist. Furthermore we can use some Sevenoaks amateur boxing short which are black and white, which would go with this particular gown. What do you think?

DRAFT Frame Sizing Group

Within the class group we discussed the frame size of a shot and how important it is when trying to shoot and edit footage. We learnt that if the sizes do not match from the camera with the settings of the editing software it will cause problems when transferring and trying to edit footage.


The normal frame sizes are usually:

720,576...


and 1080, 1900

Another thing we have to take into consideration when filming and editing our footage is the frames per second. This is vital with transferring the shots on to the software we will be editing on, as it is set to a particular setting. The frames per second we will be working at is 25 frames per second, or alternatively 50 frames per second. Also the frame size we are using is 1440, 1080.

JI:Boxing Gym Recce

Great day out today Luca on our recce at the boxing gym. Although we were un able to get any video footage, however we got some really good actions shots on the camera which we can upload shortly. This has given us some great initial ideas for the location and props, and we have now got a great visual idea of how it's going to look, and I feel our idea could look really rich and authentic.

Here are some shots of our the risk assessment and call sheet which he had to fill out before we were able to film.

Wildernesse woods Recce Group

What is the point of a recce?

• The point of the recce is too gaining an insight into a certain location, try to gain some ideas you can use whilst filming and to see if there are any serious risks to consider. It also gave us a good experience of working with the cameras.

What did you learn about the process of filmmaking on the recce?

• We learnt that with certain shots you need to shoot more takes in order to create the effect you are looking for as often there is a human error involved. Furthermore considering natural light and the gradient of the terrain the tripod is standing on can make filming harder, so the positioning of the tripods legs is important.

Did you try out any shots that didn't work?

• We tried to film an action shot of Timo completing pull-ups on a climbing frame in the play ground however the shot did not flow properly and seemed very unrealistic as ideally we would have liked an indoor location.
• The only other problem we faced was keeping the camera still whilst filming, even when the camera was on the tripod often the shot gave a feeling of a handy cam because he camera exaggerates any slight movement.

What ideas were the most successful?

• The tracking shot of Jack running down the path in the woods was the most successful shot we filmed. His committed acting allowed us to gain an authentic shot, furthermore when the camera panned right filming Jack it allowed us to merge it with another shot using continuity editing.
• 
How did this exercise generate ideas for your opening?
•  The panning up shot of Jack revealing his character slowly gave us the idea of how to generate a characters introduction without revealing to much of their personality and characteristics, creating a feeling of mystery amongst the audience.

• The POV shot running down the hill allowed us to gain a good insight into what our POV shot of either running through an industrial environment would look like or the gloves coming out hitting the speed bag or the heavy bag.


What will you do next in terms of your own locations?
Next we are going to go to Sevenoaks Amateur Boxing gym to have a look weather it would be suitable to film the opening to our film there to give us an idea of shooting through the ring ropes and looking at props we could use.

CF feedback - product research/ideas dvpt

James/ Luka

Well done - there is evidence of focused, relevant, technical research here. Luka, your technical analysis is particularly thorough and thoughtful and your opening deconstuction does look at both technical, thematic and institutional issues. James, your research is also relevant, however does lack detail, particularly on media languages.

However, what is missing from the blog is any conversation or record about your own idea development - no posts beyond the bare minimum list given. I know that you have had numerous discussions about location, style, narrative and yet that is not documented. This is vital for a L4. At the moment, your planning is at a L3 (James) and high L3 (Luka.) Work on this immediately to improve your grade.

LF:Institutional Context

I feel in relation to distribution and exhibition we should aim to use media conglomerates to distribute our film. The Fighter (2010) was distributed by Paramount picture allowing them to branch out to numerous media landscapes for instance the US and the UK. Following on from other popular films in the genre such as the Rocky franchise I feel we should go for a blanket release across the UK especially in industrial cinema such as Odeon. I don’t feel we would appeal to a Curzon audience as our film follows mainly mainstream ideas with good ideally prevailing over evil. After all there is not many abstract themes you can follow whilst filming a boxing film.

