Script Writing Research

This week my group has been in the process of writing our very own script for our film. But before we could write our script we had to conduct research on how to write a script and what exactly is the scripts purpose within the film industries. 

While conducting said research, my group and I came across other scripts within our genre for example the film that my group took inspiration from final destination 4 my group saw that there were a lot of similarities although the script is longer we learned a lot from reading the script.

our script 

Open Case Study

 In order to better understand my movie genre I will conduct a open case study on one of the films in said genre to allow me and my fellow group members to better understand how to create our film and what film opening type we will use. 

The film I will conduct my study on is the film called final destination 4.

History of the film

Final destination 4 is a film that was made in the year 2009 and directed by David R. Ellis and written by Eric Bress. this film was created at a sequel to the film fancies previous films. This film was given the rating of R meaning that this film is rated for adults or mature viewers. 

Production

This film was produced by new cinema films which is a film label owned by Warner Bros Studios which is a part of the big six. the film took place in multiple areas of the USA including Orlando, new Orleans, etc. the cost to create and film this movies was 43 million dollars also, the film was released on august 28th. 

Distribution

this film was distributed all over the world and mostly shown within movie theaters, while it was in the box offices around the world it made a total of 186.2 million dollars in revenue as the film was extremally popular due to fans of the last films. 

Marketing 

although this film was not the greatest film with it having a 28% on rotting tomatoes the movie was successful due to the film being one of the first films in its genre to be a fully 3-d film. film makers used this to advertise their film. 

Cross-media convergence and synergy 

as I conducted my research i saw that this film had merchandise that included tee-shirts, pillows, Blu-ray sets in full 3-d, etc. although there is not alot of merch for this film the merch helps to bring viewers into watching the films and it also allows fans of said films the ablility to get items that are related to the film.  

 

Finance processing of a film

 Intro into Finance 

During the process of creating general films, film makers are faced with the task of acquiring funding for their film.  during this process film writers think about the ideas they will use to pitch to a posable funder of their project. 

Types of funding 

when it comes to the funding of a film, film makers have some options on who they would like to fund their film. Some film makers would want their films to be funded by one of the big six: the six major film production companies that control 90% of the media we consume. these companies are paramount pictures, universal, 20th century films, warner bros. pictures, Walt Disney, and Columbia pictures.  However, if you did not want to be funded by one of the major 6 you could sin to a independent film company. Independent companies have an advantage over the larger six as with a independent label you could advertise anything you would like unlike the big 6 where you have to follow certain guidelines. Examples of these companies are Summit entertainment, film 4 productions, icon productions, etc. The final way of getting a film financed is via mini majors: smaller labels owned by the big 6 these companies are DreamWorks, Lionsgate films, etc.  

What is Production and how does it work? 

Production is refers to the stages of creating a film. Production is a multi step process that includes 5 major steps.

Stage 1 Development: This is the first and most important step when it comes to production as it allows you to plan and create the concepts of your film. this includes: drafting a script, casting characters, film locations, costuming etc. this stage allows film creators to develop and brainstorm posable ideas to create into a film. 

Stage 2 Pre-Production: similar to the first step this part of film production allows film creators to come up with basic ideas; along with pitching the idea of the film to a film producer in this step, film creators are finalizing their ideas, locations for filming, actors, scripts, budget, etc. once finalized film creators pitch the idea to a producer label (the big 6) depending on the type of film a creator would go to different labels. For example if a creator wanting to pitch a family friendly film they would pitch the idea to Disney which, is more likely to produce the film. 

Stage 3  Production: this step is when things start to pick up the pace in the film creating process. In this step film creators are creating the film, using cameras and recording their film part by part. This is also where the ideas of film makers come to life and are reviewed for later steps.

Stage 4 Post-Production: After all the filming and hard work in the field this is when things start to calm down. in this stage movie film that has been shot goes on to be edited, in the editing process the film is taken shot by shot and then arranged with the use of editing techniques that match the flow of the film. 

Film distribution 

As the last step in the process of production this step entails the distribution of a film to generate reviews and profit for the film. This can be done in a plethora of ways one which includes the selling of merchandise related to said film, just like star wars fans buy lightsabers the same rule applies to all films: clothes, toys, games, posters, etc. are some more ways of how films do this to bring in large amounts of viewers to generate profit for their film. 

Portfolio project

 Now that time is approaching closer to create my class portfolio me and my group have come up with ideas for our portfolio project. 

Our project 

for our project we will be creating a film by the name of dead in the end. This film is a horror/phycological thriller, about a group of high schoolers that eventually be killed by a psychopathic killer. Some of the basic conventions of horror films that we will make use of in our film: lowkey lighting, slow camera movements, horrid sounds etc. 

Our inspiration

for my group we wanted to take inspiration from one of our favorite horror films known as the babysitter: killer queen where some of the film takes place. This film mostly takes place in the wilderness with the mix of abandon cabins, haunted beaches and other places. We took note of this because horror films have the tendency to take place in abandon places. 

For our characters we decided to take inspiration from stereotypes we have found within all horror movies however, one that we closely took inspiration from was scary movie using the stereotypes: dumb blond, the nerdy guy, the sports jock, and the quite kid. we hope to find a way to use all the stereotypes in our film to help give context to it without giving too much away.  

Our Goal

for this film we hope to target the age group of teenagers just like us as we feel it would be the perfect film to watch when your having a spooky slumber party with friends; or a film that you could watch and still be able to go to sleep without being too afraid.  

  

Music video poject

 This year for a little Christmas fun our class had decided top create music videos. For the assignment we were told to use what we had currently learned about mise-en-scene cinematography and sound, the only reequipment for the music video is that we had to use a Christmas theme song.

