Institutional Context

1. Firstly someone will have an inspiration, this may come from a magazine, book or play etc.... A producer will decide if this inspiration is good, a director will visualise the idea and whether or not they can make it a reality. The writer expands the idea by producing main characters and a better plot. A 'treatment' will then be produced this shows the plot and the characters of the film. This is the part where me as the producer gets inspired and thinks of new innovative ideas for my trailer, magazine cover and film poster

2. The producer does a pitch to persuade people to give money to develop the script. The producer goes to film production companies for money as well. The producer may recieve money from broadcasters in return for future sales, if this doesn’t work then they may try for a grant from the UK film council. Private investors may be interested in investing. This area doesn't apply to me, but if I needed money for my idea to make it better I would have to ask different people and companies to give me a loan or something like a grant so money could be put into my product to make it better. Another area which I may struggle with is the financing part, I will have to pay for the costumes, the special effects, I will not be able to find an investor in the way that a lot of films do. I will overcome this by not spending a lot of money on what I need, I will try to keep the cost down to as little as possible but also make sure the quality of the production is not ruined.

3. The writer firstly produces a synopsis, the writer and the producer will agree on key bits of the film, most writers will then create a step outline to plan their script, one of the hardest bits for the writer is the first draft. Once the producer and writer are happy the draft is sent to the financers. When everyone is happy with the draft it is locked off and becomes a final draft, the writer will then get paid. The final stage of script development is the creation of sales development. In the production stage of my product I will ask my audience for feedback of my products so I can make different alterations along the way until the final outcome.

4. The producer and director now package the script into a potential full commerical, ready for financing. One way to make the product more commercial is to introduce well-known stars/actors. Alot of thought goes into the financial process, for the film to be a proper proposition the producer must know how much the production is going to cost. Investors would want to know how the money is going to be raised and the plans for paying this money back, as well as the likely return on their investment. The product is now becoming commerical; people may give their opinions on the product. I will decide on my actors via call sheets, the film is going to be made more commercial though the use of advertising, a trailer, article in a film magazine and poster for the film. If I produce all three then the public awareness and understanding of the film will vastly improve; this will most probably increase the amount of viewers.

5. Travelling will make people aware of the film and will get different types of financers. The producer’s lawyer comes up with contracts to sell deals. The producer may make money from pre-sales as well, this is selling rights for the film before it is produced. People may think of getting loans from special areas in banks who will offer money. Insurance will give money me money for the production. I don't need a lot of money for my production so I don't require anyone giving me money. But if I did receive money I would make the products more professional by getting professional actors, better costumes and spending more money on advertising.

6. Pre-production now starts, directors and producers begin casting for actors. Storyboards are made showing the different shot types that will be used for each shot. The production designer plans different aspects of the film. Effects are now started which may take a long time, logistics is now considered for the product. My storyboard is later in my research and planning which you can have a look at, this shows the different shot types and duration of the shots.

7. Shooting begins and the funding is released, the camera department is responsible for getting the right footage. Lighting, sound, make-up and hair are considered before the shot begins. Whilst this is happening the actors must stay to their characters personality. Special effects are carefully done with health and safety considered. When it is being produced it has to stick to a strict timetable so it is in time for finishing. My strict timetable is the deadline for my finished work whilst I have to consider the lighting, sounds and make-up so the product looks authentic and is aesthetically pleasing. I think I would find this area very hard to do because I am not using professional actors. I will have to pick wisely the people I use for my production, people who are willing to play the character positions well.

8. The editor now creates a narrative and a sequence for the film. When the picture is done sound is used to fit in to the film. Now digital effects are added with titles and credits, adjustment of the colour is done for the film, after this a sound mixer sets the final levels. After the final cut the film is finished! A lot of time and care must be taken into the narrative, colour and digital effects because these areas make the film look good and improve the experience for the audience if done well.

9. A special sales agent and film salesman/woman is introduced, they create a trailer to help market and sell the film. There is so much opposition, sales agent will need to go to great lengths to attract people to the audience. To increase the profile a high profile screening may be done so people are aware of the film. Now the product is well – known distributors will set good deals to distribute the film. This is what I am doing, my main objective is to attract people to my product so they want to see it. My products will be amazing but if they don't make people want to go and see the film then they are useless.

10. The marketing team sets test screenings to see what people think of it. The potential audience is targeted with advertising on a poster, film trailers and in magazines. The use of high quality adverts on television, radio, newspaper and magazines could mean positive word of mouth marketing. Niche marketing is now more possible via the internet. Negotiation must be done for cinemas to screen the film. This is primary research just like what I have done, it is very good because it helps you get to know your audience better. This stage is the most important stage out of all of them. This is mainly due to this stage is the stage I am mostly trying to replicate. Advertising is made so much easier if a institution or director is well known. This is because people will believe that if they have made good films before, then they will make another good film. Multi-national companies who can afford to spend big money on the production of a film will most probably make a film which is better than an independent company who only have a budget of £1,000 of their production. Because I am only a small budget, I need to try and replicate independent labels how they make the most with what they have in terms of assets and facilities to make an effective film that still helps to show and express the storyline. For example if Steven Spielberg produced a film on any genre than it will have high amounts of views due to his previos well-known, successfull films. Its all about 'brand name' an institution like '21st Century Fox' need no introduction because of their previous quality, entertaining films such as Narnia, Avatar and The Simpsons. Magazine publishers are a totally separate company from the institutions who make the films, but they still feature films from well-known institutions and have well-known actors/directors on their front covers. This links to the fact that people pay money to help get an in-sight on the highly anticipated films, these films are highly anticipated due to a 'big name' directors such a Quentin Tarantino. Or a 'big name' institution such as Paramount. So magazine covers normally have well-known institution's films on their covers because they are the biggest films out at the moment, which people want to see, so are persuaded to by the magazine so they get information about it.