LF:Technical Deconstruction: Cinderella Man (2005) Corn Griffin Scene

After technically deconstructing the two minutes of the main boxing scene in the film it has provided me with great insight into the clever ways directors approach boxing scenes and certain unusual effects I feel we can adopt whilst filming our opening two minutes that would add an edgy feel to our production and gain the highest marks.

First of all the cutting rate during the fight was very fast to create a sense of excitement within the audience, over a time period of two minutes there was fifty five different shots showing how the director tried to intensify the situation. However one of the best techniques I feel the director utilized was the use of slow motion which is present within a lot of boxing films. For instance ‘shot 50’ was a close up slow motion shot of the antagonist feeling the force of a large blow, the use of slow motion emphasizing the impact of the punch. The antagonist was clearly positioned in the middle of the frame drawing all the intention to his face. Throughout most of the fight the protagonist and antagonist were positioned in the middle of the frame either in a mid shot or long shot.

As the scene begins with a close up of the protagonist we are instantly positioned with this character, it was closely followed with a extreme close up of his eye showing a wound adding drama to the sequence. Although the scene was mainly based around the two boxers there were other characters that took a back seat but were still vital to the narrative. Firstly the trainers in the corner of the ring tell there own story through there non verbal language. For instance in shot 47 there is a medium shot of the trainers shot from a low angle showing there anguish, the audience would immediately interpret that the boxers may have taken a heavy blow, it then cuts straight to a medium close up of the boxers. The audience can often feed off the reaction of the trainers.

In addition the commentator creates huge amounts of tension through the clip and is often driving the narrative; the commentator is talking for most of the scene so he plays a vital role in keeping the audience interested. Therefore I believe if we are going to use a voice over throughout our opening the script will need to be very interesting and fast paced to keep the audience interested and to create excitement.

One of the most interesting and effective shots was shot 53, it is the first time we are positioned with the antagonist as we are now facing the protagonist and can see his punches coming at the camera. I feel this positions the audience right in the thick of the action especially when handy cam is used. The protagonist the throw a couple of punches and as they land the screen flashes black as though the audience is boxing in the ring. If we adopt this unusual effect I feel it would make our opening scene very authentic.

Towards the end of the clip there are aspects of iconography that are driving the narrative with the use of slow motion once again, the protagonist gets his gum shield punched out of his mouth however as the gum shield is in mid air there is an extreme close up and an extension of time with a silent atmosphere, the tension these two effects creates is very effective. In addition the protagonist then picks up the gum shield and there is a panning shot of the crowd’s reaction clearly showing the protagonist driving the narrative.

 

This clip is continuity edited however there are flash backs included within the clip which we are looking to include in our clip. After the protagonist takes a couple of heavy shots there is a flash back to his childhood which almost acts as a source of inspiration to him.

After analysing numerous boxing scenes and technically deconstructing this particular fight scene I have realised that lighting is vital, first of all there is a very original POV shot when the audience is positioned with the protagonist. His version appears blurred and four bright lights are positioned in the centre of the shot, I feel the audience can interpret the physical tiredness caused by the blurred vision again keeping them interested.

After technically analysing ‘Cinderella Man’ there are certain effects and shots I am considering using in our film opening

·        POV shots of either boxers facing there opponent.

·        Extreme close ups of body wounds.

·        Blurred shots of lights/old fashioned camera flashes.

·        Low canted angle of trainer’s reaction.

·        Slow motion extreme close up of either iconic props or boxers face.

·        Long panning shot of ring with both boxers positioned in the middle of the frame.

·        Montage editing of close ups of family, lovers or friends.

JI:Training Montage

I really like the beginning 30 seconds of this clip, with the filming done in black and white, something we were thinking of doing ourselves. Some of the shots in the opening I think are really good, and effective for the type of opening we want to produce. There are also some other clips throughtout this montage which look good. Have a look and comment on what you feel will work.

