Evaluation of Film Remake (Gone Girl)

Having previous experience in preparation for a film product, this time round was slightly simpler. however we took the some different steps in planing the remake to what we did with our preliminary task like the in the preliminary we created:

 Created a storyboard:

Established location:

Picking of Props:

But also thus time round we also implemented some new preparation plans for the production of my remake such as :

Writing up the Order of the Title Sequence:


Choosing the Costumes:

the choice of location and costume choices were very important for the production of our remake as they played and very important part in the production of our remake as they built up a large sum of the opening as the there are not any scenes of titles of special effects, rather the titles are either placed over an Establishment shot or a moving image in which the protagonist is acting, in this scene the character is wearing a specific costume which we believed was necessary to recreate as seen above

It wasn't too difficult to to storyboard each shot, as the shots were fairly basic as in their were more establishing shots than those that include acting, which in our eyes who be harder to storyboard and a result of this ease ensured that we did not miss out on detail.  Our choice of shots and formations have been chosen to provide an accurate remake of the gone girl opening

I believe that the time spent filming was very successful as well as productive and this success has to be dedicated to the order of title sequence and shot types, as we were easily able to determine which shots were needed to make an efficient remake. by carefully analysis the original film opening, a clear insight into what was needed, where we needed to be and what was expected to be seen on the screen

The previously written out storyboard played a massive part to our editing as it gave us a clear direction on how the films credits were positioned on the screen what fonts or transitions to use etc. however knowing what to do was one thing, but actually executing it was a whole different story. new software would need to be used to add titles and credits to the film and for us we used after effects to complete this, which was at first was tricky to manoeuvre around especially at times when we had to produce titles over blank screens but after a very helpful tutorial we were able to implement title credits in our project. Our choice of  typography and colour is a result of what we took from the original film, our remakes credits resemble that of the original from the colour white down to the similar font, because of this i believe that our tone of font did suit the tone of the film. besides the fact that it is similar to the original the colour white connotes the cold, mysterious nature of the film. Unlike many of the other films that we could of chosen to remake, the gone girl remake consists of a lot of scenic establishing shots rather than scenes including characters, so in editing we had to mean that the shots we got had to be ordered in a way which perfectly matched the opening itself, which was yes tricky, but with the help of my order of titles was accomplish-able.  

(Task 23) PLANNING - initial creative ideas

This was our groups initial ideas.

Research Target Audience: The survey

To further understand genres and their target audiences I used survey monkey to create a survey to gain the responses of the participants concerning film products and genres

/

(Task 20) RESEARCH - Gone girl remake

Our Gone Girl remake.

RESEARCH- Genre conventions

In most spy film opening credits, the audience is usually introduced to the character straight away, through either jumping into action straight away or from subtle, sneaky entrances.

The opening also usually introduces the events and conflicts of the film, therefore setting the film into motion.

RESEARCH - Target Audience2 (survey)

I've conducted a survey, from which I will find out about different people's favourite film genres.

Create your own user feedback survey

(Task 19) FILMING- Evidence of filming the practical film Remake (Gone Girl)

RESEARCH - watching documentory

RESEARCH- Watching Documentary

1) What does Thomas Sutcliffe mean when he says the following? "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. while there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible"
What he means by this is that the audience need to be entertained and gripped in the first few minutes of the film so that they have the urge to carry on watching it. If its boring and not appealing at the beginning then people wont be interested or as engaged with the film

2)According to director Jean Jacques Beinix, what are the risks of 'instant arousal'?
if you start with an amazing scene that instantly engages the audience, the following scene has to be either equally as good, or better and this can be very hard to do.

3) Explain why " A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't look too little"
The beginning of a film should tell the audience the genre of the film they're about to watch along with the age rating. This gives them an insight of what to expect on the film they're watching but not too much information that will disengage them from the rest of the film. 

4)What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work?

The classic opening is when the audience is given a taste of what is going to come. This can be done through many ways such as focusing what is in a background on an object of significance. It can also be done using an establishing shot to give the audience an idea where the film will take place. Even things like font type can give us information about the film.

5) Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Seven so effective? 
Kyle coopers title sequence to the film Seven is so effective because gives the audience a clear idea of the theme and genre of the film, it also introduces the main character and it tells the story and gives us an insight on future events. It introduced the audience to the obsessive behavior within the film and gave us an image of what to expect from the rest of the film. 

6) What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the film A Touch of Evil? What did Universal Studios do to it? Why?

Orson Welles wanted to display a title sequence which contained no credits and played without title music. He wanted to engage and draw the audience into his story. Universal Studios put a score with the credits, causing the effect to be loss, they did this because they were very cautious, they believed films needed title music and credits for the audience to understand the film.

