Disney Cinderella 2015 UK Trailer

Whilst researching the Disney film set to come out, Cinderella, in 2015, we came across two trailers; one for the UK and one for the US. I have embedded the UK trailer which can be found on the Disney UK YouTube channel.

According to IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt) the film is due to be released in UK cinemas on 27th March 2015. This film is a particularly interesting case study for us because, although it is an American film made by Disney, the filming locations are all in the UK and the actors are mostly British or Australian actors such as Helen Bonham - Carter (Harry Potter, The King's Speech), Cate Blanchett (The Hobbit) and Lily James (Downton Abbey) and Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) - all hits in the USA as well as the UK.

We're going to be spending the next few months looking at how Disney markets and advertises this film to a UK audience. Today we looked at Twitter to see what atmosphere has been created about this film. The use of #Cinderella2015 is very common.

The first thing we noticed was #FrozenFever, this is a short film which will be shown before Cinderella on its first showing in the cinema. This creates synergy for the Disney brand.

BBC Media Trip

Us, year 12 media students, created a video of pictures and clips of what exciting things we saw and learnt:



Some of us got invited to be in the audience for the 'One Show' which was very exciting and we even got shown on live TV!

Our Film Opening So Far

After our exciting trip to the BBC, we came back with the footage we wanted for our film opening. We filmed out the window of the train, people walking down the platform at the station, a sign saying 'Welcome to Marylebone' and we filmed people passing us on the escalator.

This is a rough version of what we have filmed already. It still needs editing properly and more needs to be filmed but we wanted to ask family and friends for their opinions on what we have filmed already:

More Filming on Trip to London

When we watched the footage we took from day 1 of filming we concluded we need to include clips of Samantha getting to the office to make it more like a normal day of work. Fortunately, year 12 and 13 media studies students are going to the BBC Broadcasting House for a tour in London on Thursday 20th November. We will be taking the train there so we can film some footage of the train and the train station and include it in our opening as if it was Samantha's commute.

How The First Half of Filming Went

On Sunday we completed filming the first half of our chick flick film opening. Filming went well, we managed to film everything we needed within the 2 hour and the filming location was even better than we expected.

As we had never visited our filming location before we found it difficult to plan what we wanted to film and where, but when we arrived we found out there was a spacious room with a glass table and chairs in, we decided this would be the main office room where most of the filming took place.

Many of the shots took multiple takes to get right and we took it in turn to film different ones. My job was to film the match on action shot of Samantha (the intern) opening the door and walking through and her walking down the corridor. Both took a while to get right and took many takes. When she opened the door it was particularly difficult to ensure I didn't cut her head off whilst walking behind her. Watching the footage back now, I feel the part where she comes round the other side of the door looks unprofessional so I may just use the clip where she opens the door and then cut to her walking down the corridor. When Samantha walked down the corridor, was the most difficult clip to film. The main difficulty was trying to walk at the same pace but a bit ahead of her and keep her head in shot all whilst walking backwards. But I am pleased with how it looks now after the many attempts.

Chaya's job was to film the wide shot of Samantha entering the room and sitting down, this also took many takes. The issue with this clip was also ensuring Samantha's head didn't get cut out of shot, which was proved to be very problematic when she sat down. We then realised we had to essentially 'lead' her with the camera and move it down before she has sat down. Chaya also featured in the opening as an extra who measures a big wall poster against the wall. The use of extras doing odd jobs made the office feel like there was more than 2 people working there and more true to life.

Georgia also made an appearance as the person who brought the clothes rail on and sorted the clothes.  She also had the responsibility of filming the over the shoulder shot of Samantha reading the confidential letter. This also took many attempts as we experimented with the camera, using the tripod to make the camera film higher and lower shots.

Overall, we had a very successful day and used our time well. We need to discuss when to film the next half of our opening.

Prop List for Our Chick Flick Film Opening

Here is the list of the things we will need to film on Sunday:

Equipment

• Microphone and lead
• Camera(s)
• Spare camera batteries
• Two tripods
• Storyboards

Props

• Clothes rail and clothes on hangers - coats, blouses, dresses etc
• Dressmaker's dummy
• Posters to hang on wall 
• Coffee cups
• Posh handbag
• Mobile Phone
• Flowers for decoration (?)
• Laptop
• Magazines (lots)
• Stands for pictures

Costumes

The Intern:

• Smart dress/ skirt and blouse
• Heels / smart shoes
• Handbag
• Smart blazer
• Fur coat (?)

The Boss:

• Smart monochrome clothing (blacks, whites, greys)
• Smart shoes
• Glasses (to look more sophisticated and professional) 

For Us (in case we need to be extras):

• Smart monochrome clothing (black and white)
• Smart shoes

Chick Flick Target Audience

We got together a focus group of girls aged 14-18 and asked them the following questions:

• What is your favourite TV programme?
• Who are you favourite celebrities?
• What are your hobbies?
• Where do you shop?
• What form(s) of social media do you use?
• What are/is your favourite film(s)?
• Favourite genre/type of music?