JI:Rocky 6 (Training Scene) - Technical Analysis

A similar pattern all Rocky films seem to portray is a montage training scene between the two fighters included, emphasising the different conditions each one is situated with. One boxer training within an urban location, with unconventional boxing training styles, compared to the other boxer training is a more usual gym. This is a great way to show the progression of their training scheme and build euphoria about the main event to come.



Shot 1: a MLS establishing the location of the training.
Shot 2: MS of boxer, adding emphasise to his pain and commitment.
Shot 3: focus on preparation of other boxer, new location emphasised by lighting, using boxing wraps ready to start training.
Shot 4: finish preparation, focus on his fist, telling the audience he’s ready and the training’s going to begin.
Shot 5: switches back to first boxer with his continuing of training, once again emphasising his pain he’s going through with his hard routine.
Shot 6: flip back to boxer two, punching the air warming up, getting fired up.
Shot 7: switch over back to first boxer again, with lighting and conditions showing the different styles of training.
Shot 8: shot of other boxing punching pads quick, his training’s getting more intense.
Shot 9: MLS of boxer one running with his dog, different location.
Shot 10: ped down of boxer running, showing his clothes and appearance, along with his dogs matching top.
Shot 11: MS boxer ones original location, sweating while lifting a weight, working hard.
Shot 12: comes out to MLS of him, showing setting and people around him helping support. Emphasise is put on the heavy weight smashing the ground.
Shot 13: MCU of boxer’s trainer, showing him shouting at the boxer, pushing him hard.
Shot 14: next shot is a MLS of the boxer doing the weight again, showing his determination.
Shot 15: CU of boxers emphasising emotion and pain.
Shot 16: camera comes out to MLS shows how tired the boxer is.
Shot 17: flips to boxer two, in his gym, in the ring punching the pads hard.
Shot 18: MCU of him showing his face and aggression, working hard.
Shot 19: boxer one running with his dog again. Going back to this shot represents the progression of time, and the training has been going on over time.
Shot 20: back to boxer one’s original training location shows his training is continuing hard.
Shot 21: boxer two on the speed ball, a feeling of progression of time, and building up to the event.
Shot 22: CU of boxer one’s facial expression, expressing pain and commitment.
Shot 23: switches to shot of the large weight, showing how hard he’s training.
Shot 24: ECU of boxer two, focusing on expressions of determination, with the ball going through the shot to the audience’s right hand side.

LF:Hatton vs Mayweather 24/7

I came across this clip after I watched the documentary on sky sports and I love some of the features included. At 0:38 seconds they use elements of film noir whilst filing the ring, it then proceeds to show a classic film noir shot of Floyd Mayweather with half his face in covered in shadow. I feel this would work perfectly for us especially the shot of the boxers wrapping there hands. Out of all the clips I have viewed I feel this is the best suited for the style we are going for seeing as we could film a very similar sort of montage.

JI:Film Opening Analysis 4: Raging Bull

JI

This is the opening scene from Raging Bull a film predominately based on boxing. Although the action and narrative is minimal I feel it is very effective and creates a great, appropriate atmosphere.

• Firstly I feel that the music used throughout the opening scene really emphasizes the beauty of boxing, and portrays the sport as an art not a war, the music has quite a slow tempo and a major key.

• The music is very soothing but at the same time still entices the viewer to concentrate on the hooded figure in the centre of the ring.

• The font and colour of the text are simple but effective. The bright red provides subtle clues to boxing is a brutal sport and is not for the feint hearted however as this coincides with the music I feel as though the beauty outweighs the violence.

• The lighting in the sequence works really well to make the boxing ropes stand out bold, also the simplicity of the black and white emphasises the characters figure. The flashing lights work well to create a big event.

• The simple costume of just a boxing outfit with the predominate robe works well with the characters hood up not revealing the main character as yet, however showing off his figure and action.

