Production Calendar and Stripboard

 This week my group and I focused on planning out our time for the production era of our project. We are given a two week period of filming time for our opening sequence. We discussed what shots or scenes we wanted to do on each day and how it would work out with our time frame.

Stripboard

The stripboard was an aspect our a media project I've never tried on previous assignments. We used studio binder which listed out all of our shots. We then set it to organize by scene setting, day then night, and int. to ext. They also color coordinated the shots with what they were sorted by. We were able to add daybreaks to plan out how many scenes we wanted to do in a day. 

Although this was a new point in a project for me, it was very simple. My group and I had no struggles with this aspect because our script was formatted correctly. It look us 30 minutes to clean up the scenes in and make sure everything was in place. The stripboard was a bit relaxing to work on.

Production Calendar

After, we worked on the production calendar. This is also a new aspect that took less than a day to complete. Just like the stripboard, it was very simple. We mapped out the shooting schedule to last around 4 days. That takes up one week of our given shooting times. We will use the second week for any reshoots we need. The days in the production calendar include a check list of shots we are going to complete for that day.

Storyboard

 Storyboarding is a visual representation of shots using single panels. The process of storyboarding  includes listing shot numbers, shot duration, composition sketch, and a brief description of what is happening in the shot. In the description, it's also good to put what mood the filmmakers wants to create in the shot. In previous projects, I've done a storyboard by hand and on the computer. My group members and I agreed to conduct our storyboard for our portfolio project through the application studio binder.

My group member Jeremmiah Acrius and I will be acting in the majority opening. I will play our main character, a 15 year old girl named Kiera, while he will act as the man in the flashback. Our last member Shonna Lauriston, will play the man's dead wife. All she has to do is pose. When planned out the storyboard shots, we worked out the three characters we wanted to include and chose the parts wanted to play. I'm the lead since I'm the most comfortable in front of the camera and have experience from my previous projects. Jeremmiah has agreed to play the man since he also has experience and fits the character we envisioned. The the flashback scene we will prepare a change of comfortable clothes to fit the scene of being late at night. 

My film will take place at school. We want to including abandon and isolated shots of places around the school because it's a big part our storyline. We also wanted to introduce the main character at school. We have yet to decide if the flashback scene in the bedroom scene will be easier  to do in front of a green screen or at home. The bathroom scene will be done at school. 

My film will look like a convectional opening sequence of a thriller. We will first start off with a flashback scene that takes place in the bedroom, with a male character at night who gets a calls phone predicting his wife's death. This is a conventional method within the genre. We will convey this by the background, and the comfortable pajama like clothing of the man. We wanted to include a bedside table next to him with a phone, a glass of water, and a lamp which will providing lighting within the scene. He will also be holding a book. We will then do isolated and abandon shots of the school to establish the setting. The last scene will be of the main character walking in school. We also want to use a tint of black and white within the film. We are unsure of where we want to use that aspect yet. Through out the film we will use high pitch music to stay with convection. 

For the shooting schedule, we will have 2 weeks to film all the shots we need at school. We will be provided a class period of 1 hour and 30 minutes to film. We maybe also have addition time before and after school to film for our opening. We will be using an iPhone 12 landscape to film.

We may need to record the phone call conversation separately the flashback scene so it c
an be heard through the growing music that creates suspense. Other than that, we should be able to find the sounds we need, heartbeat, heavy breathing, and a door creaking on YouTube. 

Scriptwriting and Funding

 Scriptwriting and funding are essential factors when producing a film. A script allows the filmmakers to plan out each scene. It gets them thinking what ideas they want to keep, what they want the characters to look like, the interactions with they have, and so much  more involving the four key concepts. After scriptwriting, they can move onto funding. This includes paying the cast and crew, the setting, the props, hair and makeup etc. To obtain more of an understanding about the process of scripting and funding involved in making thriller films, I will researching "the little things" by John Lee Hancock and "Nocturnal Animals" by Tom ford.