Asking them these questions allowed us to piece together our stereotypical audience member for our chick flick opening. We created a poster to show the most common feedback we received:

Disney Prezi

My classmates and I created a Prezi all about Disney. We looked at the four most successful elements that make Disney; their media networks, consumer products, parks and resorts and studio entertainment.  Disney was founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and was the biggest film production company of the time, and still is. Its success is due to Disney keeping up with the newest of technology and providing entertainment for a wide range of audiences, it's not just for children anymore.

Finalised Storyline for Chick Flick Film Opening

As a group, we have all decided what our story line should be for our chick flick film opening. We are going to be filming the beginning half of the opening in a modern apartment which re-creates an office environment, which is our intention. We have been allocated two hours to film our opening and we start on Sunday. This part of the opening will be the intern walking into the office and then having her boss enter and demand her coffee. 

The introduction of the opening will be the protagonist (the intern) walking through the door, down the corridor and to the main office. We intend to film using a match on action angle when the intern is coming through the door and tracking when she is walking down the corridor. Throughout this half of the opening we hope to use cut aways and close ups of the props around the room e.g. magazines, laptop, clothes rail etc. In the background of the shot , we would like someone organising the clothes on the clothes rail to make it verisimilitude and give the 'office' a busy atmosphere.  

Once the intern sits down at the desk we will film using a mid-shot of her filing through the magazines on the table and stumbling across a letter with 'confidential' stamped on the envelope. We will then do an over the shoulder shot so we can see her opening the letter, in which the viewer can read 'Court Summons'. We will then quickly cut to a close up of her face which will show a look of shock and confusion of her face. As she goes to read more of the letter, we will hear her boss shout 'Samantha' in the background. The camera will cut quickly back to a mid shot where we see the intern struggling to stuff the letter back in the envelope before her boss appears in the office. The camera will change to a wide shot which will show the room and both the intern and boss walking into the office. As the boss walks in she will demand 'where is my coffee?' and slam the magazines she is holding onto the desk, after this has been said a close up of the intern's face will show the realisation that she forgot to get her boss' coffee.

The second part of the opening will be a wide shot of a busy street where we see Samantha running into shot and into a coffee shop. The camera will stay in the same position until we see her run out of the shop and out of shot carrying a cup of coffee. 

Storyboards

Here are the storyboards for our first film idea that we planned as a class which will be used when filming our film opening:

Frame By Frame Analysis

I wanted to find a scene from a film which was similar to at least one aspect of my idea for my chick flick opening. I found a video of a scene from 'The Devil Wears Prada'. In this clip, you see someone coming for a job interview. The place she has come to get a job is in a fashion office. It's a very modern office, buzzing with people. The environment is very similar to what I wish my office scene to be set in.



I have selected frames which use camera shots and miss en scene which I think I can use in my film opening.

Frame One

This is the first frame of the clip above. It shows the main character, Andrea, entering the 'Runway' magazine office, which is very modern and very elegant. This is the type of office I would like to film for my opening.

Frame Two

In the background of this frame you see two 'Runway' magazine covers framed on the wall. This is similar to my idea of having 'Vogue' covers around the office.

Frame Three

This shows Emily (the boss' PA) leading Andrea through the busy office. To the right you can see a clothes rail, I want a clothes rail to feature in my film opening too because it would create verisimilitude giving the impression of a conventional fashion magazine office.

Frame Four

Here we see two people who already work for 'Runway' wearing black. Throughout the whole of the office scene everyone is wearing black. This is a very mature and elegant colour to wear, especially in such a modern establishment like Runway. However Andrea's costume contradicts the ambience of the environment as she is dressed in brown, purple and white. Her outfit is later commented on by the boss saying that Andrea isn't very fashionable and as a fashion magazine, it is important for the workers to wear on-trend clothing.

Frame Five

This is a close up shot of the boss' foot as she gets out the car. This can be seen as a power shot as she has elegant shoes on and is getting out of a fancy car. This is also a cut away shot, however, as the scene quickly cuts from the chaos in the office to the calmness of her getting out the car. For my idea, I want to have a close up shot of the girl's shoes.

Frame Six

A tracking shot is used to film the boss calmly walking into the office, which contradicts what's happening in the office. She walks in a very confident and self assured manner. This is how I will ask my character to walk into the office to deceive the viewer.

Frame Seven

This is a good stereotypical close up shot that is commonly used in chick flicks. Often, a close up of a designer handbag is used. I want to use a close up of an  object similar to a handbag in my opening.

Frame Eight

This is where the boss comes through the lift doors and into the main office. When the doors open, you see her standing there with a stern look on her face and she is clutching a copy of 'Runway" magazine under her arm. When the protagonist is at the train station in my opening, I want her holding Vogue covers.