• The audience are instantly positioned with the story plot with the location of the boxing ring along with the main character.

There isn't really a social group presented in this scene, as with the audience not being able to see the main characters characteristics, so a judgement can't be made, however with the rich feel which the lighting and sound creates, I feel there is an event feel to the sequence portraying a middle class feeling.

The target audience for Raging Bull I feel is of a sporting background, particularly boxing, however with the drama mix as well, a broadened audience can be targeted such as young adults, as it contains a lot of fight scenes.

I feel Robert De Nero plays a very good role through out the film of being a tough American/Italian fighter in which the general public can relate to as he portrays certain heroic characteristics whilst boxing.

JI:Film Opening Analysis 2: Million Dollar Baby

The genre of the film is a sport/drama. Hillary Swank the main character, is portrayed in a progressive manor, taking up a sport which is generally situated with men, her ambition is to become the next great boxer, which is originally ridiculed by the males situated.

• The mise-en-scene of the boxing equipment clearly situates the audience within a gym, along with the casual, plain costumes of the characters, showing their dressed for training.

• The dark lighting shows the urban style area they are even with no clear setting establishment.
• The use of montage editing, along with the progressive music, without dialogue tells the story that she is developing her boxing skills over a period of time, and that her ambition is becoming a reality.
• The exchange of mid-shot to medium close-ups gives the audience a key image of the training she is putting in, compared to her emotion throughout the training.
• The dialogue over the top allows the audience to feel they're experiencing her progression along with her, and that they've been a part of it.

Within this sequence you see the social background the girl is from with her poor living conditions and low skilled job to get by. This maybe portrays the stereotype person who would be interested in boxing, as it is seen as a rough sport, this is backed up with the run down conditions of the location.

The target audience for Million Dollar Baby is primarily a sporting audience/teenagers with the attraction of boxing involved, however the mixed drama storyline will expand the target audience to young adults. The attraction of having Hilary Swank playing the main character may also attract previous fans of her work, along with the director Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.

In the sequence Eastwood is training up the girl boxer with the skills and training experience he has. The film brings an un-stereotype view with the boxer being a girl, which in my view is not widely recognised with the typical stereotype of it being to rough for women.

The three main star character within the film are Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film, and Morgan Freeman. It is always important to have a big star character for a film to attract a wide audience, as an audience recognises big characters, and their previous work, making the film desirable. All three of these characters have produced excellent work in the past, just one reason why the film was so successful.

At the beginning this film had some trouble getting funding for the project, however when Clint Eastwood was introduced as director and actor, Warner Bros, a massive Hollywood studio, took on the project.

LF:Film Opening Analysis: Rocky 3 Training Scene

 



Rocky also fits in the sport genre and follows the generic pattern of a local hero challenging the world of boxing. Rocky’s non verbal language gives us a good impression of his personality as soon as we see him training. He shows lots of impatience when trying to hit the speed bag showing his natural fighting instinct of growing up in an industrial environment. The music used throughout the clip is iconic to the rocky franchise and definitely adds a lot to the clip. I feel it’s motivates the audience in watching the clip as it shows Rocky’s progression leading up to the clip. I feel we could adopt a similar technique in showing the gradual progression of a young boy improving and conquering the boxing world. 

 The main social group that is represented is Americans with an Italian heritage as the audience is clearly aligned with rocky throughout the film he is portrayed as the hero and the audience con clearly distinguish him as the protagonist. Rocky fills the stereotypical role of a boxing movie as the film definitely confirms to the genre, he shows typical masculine traits and have a very physical muscular physique. Similar to the Ali film Apollo Creed also acts as a mentor throughout the clip, this could interpreted that in life everyone can benefit through the encouragement give by other people.

The main themes present within the clip are,

• Good vs evil, Rocky is viewed as a hero that need to stand up to the other boxer who is portrayed as the villain.
• How a man with a lot of heart can accomplish a lot with the right amount of dedication and heart.
• The effect encouragement and friendship can have on someone when it comes to training for a main event.