11. A high – profile, star – studded premier may be used to launch the film, so the public can dramatically see this media coverage. Cinema will now screen the film when it is out for public viewing. Distributors will supply exhibitors with prints of the film. Exhibitors calculate their share of the box office and distributors calculate their marketing costs; when this has been recorded financers recover their investments.

12. Additional revenue may be gained by hotels or flights wanting to show the film and possibly make additional money when it comes out for home viewing, such as on DVD. Computer games or other product licences maybe usefull in producing extra revenue, if the film is a success and makes a profit then people involved reap the rewards. This can be compounded if the film was re-released in the future.

Primary Research

Firstly, for my primary research I produced a questionnaire which is shown above, I gave thirty to people who I believed would be interested in the work I am going to produce. The individual who was doing the questionnaire had to tick a box which links to the question and their personal respected opinion. The questions included:

• Gender?


• Age?


• UK Tribe?


• Favourite Drink?


• Favourite clothes brand?


• Favourite Music genre?


• Favourite Film genre?


• How long should a trailer be?
  
• Do you like ‘Cliff hangers’?


• What shot type should be used for a film poster?
  
• How many pictures should be used for the front cover of a magazine?

I thought hard about the questions to ask my audience because they need to realte to what I am trying to create and help me with my technique during production. I produced these questions because they helped me get to know the audience better, they helped me identify the type of film they liked seeing and what it contains, the questions helped me identify what the audience wanted to see when I produce my products. For example the audience would rather see a cliff hanger than not see one, also the audience would rather see 2 pictures on the front cover in contrast to one or three. As you can see, I produced my questions with a lot of care because I wanted to get the most out of my audience, as you can see I have come up with a lot of conclusions from my research which I can put into my production to make it better and more pleasing from an audience's point of view.

I know that asking only 30 people didn't represent the whole of the audience's view but it gave me a rough outline of getting to know the audience better so my products can satisfy them better. So the information that I gathered was easier to understand I produced pie charts and a bar graph for areas of my research...

The information I recorded helped me see what I could do to make my products better for the audience. Also, businesses may be interested in advertising in my products because the questionnaire identified the target audience for possible businesses willing to advertise in it, for example the audience preferred coke to any other drink and their favourite brand was Fred Perry. The information I received will also help me produce my products now because I have a better idea of what the audience want, for example I found out that the audience prefer trailers that end in 'cliff hangers', that trailers should last around 61 - 90 seconds and a magazine front cover should contain around 3 pictures.

In my primary research I invited a number of possible viewers of the genre youth/crime and asked them to give me their feedback on posters of the youth/crime genre which I showed them. I asked them to comment on different magazine covers which I showed them as well. The focus

group is shown on the right. So I could get the most out of this focus group I asked them questions about the technical construction of them, the aesthetic appeal, the content, what would they like to see done differently and why and the characters involved. Asking all these different questions helped me identify what people want to see in a product and how I can copy the positive bits of these products and endorse them into mine. For my focus group I firstly showed them two front covers which I asked them to compare and give both postive and negative feedback on, the front covers were....

Drew Armstrong said "I like both pictures for the front covers, they both look like they have been a snap -shot from the film because of the mise-en-scene, this also helps to see the genre of the film which is being described."

Francis Finn said "I think the 'total film' cover needs more sell lines, it doesn't inform me what the magazine is about and has very little bright colours, this makes it look dull."

Jess Holmes said "I like the way 'Empire' uses it colours to relate to the main article of 'the joker'. I like the font chosen in 'total film for Max Payne' it makes it look rough and like the film is based on destruction."

Joss Havakin said "Both magazines look professional because of their constuctions, both have clear mastheads, include bar codes and well-known actors in the picture."

Euan Kearney said "Both magazines use the words 'world exclusive' and 'plus' it sounds unique and better than the competition. Both magazines still have dead space in them which is a real negative."

Sam Coomber said "The picture for 'total film' is brilliant it really helps see the genre of the film and catches the audience's attention

Next I asked them to give me feedback on the posters below;

Harriet Beeton said: "I like how the 'this is England' poster shows all the awards its won across the top of the poster, it makes it look like its a good film and worth watching." she went on to say "I can easily identify the genre of 'Adulthood' because of the baseball bat its symbolises crime and aggression."