7) What is meant by "a favourite trick of Film Noir"? What is the trick?
This is when the ending of a film, is the opening of a film. This shows what is to come or what the audience should expect. 

8) How does the opening to the film The Shining create suspense?
The opening of the film The Shining creates suspense using a high angle shot of a car being followed through the mountains, creating the idea that the car is being followed/ stalked.

RESEARCH - BFI statstics

BFI STATISTICS

The BFI yearbook is Compiled by the Research and Statistics Unit, this Yearbook presents the most comprehensive picture of film in the UK and the performance of British films abroad during 2013-14.


Q. Which 3 genres were most successful at the UK box office?
A.Comedy, Action and Animation were most successful.

Q. Which 3 genres were least popular or successful at the UK box office?
A.Romance, Documentary and war were the least popular and successful.

Q.Which film genre had the most film released in 2013-2014?
A.Comedy had the most film released in 2013-14

Q. How many films in this genre were made in 2013-14?
A.153 comedy films were released in 2013-14

Q. How many animated films were made?
A.33 animated films were made.

Q. How many action films were made?
A.47 action films were made.

Q. what does this information about genre tell you:Film production? 
A.That the biggest genres are making the most films.
Film audiences? That films are mainly released to attract the younger generation.


Audiences: 


Q.Which age group made up the largest proportion of cinema admissions in the UK( who went to the cinema the most)
A.The age group that went to the cinema the most is 15-24

Q. Which comedy film was most successful with this age group?
A.The hangover part 3, Kick ass 2 and Fast and furious 6 was the most successful with the 15-24 age group.

Q. Which film was most popular with the over 50s?
A.Quartet, Philomena and Les miserables were the films that were most popular with the over 50s.

Q. Which genres were most popular with men?
A.Thriller, Action and Comedy films were most popular with men.

Q. Which genre is most popular with women?
A.One direction and frozen were most popular with women.

Q. UK films appealed most to which audience type?
A.UK films appealed most to Females.

Q. Which 3 films were most popular with the 7-14 age group? What does this tell us about their preferred genre?
A.One direction( This is us), Wreck it Ralph and despicable me 2 were the films that were most popular in the 7-14 age group. This tells us that they like animation films the most.

Q. The 3 most popular films with the 35-44 age group were Frozen, The Croods and Jack and the giant slayer. Why might this be how does this contribute to animation being the most successful genre at the box office?
A.the reason for this would be parents taking their children to watch the movie.

Q. Which 3 films were most popular with the 25-34 age group?
A. Django Unchained, Fast and furious 6, Rush and trance were the films that were most popular in the 25-34 age group

Q. Which films were most successful with middle class audiences( C1-C2)?
A.Western Django Unchained, Fast and Furious 6, rush and trance were most popular in the middle class audiences.

Q. look at the tables for popular films in London and Scotland. What differences are there and what conclusions can you make about the types of films they appear to prefer?
A.Most popular films in London:

Django Unchained - 31% of audience group - Western, drama, adventure and black comedy.

Fast and Furious 6 - 30% of audience group - Action, thriller, adventure and crime

Gravity - 28% of audience group - Thriller and drama

The three films that was most popular with the age group of 7-14 was Wreck-it Ralph, Despicable me 2 and One Direction: This is us. This shows that the age group prefers animation and family themed films.

RESEARCH - macro, micro, order of credits

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
micro -

• Close ups of characters.
• Mid shots.
• Long shots.
• Fast paced in the beginning but slows as dialogue begins.
• Graphic images of characters.
• Mis en scene - first class airplane.

MACRO

• Key plot introduced in title sequence.
• Mystery with lots of action.
• Story line - man in payphone suggests that he is hiding, so he has to use things that wouldn't be traced back to him (suggesting there will be danger)
• characters are introduced using dialogue between two significant characters.

Order of credits-

1. ident
2. production by
3. main actor (Tom Cruise)
4. film title
5. other actors
6. u.s and u.k casting 
7. music by
8. Mission impossible theme composed by
9. Costume designer
10. Visual effects supervisor
11. Special make up effects

RESEARCH- target audience

What is a target audience?

-a particular group at which a product such as a film or advertisement is aimed.

The Tourist

SkyFall

To conclude, i found out that most audiences that watch the genre spy/thriller are both 

male and female of similar ages.

thriller genre conventions

Thriller Genre Conventions

THRILLER Genre openings typically like to hint or tease a disturbance in the equilibrium despite just showing it being all calm previously.  Tension is also but it throughout the opening, this is shown through moving images and the soundtrack.