The little things 

The genre of the film is listed as a thriller/crime. The budget of the film was 30 million U.S dollars. This is below budget for a major studio film produced company, Warner Bros. Funding for films could come from investors and grants. The job of funding usually falls with the producers. They go and meet with investors of the film. They get investors on board by pitching the idea or letting them read the script. Once an investor decides to get involved with the project, they sign contracts. The company Warner Bros. is a well known in making thriller films. They have multiple high grossing thriller films like "The Dark Knight". The target audience for this movie is older adults. This is convectional for the thriller genre which typically aims to please audiences 25 older. This film was distributed in theatrical and on a streaming service, HBO Max, VOD. In one country Germany, the film was distributed on DVD and Blue-Ray. The film made 28.9 In the box office. It streaming on service contributed in the money earning portion 

Nocturnal animals

The genre of this film is a thriller/drama. The budget of the film was 22.5 million U.S dollars. This film was produced by Focus Features, a production company that is partly owned by Universal studios. They produce independent and foreign films. They may get help like funding or finding producers through Universal Studios Productions. There are other 3 other films credited in production like fade to black, another independent company. The film is rated R, it appeals more to adult than to younger audience. MA and Rated-R are typically common when it come to thriller movies due to the intense scenes.

I would prefer to work with major production companies. When using the major companies it’s more likely that they know more investors and can get you a bigger budget for your films. They also provide more ways of distribution and marketing for films. The more marketing the film gets, the wider range of audiences the film reaches. People are also more likely to favor the major production companies due to their standard way of filming. Independent production companies do give you more control over the project. The best option for my thriller film would be a studio like Warner Bros. that have achieved making high ranking thriller films. My film would also have the chance to be released both theatrical and through streaming service.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10016180/

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0611/why-movies-cost-so-much-to-make.aspx#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20to%20produce,to%20right%20about%20%24100%20million.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-finance-a-film#how-are-films-financed

https://crefovi.com/articles/how-to-finance-your-film-production/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10016180/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

https://www.focusfeatures.com/about

https://www.wrapbook.com/blog/film-financing-essential-guide

https://www.linkedin.com/company/fade-to-black-films#:~:text=FADE%20TO%20BLACK%20FILMS%20has,remaining%20active%20in%20entertainment%20production.&text=We%20are%20a%20motion%20picture,young%20adult%2C%20and%20family%20audiences.

Scripting

During my previous work with film making, it's involved me formatting a script. At first I struggled. The layout of how to do it was confusing. But the more I researched and practiced I got better and now I understand why it's so essential to the process of making a film. My group and I completed a short story for our opening sequence. We are now preparing to do the script. Before we get started, we will each go and research thriller scripts so we can get a better understanding of what to incorporate into our own scripts. 

From my previous work with scripting I've learned that they are to necessary help organize and plan out thoughts or actions that the filmmaker wants to use. They provide a clear vision of what the writer wants to do. They also let you imagine everything or visually see everything laid out so filmmakers start to see exactly what props they need, how they want the scene to look, or what they want the characters to say and so on.  They are used as a reference tool when filming. 

Get Out Script

https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/scripts/get-out-2017.pdf

Wind River Script

https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/scripts/wind-river-2017.pdf

The first thing I noticed with the scripts is how expressive they are. They describe the POV we are watching from, what the characters look like and even their age so we can imagine them a bit clearer. With thriller films things like breathing, heartbeat, wind, or anything that tends to make viewers uncomfortable they put a lot on emphasis on and make sure they are specific with what they want. Reading things like "his breathe echo's" from the Get Out script allows the reader to visually the thriller convection and how they are incorporated it into the script. This is helpful to my script. I understand how important it is not only set the scene and characters but also the small details that make a thriller. I also noticed that in the script the don't necessarily describe the angle or the type of shot. They may save this part when they storyboard. They describe how where we are viewing from like from a distance or further to the left inside. 

https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/scripts/get-out-2017.pdf

https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/scripts/wind-river-2017.pdf

My script

In my collaborated script, I was responsible for the descriptions of the envisioned shots. My fellow group member, Shonna, handled the ideas of what to film while Jeremmiah perfected the outline and editing. This process took about 6-7 days. The longest part of the work was coming up with the method and what we wanted to see in our opening. We continued to go back and double check our convections. In the end we decided to do the most common methods within the thriller genre, a flashback and abandoned isolated shots. The scripting process was much easier to handle on this project. On my previous work, I struggled with learning the format and what to included in a script. The research on convectional thriller scripts showed how how detailed I needed to be in my description. It also aided in making sure the script was formed correctly. 

