This is a question filmmakers and production companies ask themselves frequently. How good was our last film and how can we make the next one even better?
This desire to produce bigger and better films is a driving force in the movie industry. It creates sequels (Indiana Jones, Lethal weapon, Fast & Furious), franchises, (James Bond, Star Wars, Toy Story, Jason Bourne, Harry Potter) and whole new dimensions (Marvel Universe).
Often Hollywood and the film industry will pick up a story that has been told before in an attempt to revamp, reinvigorate and reinvent a popular narrative. Below are four different stories this has been done to. There are many more.
IT - 2017
IT - 1990
Get Carter - 1971
Get Carter - 2000
The Italian Job - 1969
The Italian Job - 2003
Ghostbusters - 1984
Ghostbusters - 2015
Looking at these trailers/films can help us to identify the key factors that we have improved and built on from our own work, from our Preliminary Task to our Foundation or Advanced Productions.
We improve by looking at what we have done, breaking it down in to key areas and seeing how we can improve our practice.
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an event that he described as the most crucial event of his brothers and his growing up. During childhood, Anderson also began writing plays and making super-8 movies. He was educated at Westchester High School and then St. John's, a private prep school in Houston, Texas, which was later to prove an inspiration for the film Rushmore (1998).
Anderson attended the University of Texas in Austin, where he majored in philosophy. It was there that he met Owen Wilson. They became friends and began making short films, some of which aired on a local cable-access station. One of their shorts wasBottle Rocket (1994), which starred Owen and his brother Luke Wilson. The short was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was successfully received, so much so that they received funding to make a feature-length version. Bottle Rocket (1996) was not a commercial hit, but it gained a cult audience and high-profile fans, which includedMartin Scorsese.
'I have a way of filming things and staging them and designing sets. There were times when I thought I should change my approach, but in fact, this is what I like to do. It's sort of like my handwriting as a movie director. And somewhere along the way, I think I've made the decision: I'm going to write in my own handwriting.'
Well, the name comes from combining two Greek words: kinema, which means movement, and graphein, which means to record. In film, cinematography refers to the photographing of the movie itself. The person in charge of this is the cinematographer, also known as the director or photography or the DP.
Understanding Cinematography
In the hierarchy of a film set, the director's two key creative people in the crew are the art director and the cinematographer. The art director is in charge of the art department and the cinematographer is in charge of the camera, electric and grip departments. The camera department maintains the camera and has it ready for the shot while the grips and electrics handle the lighting. Electrics set the lights and run power to them and grips shape the light by using flags and diffusion. Grips also provide support to camera department when there is camera movement for the scene. An example of this is a dolly shot.
Script to Scream is an eight part series following the UK creative team behind Bloody Cuts as they produce their upcoming film, The Outer Darkness. Four of these episodes can be watched below. Producers and Directors Ben Franklin and Anthony Melton along with screenwriter Joel Morgan and Director of Photography Jonny Franklin provide incredibly detailed access to the team's inner workings and approach to film-making as each episode focuses on a different aspect of pre-production, production and post-production. Episode 1 In this episode, the team begins pre-production; including location scouting, the writing process and setting the timeline of work ahead of them to create The Outer Darkness.
Episode 2
As the team prepares for principal photography, meticulous planning becomes an essential part of coordinating all of the moving parts and 3rd parties contributing to the short film. Also, The Outer Darkness characters are starting to move from concept to reality as the team gets its first look at some of the evil creations from Special FX designer, James Greenwood.
Episode 3
The Outer Darkness team finally realizes the results of their meticulous planning and principal shooting begins. We also get our first look at the cast and learn how the team motivates them to give the best performances possible.
Episode 4
In episode 4 of Script to Scream the team discovers that unique locations prove to be challenging but worth the effort as the team finishes principal photography and the cast and crew work extremely hard to ensure that before editing begins everything that will be needed for the film is accomplished.
The Outer Darkness
The Outer Darkness is Part 1 of a terrifying new web series from the creators of popular horror show Bloody Cuts.
“On Friday evenings in Lynnsmouth Community Centre, meets a group led by Father Jonathan Crowe. Together they share their stories – tales of strange occurrences, horrific events and bizarre encounters that have scarred their lives. Tonight, a young tormented woman called Jenny will share a story of her experience with a game of chance that sealed the fate of her family…”
Also from Bloody Cuts
Set on one fateful night, six friends gather for their monthly 'games night'... and accidentally unleash a demonic force that might tear them - and their friendships - to pieces.
'Don't Move' is the 8th slice in Bloody Cuts' anthology of short horror films, made by a young team of UK film-makers on low budgets. Directed by Anthony Melton and written by David Scullion it stars Rachel Bright and Jake Hendriks alongside Kate Braithwaite, Beth Cooper, Ian Whyte, Calvin Dean and Martin Skipper.
Every film; sorry let me correct myself, every good film has a memorable scene or is filled with memorable scenes. The power of the scene and the narrative it gives almost becomes a story in itself. These are the scenes we return too again and again, or will watch the entire film just to capture that moment and be reminded of something within, something that stirs a powerful emotion.
To list all of the scenes I feel capture this would take more than the capacity this blog allows. Below I have included just two I feel evoke the strongest emotional reaction. If they stir emotion in you then I highly recommend you watch the entire film, it will be well worth it.
Later also think about what the director has done and how they have managed to draw out the emotion in the scene and from the actors.
Very little of what you hear in the movies is real - in this lesson we take a look at the art of Foley, how to classify it, the history of the man who started it all and take a crack at doing our own Foley work.
We have been discussing in class the use of 'persuasive elements' used by film-makers to emphasis a point or to illustrate an opinion. Film-makers employ a range of creative and technical techniques to communicate a range of ideas, messages or situations.
A recent text we have been focusing on is the 2004 documentary 'Fahrenheit 911' by Michael Moore. The text is about Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In this documentary we see Mr Moore use a range of persuasive elements to make his point and influence other. Below I discuss a range of these elements and how Moore used them within his film and what the purpose of this was.
For example.
Selective Editing - where a cut away will be used to either strengthen a point being made or to act as a juxtaposition to what it being said.
The BFI Future Film Festival returns with an exciting line-up of events and screenings, to help you develop your own unique pathway into the world of film.
Each day will have a different focus (fiction, animation and documentary) and you can expect in-depth masterclasses, hands on workshops, screenings of the best new films by young, emerging filmmakers and inspirational Q&As.
Whether you are looking for a kick-start to your film career or you just want to try your hand at something new, the BFI Future Film Festival is here to inspire you.