Sam Coomber said: "I don't like the shot in 'This is England' it is too far away, it is hard to identify the characters and the costumes in contrast to 'Adulthood' which has a much closer shot. I do like how the heading for 'This is England' is in white red and blue this shows that it is a British film because the colours relate to the United Kingdom flag."

Tomas Keavney said: "I love how both posters use costume/mise-en-scene to express the genre of the film when it was made, for example this is England characters have Dr Martins on and skinny jeans, this is typical 80s clothes, whilst Adulthood has the characters wearing hoodies and trakies showing youth, 'gangsta' crime."

My primary research is very different from my secondary mainly because the questions I asked gave different answers compared to what I recorded in my secondary research. Also my focus group was people of similar age to me, my secondary research may have been based upon people of a different age, class and perception on things so I am not surprised by the fact that my research was different. I believe my secondary research is more accurate because I relied on well-known companies who have put a lot more thought and time into their records so are probably more accurate and useful than mine. But I am happy with the research I have come up with because it will effect my product in a positive way, I now have identified my target audience clearly and this gives me more food for thought. I can attract them because I know what they are interested in and what they would like to see in my products.

Mood board- I produced a mood board on photoshop which is shown below, it helped me get to know my audience better and understand which will attract them to my products more effectivly. This will effect my final products because I now know what my audience want to see in terms of costume. The mood board was created based upon what my adueince research produced, I included pictures based upon their hobbies and what they enjoy.

Secondary Research

Here is the research that I found on 'This is England'



The Youth Crime genre led me to the 'This is England' internet site. http://www.thisisenglandmovie.co.uk/ I retrieved information about the potential audience and the actors, the information is shown above. I found it hard to pick out an audience that is like a modern day 'skinhead' which was described in this information. Therefore I had to look at http://www.uktribes.com// This internet site helped me find a group of people who were similar to this 80s 'skinhead' culture, so I could bring the audience into the twenty -first century. Firstly, I thought of the indie scenesters, both groups share the view of feeling unique and not mainstream, they love to be different. More information about the indie scenesters is shown below. Based on this source, people who were part of this skin head culture in the 80s would love to see this film because of the costume and the location. Both probably relate to the lifestyles which they had when they were younger. The film will be a good flashback to bring back memories for them. I looked at channel 4 news and it claimed 'The film's production team say the movie highlights important issues such as the dangers of bullying and racism, and deserves to be seen by a younger audience. ' The problem with this though is that it is certificate 18, so the young audience are restricted from seeing the film. Also, the target audience is reached 'perhaps at the working class, most likely teenagers, because the working class can relate to this film, because of the setting and story line, and because most of the cast are teens/young adults,it enables teenagers to relate to the film a lot. The production practices are, in my opinion basic, because the set is pre-fabricated in residential areas of Nottingham, which makes it realistic, which helps the audience relate.' This is a good way of describing the information, I recieved it from http://www.scribd.com/ ,

'This is England' attract their audience very well, after they have identified who they want to target, they attract their potential audience by including effective mise-en-scene, the clothes the charcetrs wear have been thought of considerably, every characters costume has been created to portray to the audience a realistic 80s, traditional English film. Also the costume helps attract the target audience of indie scensters because the type of clothes they wear are the same as the characters in the film, so straight away if this tribe is the trailer or a poster they are suddenly attracted by the clothers which they like and can relate to, this is what i want to achieve when i produce my poster and trailer, costume which the audience can relate to and can help them make their mind up if they want to see the film or not, because my audience main audience are scene kids; I am going to look extensively at what they wear to help me decide on what my characetrs are going to wear. From identifying the audience it helps with chosing the music with the trailer, this is due if people like the genre of music in the trailer they then believe that they will like the film itself.

Research that I found on 'Adulthood'

The movie shows everyday life and struggle of London’s teenagers. The movie is aimed at mostly males aged 15-20 and for both Caucasian and Afro-American groups of people, that like to watch movies that reflect every day issues. Working class people are more likely to watch this type of movie because it represents a “normal” life. The reason for that is I watched the movie and from what I observed the movie is aimed at these groups of people, because its more of a boyish movie that has some violence and a lot of strong language and some sex scenes. The best way to describe this group of people is urban as I found out on UK tribes; http://www.uktribes.com/urban it stated;
'Core Tribe members are most influenced by what they see around them in their urban environments, in clubs and on social networks. YouTube, Myspace and Facebook are the most effective conduit to these kids.enthusiasts who don’t produce but enjoy consuming music and film with their friends. Their hooded tops are intimidating but their conversation is friendly, open-minded and laid back. Blingers are preoccupied with US music and icons, and spend big on label fashion.'


I believe this is a good way to describe this group of people who have seen the film 'Adulthood.'

The social class of my audience are middle to working class who are aged between 16 and 25 this is because the people involved in my production are around that age and the film relates to the lifestyles they live and the challenges they have faced, this has effected my production because I can take peoples past experiences into consideration and see if it fits in the film well.

Textual Analysis

The Prezi below shows a detailed de-construction of trailers and film posters which relate to the genre I intend to produce, plus I have de-constructed film magazine front covers.

Film Trailers on Prezi