Th3e music used throughout the cliup in my opinion creates the tension, furthermore you see Rocky's gradual progression building up to the fight however there is an element of tension as there are parallels drawn between Rocky and his opponent. You see the ferocity of Rocky’s opponent which creates an element of doubt weather or not rocky will win the fight.

The scene setting when Rocky is training I feel are very effective especially with the mirror shot of his improving his footwork, also the lighting creates a musky feel around further enhancing an industrial environment.

Rocky 3 already had a very large following seeing as the first 2 films were extremely successful so they already had a large following, however the target audience would again be boxing fans and a young male audience. However there is an underlying love story throughout the film which could incise other audiences into the film. Rocky was distributed by MGM showing that it was an industrial cinema production as it was quite main stream following the typical boxing storyline of the fighter eventually prevailing. Therefore I feel that boxing films have a proven track record with Rocky films become legendary throughout the industry with the iconic training scenes.

LF:Film Opening Analysis 1: Ali

Ali is a biography of Mohammed Ali, however it also fits into the genre of sport, the audiences generic expectations of the text are fulfilled because certain aspects of iconography are present within the opening scene that the audience would automatically label a boxing film with. For instance the speed bag and the skipping rope. The opening shot is Mohammed Ali jogging down the street a vital part of boxing and through the use of mise-en-scene the audience can paint a basic image of the background and environment Ali grew up in, the run down industrial setting is a typical environment you would expect boxers to emerge from.
We can also learn a lot about Ali through his non verbal language first of all his costume evokes a certain thuggish element to his personality as he is wearing a full tracksuit with his hood up some audiences may interpret him as providing an aggressive image. Furthermore towards the end of the opening there is a scene of Malcolm X delivering a speech to Ali and through his dialogue you can learn how he is trying to gain equal rights for Black people in America a vital part in the history of the country.

Throughout the opening scene the audience is most definitely positioned with Mohammed Ali the close ups of Ali’s face allow the audience to appreciate the concentration on his face. In addition when Ali is listening to the speech delivered by Malcolm X the audience is allowed to for see how religion had such a hue impact on Ali’s life and he is driving the narrative however the audience position changes when there is a piece of montage editing. The audience is then positioned with another boxer allowing the audience to think about possible contenders for the title. There is very 
 dialogue within the first two minutes of the scene the only sound is non digetic music played at a live concert. The music has a major key and has an uplifting affect on the audiences viewing.

The major themes in the narrative include:

• ·      Boxing is the major theme within the opening sequence showing a young Black boy striving for greatness in a business that is very unforgiving.

• ·      The discrimination black people faced during the 1960’s in America when the police assume Ali is running for some other reason apart from boxing. This enhances the stereotypical view that young Black people in society or are often involved with crime-based activities.

• ·      Ali’s fiercest competitors Sonny Liston who at the time is the current world heavy weight champion, there is a short clip of him putting another fighter down showing his skill and physical strength in the ring.

• ·      The powerful effect reigion and public speakers can have on peoples lives as Mohammed Ali looks up too Malcolm X almost as a father like figure.

The target audience for this film would typically be boxing fans, however
seen, as Mohammed Ali was such a famous iconic figure many people would go and see the film to gain an insight into his life and how he affected so many people.

My original reading of the text as a young British male would be to see Mohammed Ali’s dedication to the world of boxing and to appreciate his true talent. However I feel you are also exposed to deeper issues throughout the narrative such as the discrimination he faced whilst he was in his prime and how he searched for a way of dealing with such issues therefore turned to Islam.

Will Smith stars as Mohammed Ali and I feel as though it is very important they have an athletic big name star to play the main role of Ali. First of all Mohammed Ali is one of the greatest sportsman of all time therefore I believe if they want the film to appeal and touch as many people as possible the use of big star names is crucial.