Choosing our song 

The fist step for our group was to choose a Christmas song although, it may seem to be an easy task me and my fellow group members were having trouble choosing what type of Christmas song would we use would it be soul, rmb, or rap? . After consideration and talk our group choose the song Santa Claus is comin to town by Jackson 5. 

Writing the script

Our second step in this process was to write our script for the music video: it would be used to give our video direction. For the script we used a site called studio binder, the site allowed for a simple and easy to use platform that is capable of creating scripts. Personally i find the software to be helpful as it gave instructions to format and writ our group script.

Creating the story board 

     For the third step of this process we had to create a story board or what I like to call a concept drawing this allows us to see what types of shots we would like to incorporate into our video, it also allows us to get a visual idea of what we would be doing in our video. 

Filming 

For the fourth step of the process and what I see as the most fun of the steps is filming, this is my favorite step because it allows you to combine everything together in a fun way. My group got to film all around our school which also allowed us to show off our school. 

Editing

Editing is the last step and the most complicated of them all in this stage my group and i had to find out how to use the editing software wevideo as it was our first time using the site, secondly we also had to find out how to match our shots with the fast pace music of the song. I find that editing is the most rigorous part of the processes and even though it was hard I still had fun learning how to use editing apps so in the future i could use them for personal reasons.

here is the final results of our music video!!!

Editing Software research

 While searching for a editing software to use for my editing project I came across three options, as I looked through each software I had to make sure that they met a set of requirements as later on i would be using the software for my portfolio project.

The requirements 

1. must be a web-based site that is free to use 

2. Must be able to lay multiple tracks 

3. Must be able to pull audio off video tracks 

4. Must allow for collaboration 

The Three Sites 

For this project I was able to find three software  that i would potentially be using for the portfolio later down the road they are Videopad, Openshot.org , and Clipchamp.com 

Videopad 

Videopad is a free to use and beginner friendly software that is downloadable for usage, although that there is so much good things on the app it doesn't meet the requirements that i need it too. This editing app is not web based and it does not allow for collaboration. 

Openshot.org 

Openshot.org is another free to use program for editing, however I feel that it is aimed for more seasoned editors usage, after playing with the program I found it too difficult to use. Similar to Videopad it is a program that is not web based and requires a download to use, it does have the abilities to lay multiple tracks and cut audio from clips but instead of having collaboration it has cross platform. 

Clipchamp.com

Clipchamp.com is the only editing software that i was able to find meets all requirements, it is a web based site that allows for multiple tracts to be layered and provides what I need for audio. Also it allows for collaboration which is super important. its free to use and its also simple to use so it meets my personal requirements as well. 

My choice

After conducting my research I have come with the choice to use Clipchamp.com as it is the easiest out of the three software for me to use and is also meets all the requirements that are needed along with my own. So I think that it would be the best for me to use that software.

 

3 favorite films

 My top 3 favorite films of all time are freedom writers, star wars the force awakens, and jump in.

Freedom writers: A drama film that is based on a true story about one teacher by the name of Erin Gruwell that worked in a school that was in long beach which at the time, divided by race, dugs, and gang warfare. The teacher was told that the class she would teach had little to no hope of graduating high school because of this but, Ms. Gruwell saw this as a challenge to teach the students beyond the classroom with something similar to what they would go through in daily life, that something would be the tragic events of the holocaust that brings the students to better understand that they were all the same in someway that allows them not only to become better students but better people. The opening in this film last for 1 min and 56 seconds, this opening is a flash back opening that shows us memory's or past experiences of a main or important character in a film. The opening of this movie connects with the rest of the film because it gives backstory to some of the events that main and important characters had to go through in their lives showing plot and character development at one time.

Star wars the force awakens: this is a sci-fi film that is about the return of the magical energy known as the force as a new Jedi prodigy is found. The opening scene for this film is a opening credit scene, this type of opening is used to show credits before a movie has started, in the case of star wars it is used to show what happened in the last episode or last film. I know that star wars is a sci-fi film because it has a futuristic elements like different planets and advance tech like x-wings and tie-fighters, this is a convention that is purely for sci-fi films. The opening in this film is about 9mins long that is a scene or a war breaking out, the purpose of this is to introduce the newest villain to the movie and also show other characters that would become important later on in the film this is called enter the villain. 

Jump in: A classic Disney 2000s film that is about a young boy named Issy that is forced in to the sport of boxing by his father but then due to some local girls in the neighborhood he is introduced to a new sport that he quickly falls in love with and try's to prove that his true passion is jumping rope. The opening scene last 1 min and 47 secs in the first shot we are introduced to our main character with powerful music and a narrator with the main characters face hidden by a shadow as he is jump roping in a boxing ring showing that he may be dealing with something internally. The genre of this film is family friendly I know this because of who the movie is made by which is, Disney known for their child friendly movies with happy go lucky characters. the importance of this opening is to show our main character off and get a introduction to who he is before the movie starts.  

compare and contrast

All three of these movies are extremely different from one another but are alike as well for example all three movies introduce the main characters within the first two or three shots, they also have similar camera movement and shots like medium shots, close up shots, long shots, and establishing shots to create meaning.

Some of the differences in them is the setting for example in star wars the movie takes place in a different galaxy while the other two movies take place on earth, another difference is the tone of the films, each film sets a different tone in their film jump in sets a happy and joyful tone, freedom writers sets a more meaningful tone as it is based on true events and star wars tone is set with the intro of the new villain which is symbolic as there is a new generation of good and bad.