AS G321: BFI Statistical Yearbook

The BFI Statistical Yearbook presents all the available statistics on UK film and the UK film industry in all one place, it provides users with up to date information and data on a film, television, animation and video games.

Below show the six top performing titles by genre illustrated in the Table are UK films, which highlights the variety of story types of successful British films. 

From the table The Woman in Black: Angel of Death is the top performing title of the Horror genre, which is the genre Sophie and I will be focussing on for our Main Task. From this table we can incorporate the opening of this film in the preparation for our main task  so we can get a clear idea on what top performing titles present to draw the audiences attention. 

In 2014 Annabelle was the top performing title therefore, I will also be looking into this movie opening nearer to the time to see what the director incorporates to create an eery atmosphere.

Analysis

• The horror genre grossed ninth highest out of all the genres (£34.9 million) which amounts to 2.7% of all money grossed at the box office. 
• The number of releases were relatively high (44) compared to other genres including sci-fi which only released 18 in that year. Overall, this amounts to 5.8% horror releases in 2015. 
• The Woman in Black: Angel of Death was the top performing title of 2015.
• Poltergeist is the seventeenth highest 3D release in the UK and Republic of Ireland with a total gross of (£4.0 million) with a 3D gross of 1.8 million. 
• Jaws was the eighth highest ranking movie between 1975 - 2015 where the UK box office total amounted to £81.7 million.

Significance

Horror films are undoubtedly a popular genre of movies especially towards the end of the year, there will always be a demand for more horror movies. However, most of the films produced in 2015 are considered more 'mainstream' for example The Woman in Black, then the film opening we are expected to produce. The sub genre of this film falls in gothic horror which does not appeal to all audiences who watch horror films. Therefore, we need to consider how we are going to appeal to most audiences especially our target viewers.

In 2015 The Woman in Black: AoD was given a '15' certificate. This therefore, serves to support our provisional decision to target our film at people aged 15-24 years old. Table 7 does not show the percentage of male and female audience who watch horror films therefore, the closest to the horror genre is thriller. There is a higher amount of males who watch thriller (66%) than females which will also apply to horror. I will make sure our film appeals to both genders' however, we need to be careful we achieve this without appealing to crude stereotypes.

The Registrar General's Social Scale

The Registrar General’s Social Scale is the way the British Government defines the populace through their occupation:

This information in the table helps companies to target audiences. However, criticism of the RGSS has mentioned that it can be crude and rigid.

AS G321: Props & Costumes: Preliminary Inception

   Props & Costumes

   Lexi (Bella)

   Costume

        6^th form clothes (better dressed)
   Props

         Computer
      Glass of water near her

        Watch

          School Bag

Ellie (Becca)
   Costume
      6^th form clothes (More casual)
   Props

          Magazine
     Earphones
     Notebook & Pen
      School Bag
 Miss Danielle (Nav)
   Costume
    Smart outfit
   Props

              Paper – Binders etc.

         Bag

Black Figure (Sophie)
   Costume
      Black top, Jeans etc.
     Black hat, gloves and boots
   Props

          Briefcase


General Props – Increase the verisimilitude 

            Chairs - Tables - Books - Plates - Food - Cups
       

AS G321: Storyboard: Preliminary Inception

AS G321: Script: Preliminary Inception

Script: Preliminary Inception 

Scene 1: 
Lexi and Ellie are sat in the NGS common room, 

Lexi on laptop and, Ellie reading a magazine with headphones in. 

Ellie and Lexi’s attention is drawn to Miss. Danielle, Ellie takes her headphones out and audience can hear ambient sound. 

MISS. DANIELLE 
Hi Lexi, and, Ellie. So sorry to bother, as you’re aware this school is of high standard. This is not MY (hand on chest) mess. You know very well that (whispers) “he” will get upset, so by the time you leave this room better be spotless.

LEXI & ELLIE 

Yes okay miss, bye. 

Scene 2:

Cut back to Lexi and Ellie

LEXI 

Come look at this, Ellie (motion hand towards herself) 

Ellie walks over and sits down next to Lexi with a note pad and pen ready to take notes. 