Case study On Vivarium

I am continuing my research on different thriller films by conducting a case study on the 2019 film Vivarium. On this case, I will focus on the production and finance aspect of the film. This will give me an idea of who to target, how much to spend, distribution, and many more points of the what goes on before the production of a film. I will use and enforce what I learn in  my own thriller opening sequence. 

In my previous research on the thriller conventions, they describe the typical conventional target audience to be 25 and older, mostly for mature adults.  This film is Rated R, restricts children under the age of 17 and requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian to view it. The film included some violence, gore, and a lot of frightening scenes. This movie is not fit to be seen by kids. They intended to make this movie for an adult audience that are able to pick up on and handle the intense scenes. An MA rating would be considered the best fit for the genre but Rated R is not uncommon when making a thriller.

From imdb I've found 13 production companies that were credited for this film. Majority of them are companies outside of the United States.

1. Lovely Production 

2. Copenhagen Film Fund

3. Creative Europe MEDIA

4. Det Danske Filminstitut

5. Eurimages 

6. Fantastic Films

7. Film4

8. Frakas Production

9. Fis Eireann/Screen (as Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland)

10. PingPongFilm

11. Voo & Be tv (in co- production with)

12. XYZ Films

13. Wallimage

None of the six major companies, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warners Bros. Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, and Columbia Pictures, don't seem to be connected in any way to the credit companies of the film. These are all independent companies working together on the film. Film 4 Productions is very well knows as being an Independent. 

The director of the film, Lorcan Finnegan, describes the of the film coming from a short story name "Foxs". It inspired different kinds of themes and actions which is what lead to the development of Vivarium with the co-writer Garret Shanley. He talks about the process of society getting trapped in these social contract when the move and the isolated feeling this give off, the lost of the community and the natural world. He wanted to incorporated it into his work.

The budget of the film was 4 million. The main characters are Jesse Eisenberg, who is an American actor known for his role in 2021 "The Social Network" and Imogen Poots, a British actress known for acting in multiple British films. Originally they casted Mackenzie Davis. She accepted at first but later had to give up the role due to filming another movie.. That when they thought and offered it to Imogen. When they discussed who should be casted as the male lead, the kept circling back to Jesse and offered him the role. They filmed in Belgium and Ireland. Due to filming on location the lighting and  wind birds and sound was difficult to work with. The location of filming also had a part to play in editing. The wanted more reverse angle shots but due to only have one side of the street, they were very limited.

Continuing my research on imdb lists, they have listed the 17 distributors  involved with the film. This film was distributed in numerous way. In about 7 countries using all forms of media each company had available distributed a film. In 6 countries it was only a theatrical release using about 7 different distributors.  The last 2 ways of distribution through Blue- Ray and DVD in the country of Germany. 

1. Saban Film (2020) (USA) (All media)

2. Les Bookmakers (2020) (France) (theatrical)

3. Parco Co. Ltd. (2021) (Japan) (theatrical)

4. Shaw Organisation (2020) (Singapore) (theatrical)

5. The Jokers (2020) (UK) (theatrical) 

6. Ukrainian Film Distribution (UFD) (2020) (theatrical) 

7. Vertigo Releasing (2020) (UK) (theatrical)

8.Weird Wave (2020) (Greece) (theatrical) 

9. A contracorriente Film (2020) (spain) (all media)

10. Concorde Home Entertainment (2020) (Germany) (Blue-ray)

11.Concorde Home Entertainment (2020) (Germany) (DVD)

12. Films4You (2020) (Portugal) (All media)

13. Lumix Media (2021) (South Korea) (all media)

14. Umbrella Entertainment (2020) (Australia) (all media)

15.  Umbrella Entertainment (2020) (New Zealand) (all media)

16. XYZ Films (worldwide) (all media) 

17. Superfine Film (India) (all media)

Again, the production and distribution chart are form imdb.

They used cross media convergence to promote and market the media. Countless of articles explaining the plot of the movie, leaving the reader on a cliff- hanger so they have to go see the movie themselves to see what happens. The movie trailer is also available on online platforms like YouTube. Synergy is only used in Germany when distributing Blue-Rays and DVDs. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8368406/parentalguide?ref_=tt_stry_pg

https://www.filminrevolt.org/lorcan-finnegan-and-tony-cranstoun-vivarium/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/vivarium

https://transcripts.thedealr.net/script.php/vivarium-2019-Z70I