Update on what needs to be done

• Upload shot list DONE
• Scan in shoot schedule & storyboard DONE
• Post audience feedback discussion DONE
• Text summary of audience feedback DONE
• Sort out labels DONE
• check all posts work (links etc) DONE
• Add candidate numbers DONE

Audience Feedback Questionnaire Discussion

After our screening, we compiled the questionnaires together and went through them as a group. Below is the video of our responses to the results.


To summarise:
- The majority of the audience enjoyed the sequence and would watch the rest of the film
- Most people were able to predict the general plot of the film
- Special effects and graphics were the most succesful aspects of the sequence as many people favoured this over other factors such as plot, etc.
- Overall feedback was positive but the improvements suggested were to make it clear that there was a teacher present and there should be more explanation into what relevance the opening drawings had in relation to the plot.

Audience Feedback - Test Screening

We held a test screening to get some responses from our audience, which proved really helpful and encouraging. Sadly, the footage had to be edited on windows movie maker so the quality is not high - which makes me appreciate good film editing programmes like adobe premiere so much more!

Possible Soundtrack

During Friday's lesson we found a possible soundtrack for our piece that we like as it builds tension and also connotes the superhero genre.

The track can be found at the link below:

http://www.audionetwork.com/production-music/style-genre/film-styles/epic/results.aspx?&order=10&page=2

The name of the track is the 'Course of History'

Audience Research Feedback/Results

Below are some graphs to show the results that we received from our online questionnaire



In conclusion.......
We have learnt that even though superhero costumes are a notorious signifier of the genre, they are actually the most hated factor of superhero films according to the results from our survey.
The most popular damsel in distress was chosen to be Mary Jane Watson from the Spiderman films.
According to this survey the most successful superhero film was The Dark Knight.

We can use these results to help us when constructing our final piece, we will take into consideration that costumes are a big no-no for our film and the love interest that was most successful was the typical American sweetheart.

Character Study: Angus

Inspirations for Angus

Anthony Michael Hall in The Breakfast Club



Michael Cera in Superbad



Tobey Maguire in Spiderman



Aaron Johnston in Kick-Ass



Jesse Eisenberg  in Adventureland

Online Audience Research Questionnaire

We used kwiksurveys to set up an online audience research questionnaire, so that we could use the results to help us make sure that our film would appeal to the target audience and secondary audiences.

Below are some screenshots of the questionnaire.

To view the survey click here

Effects

Effects

Bed to Street Transition - Green Screen in Media Dept - confirm with Chris before finalising storyboard.

See clip below for examples of greenscreen effects, also used in a superhero context.

Moving glass Options to explore:
 Thin wire edited out in post
Tipping table
Under table magnet

 

An option for pencil levitation scene

Health and Safety
Gloves for production assistants
Goggles 
Mat to catch glass on

Titles
Made to come up during opening sequence – comic book effects to be found on computer

Breaking the Conventions

This article is about how recent superhero movies have broken out of the conventional storyline for the genre.

http://io9.com/5290442/8-superhero-movies-that-broke-the-mold-please-copy-them

The Incredible Hulk

While they may not have been the biggest box office hits, we can look at their unique differences and build on them to make our proposal more original while still incorporating the successful aspects and features of the conventional superhero film.



Hancock



Superhero Genre Conventions

Typical themes and Narrative Events

- GOOD VS EVIL

- Morality

- Superhero saving the city/town from the dangers of everyday life and from their arch enemy (the Supervillain)

- Ordinary people obtaining superpowers by accident

- Journey to dealing and discovering their powers

Mise-en-scene

 - Body Tight/Spandex/Cape = identifiable costumes
 - Large towns and cities
 - Often use of latest technology by the Supervillain
 - Both hero and villain usually have masks to conceal their identity

Character Types

 - Superhero (often unexpected)
 - Supervillain (Superhero's nemesis)
 - Love Interest of the Superhero (often becomes the damsel in distress)
 - Defenseless citizens
 - Superhero's best friend/sidekick
 - News Reporter obsessed with fame who is trying to expose the superhero's identity