Thrillers are designed so that the audience will believe that this could happen to them in real life, so this will make them scared. To achieve this there will be a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the protagonist, this is done to show their emotion, it also can be used to be focused on props and scenery to aid the narrative

When editing a thriller there will be a lot of jump cuts because there will be things that the audience will not be aware of but these scenes are essential for the narrative to make sense later

Cross cutting

(Cross-cutting is what you do after you've created a series of scenes or sequences, and you re-order them to create a drama that goes forwards and backwards in time) is used to build suspense which is essential of a thriller

In thriller sound is essential to create suspense and tension it often starts slow and then builds up to make the shots more effective  

Cape Fear

• Wide shot of rippling ocean 
• ECU shot of eye ball and various other body parts which could belong to a important character in the film 
• Camera stays in one fixated position
• Mid shot of figure 
• camera zooms out to capture female character
• mid shot of female

Zodiac

• Establishing shots of the big city
• wide shot of various scenery
• two shots of protagonists and plus ones

The Game

Wide shot of family event
Long shot of father and son
mid shot of kitchen workers
over the shoulder shot of man at window 

Cape Fear 

• Credits appear in cuts over moving images 
• moving shots are positioned behind the ocean
• SFX blood falling over oceans 

Zodiac

• Credits over moving images
• Typography: text decodes in

The Game

puzzle effect transition over film title
video reel effect
cut shots 

Cape Fear

• Chilling non diegetic music
• universal ident 
• studio credits
• bird flying
• character names coming in threes
• moving images of water sets mood
• character with dialogue

Zodiac

• Establishing shot over the water
• credits relating to narrative appears first
• tilt zoom
• ident
• titles over moving images
• creepy looking white kid
• tittles coming up weirdly
• characters
• inside into protagonists occupation
• glimpse into disturbance in equilibrium
• soundtrack which is a contrast to genre

The Game

• idents
• Film title
• characters are shown in the format of an old video recorder
• preparations for a wedding
• back story of main character
• reality

Key plot ideas introduced:

CAPE FEAR- Use of the colour red (represented by blood) is used to connote  the disturbance in the equilibrium could be caused by a murder or death
A theme of psychotic behaviour is hinted through the transitions which hints the narrative

ZODIAC-  Struggling father trying to look after his son

someone is in urgent need of help from protagonist

THE GAME- Drastic change in the personality over time of which seems to be an important character  

What characters are introduced?

CAPE FEAR- Young woman introduced at the end of the sequence after a fade to red and her face appears with filters

A shadowy figure makes subtle appearances throughout the sequence 

ZODIAC- The protagonist and his son are introduced  soon after we get an establishing shot of the films apparent setting 

THE GAME- The scenes captured in the opening appear to be taking place during a birthday party so the characters introduce appear to be family members

What social groups are represented?

CAPE FEAR- 

ZODIAC- Children are stereotyped negatively as highly dependent on an older figure and cant function in life without them

THE GAME- Families are stereotyped in a positive way showing love and unity
working class shown in quick cut which undermines their significance 

CAPE FEAR

Universal studios

idents

props to director

 Cast list 

film title

producer names

ZODIAC
4 weeks later
studio ident
character list
 casting director and sound people credits
producer names
props to screen play writer and director

THE GAME
studio ident

film title
(Nothing else)

Type of title sequence

All titles over moving images

Font colours used and typography:

CAPE FEAR
Distorted looking white font

ZODIAC
White Special font general lighting

THE GAME
Standard white font used of normal size

Credits 

CAPE FEAR

The credits has typography which suits the psychopathic theme of the film

ZODIAC 

The credits for this film has a typography which would suit the celestial name of the film

THE GAME

No credits but the titles are sharp and in capital letters which emphasises its importance 

Target Audience of thriller:

The target audience of many (psychological) thrillers is 18+, this is because they can have a lot of violent scenes, psychological issues which can be disturbing for younger demographics,
as well as some thrillers are more intellectually demanding.

For my product I would prefer for my title sequence to be aimed at a demographic group of E due to the fact that the settings we will be using will be very familiar to them, and if the film is familiar they it will appeal to them which will lead to a more successful product as the target audience will find it easy to decode the information we are representing.

Sound in Thriller:

From my analysis above I can come to the conclusion that thriller genre based movies like to use tension raising music maintain the attention of their target audience who are typically those of an age 18+  as their film may include scenes to explicit for younger ages.  The opening title sequence will usual hint the narrative and use titles over moving images with white text, also the typography could also be integrated into the text.