Lexi clicks on a past preliminary task video and the two are sat watching taking notes.

Scene 3:

After girls acknowledge that “he” is coming to the common room, for them. 

LEXI

He can’t be coming? It’s too early!! (point at watch) 

ELLIE 

Don’t be stupid, Lexi. We’re fine 

LEXI 
Don’t pretend that you’re not worried too! 

( begin tidying table) 

THIS IS YOUR MESS, ELLIE. HELP ME CLEAN UP!

ELLIE 

Wow okay calm down! 

(help cleaning) 

Scene 4: 
Everything goes silent, Ellie and Lexi stop and look at each other, not daring to say a word, sweat dripping from their forehead.

Scene 5:

POV shot of mans footsteps, and briefcase in hand. Puts it down, turns door handle and picks the case back up. 

Scene 6:
See man come in and put brief case back down, hands on hips. 

END

AS G321: Preliminary Inception

Sophie and I are working together on the Preliminary Task, and we have approached two other students of the 6th form to help us on the task. Here below shows the film treatment we have been set to do, so we have a clear idea how to carry out this task.

Synopsis

Two girls are trying to figure out how to carry out their preliminary task after school as it is their last deadline they have to meet. However, this time there is some underlying pressure for them as the unthinkable might happen.

Characters

Bella - Lexy (6th form student)

Becca - Ellie (6th form student)

Sophie - Black Figure 

Nav - Teacher "Miss Danielle"

Film Techniques

Shots incorporated within the task: 

- Wide shot 

- Extreme close up

- Close up 

- Medium close up

- Medium long shot

- Shot/reverse shot

Camera Angles incorporated within the task: 

- High Angle

- Low Angle

- Pan 

- Slow Zoom

- 180 degree rule

Production Considerations

Lighting: 

- High key lighting at the beginning. 

- Low key lighting at the end as suspense is created. 

Movement:

- Around the table

- As the Teacher walks out the door

- Mystery figure walks down the hall and opens the door

Costumes:

- Normal school clothes for Bella (Lexy) and Becca (Ellie). 

- Teacher wears black skirt and dark top. 

- Mystery figure wears all black to emphasise suspense and threat.

AS G321: Introduction to the DSLR

In this blog post I am going to list some of the main features of a Canon 500D camera that we discussed in lesson, as this is the type of DSLR I will be using for the Preliminary Task. 

DSLR is short for Digital Single Lens Reflex and it basically means a camera with one lens and a mirror which reflects the light, where pictures are recorded on a digital card instead of film. 

When I begin my Preliminary Task I will start by having the camera setting on automatic, I will carry this out by:
- Setting the dial to the green automatic mode. 
- The lense being set to AF (Auto-focus) rather than MF (Manual-focus).
- Pushing the shutter button down therefore, the camera will auto-focus manually. 
- Pushing the button down all the way to take a picture. 

Exposure

• The amount of light a digital camera's sensor captures when a photo is taken.
• Overexposed - Too much light. 

This image is overexposed as the leaves are unclear due to the highly illuminated areas.

• Underexposed - Too little light. 

The exposure is clearly very low as this image of a street is very dark.

• Aperture, ISO and shutter speed directly affect exposure. 

Aperture

• Controls the size of the lens opening that allows light into your camera. 
• Blur the foreground/background and bracket your subject (known as depth of field) by opening up the aperture with a low f-stop number. 

The bike is clearly visible however, the background has been blurred. 

• Alternatively, you can keep your photo sharp from the foreground through to the background (known as wide depth of field) by closing the aperture down with a high f-stop number. 

This image has a wide depth of field as the streets in the background are clear and sharp and not blurred out.

Shutter Speed

• Controls how long the shutter opens to expose the image sensor to that light. 
• When it opens quickly, it freezes a fast moving subject. 

This image has been frozen so that this specific shot can be taken.

• When it is open for longer it shows a fast moving subject for a longer period of time.

This image clearly shows that the car was moving very fast therefore, is represented like so.

ISO

• Higher the ISO, the more sensitive the sensor will be and the brighter the image will be. 
• Lower the ISO, the less light it's going to bring in, and the image is going to appear darker. 
• High ISO will cause graininess.