This can be shown through the example of Spiderman:

Interesting Article: Four rules for a successful superhero film

The link below is an article containing some handy rules that we can consider when planning our film idea and opening sequence. I think it raises some good points, especially about costumes and casting because it would be easy to fall into the traps it is warning you to stay clear of in this genre.

http://idler-mag.com/2010/12/10/four-rules-for-a-successful-superhero-film/

Inspirations: Adam (2009)

Adam (2009) is not the same genre as our proposal idea but it is a Fox Searchlight Pictures production and it features a similar theme about the main character Adam overcoming his disability. Therefore it is interesting to compare and use techniques from the film within our coursework project.

Posted by Narishma

Film Institutions

As a group we have decided that we are an independent UK production company called Offbeat Productions.

Fox Searchlight
Fox Searchlight Pictures will distribute and market the film because they are both vertically and horizontally integrated which we can use to our advantage because they have experience and expertise in getting films similar to 'The Savant' to their target audiences.

Moodboard of Fox Searchlight Pictures biggest grossing films:

Posted by Narishma

Inspiratons - The Incredible Hulk (2008) Opening sequence

The opening credits of The Incredible Hulk (2008) is a good reference for our opening sequence because it is from a similar genre (Superheroes) and this particular sequence is approximately 2:30 minutes which is near the time limit we have for our coursework project.

The most interesting aspect of this opening sequence is that the montage gets the audience up to speed with what has gone on previously and the general storyline very quickly.

Click here to view the opening credits of The Incredible Hulk (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHVUCVVE4ek

Posted by Narishma

Group Meeting 3 - Progress Report

Meeting Details
Meeting held @ 12.30pm in PA7 on Tuesday 25th January 2011. All team members present. Meeting finished @ 1pm.

Issues and Ideas Discussed
 - Pros and Cons of each initial idea
 - Chosen 'The Savante' as our final idea

Targets Set
 - Develop final idea more with storyboards, script, etc.
 - Start on presentation preparation

Posted by Narishma

Group Meeting 2 - Progress Report

Meeting Details
Meeting held @ 7.40am in PA7 on Monday 24th January 2011. All team members present. Meeting finished @ 8.30am.

Issues and Ideas Discussed
 - References
 - Research (Watching similar opening sequences and editing techniques)
 - 'Real Superhumans' and the consideration of 'real' superpowers
 - UltraGirl Film Idea

Targets Set
 - Present ideas to BLK and DYM for feedback on initial ideas
 - Develop ideas further

Next meeting @ 10.50 in PA6 with BLK to discuss initial ideas

Posted by Narishma

Upoming Superhero Movies

http://blastr.com/2010/09/upcoming-superhero-film-g.php

The link above is an article from Blastr talking about the upcoming superhero movies that are expected to be big blockbusters.

Posted by Eoin

Kick Ass Research

Why Kick Ass might not have done so well in the box office:

Accidental Marketing

A possible hypothesis is that Lionsgate just didn’t know how to market the film. There was a lot of red band material, but it was all shown to people already interested in going. Plus, most of the television spots all high-lighted the humor and camp... which, some believe, led certain possible movie goers to think of it as a spoof along the lines of Superhero Movie (which opened with less than $10 million back in March of 2008).

So i guess playing down the comedy aspect a little would make sense?

Posted by Eoin

Group Meeting 1 - Progress Report

Meeting Details
Meeting held @ 12:30 in PA7 on Friday 21st January 2011. All team members were present. Meeting finished @ 12:45.

Issues and Ideas discussed:
- Superhero theme
- Genre? --> comedy, romance (love/hate relationship?), dark/thriller- Contrast between normality and 'supernatural'
- Comic/Storyboard effect (Marvel as inspiration)
- References --> Scott Pilgrim & Kick Ass
- Build Up??

Targets Set:
- Individual Ideas exploring different genres within superhero category
- Research
- Get blog started
- Skype?

Next meeting @ 7:40 on Monday 24th January 2011 in Media Block


Posted by Narishma