Frame Nine

This frame finally shows the boss' identity after the frantic build up to her appearance in the office. She is placed in the centre of the frame which is quite an unusual shot to be used. However, it connotes her importance and authority within the narrative. I would ask my actor to pull a similar face when she enters the office to lead the viewer to believe she is of more importance.

Frame 10

In this frame, the boss handed Emily papers and books and we see her struggling to carry them. A frame like this in my opening would be the first time the viewer realises that she isn't as important to the business as we originally thought.

Frame Eleven

This is the first time we see the boss' office. It is a big modern room with simplistic furniture and the main colour used is white. I want the boss' main office in my opening to look like this in my opening.

Frame Twelve

The clip ends with the film title coming across the screen. The black background has a simple elegance and creates synergy with the costumes which are used in the office scene. The word 'devil' is in the colour red, which is usually associated with the devil and evil.  Also, no capital letters are used which gives the impression of informality and it's obvious this isn't a horror film. In my film opening I need to think how the title reflects the film genre. 

Inspirational Film Openings

I have researched chick flick film openings and continuing to look for a similar opening to the one I wish to film myself. One common feature which appears in most chick flick openings is a cut away shot between two narratives which builds up suspense.

Here is the Legally Blonde film opening:



The opening cuts between two different main people; Elle and her best friend. It starts with Elle brushing her hair in her very pink bed room. From the moment the clip starts you know it's a chick flick due to the pink girly environment. The upbeat song which is used in the background has inspired me to use one similar for my opening. I also like how you can hear the characters talking over the music.

Top Camera Shots Used in Chick Flicks

I have researched the most common camera shots used when filming chick flicks, they are:

1. Aerial shot/ Establishing shot - Often used in the opening of the film. This type of shot sets the scene and tells the viewer what type of area it is set e/g the country or city. An example of this is in 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging', the film starts off by panning around the area, for this film it is set near the sea. 
2. Close Up Shot - This is used for showing characters emotions. Particularly useful in chick flicks as they tend to be films full of emotion, often tears are present - whether it's due to happiness or sadness. 
3. High Angle Shot - Used to isolate a character in the frame - could represent sadness and loneliness, as chick flicks are usually to do with love and relationships. Would be good to use if the character is going through a break up. 
4. Shot-Reverse Shot - Used for when two or more people are having a conversation. The camera flips between characters but has to stay in the line with the person's eye so it feels like you, as a viewer, are part of the conversation too. Good for chick flicks as there is often conversations between the main character and others. 
5. Panning Shot - In chick flicks a 'pan' shot can be used to pan across the main character's bedroom, for example. 
6. Point Of View (POV) Shot - Can be used to film the character reading a text message/email/letter that they have received. This is when the viewer sees something as they character would. 
7. Tilt Shot - Where the camera tilts either up or down, usually this type of shot ends the film. Can point up to the sky or to the ground. 
8. Tracking Shot - Used to follow a character when walking. Helpful when they are walking through busy environment. 
9. Zoom Shot - When the camera quickly or slowly zooms into a characters face. Often used quickly when the character has realised something or found out something and the viewer needs to see their shocked face.

Chick Flick Film Conventions

I have created a Prezi to show all the typical chick flick film conventions.

Film Openings

Using this blogpost http://whatculture.com/film/the-importance-of-film-openings.php I have analysed the film openings to Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Adventures of Babysitting (1987).

These are the clips I analysed:






In Saturday Night Fever, the film starts with a panning shot of of Brooklyn, America and then jumps to a close shot of a train passing on the tracks. According to the blogpost written about film openings, this train represents John Travolta's emotional journey throughout the film. Travolta's character wishes to succeed in life and become well known, the only way he thinks he can do this is by winning a disco dance competition. By the end of the film he won first prize in the dance competition and has achieved his dream. The train symbolises his need to escape his dead-end life.

In the Adventures of Babysitting opening, it shows a young girl dancing in a stereotypical teenage girls bedroom (pink and floral) and lip syncing to a an upbeat song. The song used is called 'Then he kissed me' by the Crystals the lyrics of the song go well with the film and with her getting ready for her date.

The idea of the train has inspired my own chick flick film opening. I had the idea of having a girl in her early twenties, waiting at the train station for her usual commute into London to work at the 'Vogue Magazine' offices. I would have her holding lots of important folders and papers and dressed in smart fashionable clothing, to give off the impression that she has a very important job role. As she is sitting and waiting for her train I would use a point of  view shot (POV) of her flicking through a portfolio full of modelling shots. When she gets to London, I would film her walking into a modern office with lots of people around measuring models, clothes rails scattered around the room and Vogue magazine covers on the walls. I want to pan across the office so the viewer gets a feel of the ambience and I would also use a tracking shot to follow her walking over to the sofa with her papers. I would then have her strut through in a confident manner to make herself look important. However the twist would be that she is of no importance to the company, she is just an unpaid intern who runs around after the boss. But her dream is to be the boss of this company, a bit like John Travolta . Throughout this opening scene I would use a tune of an upbeat  catchy tune and then have it come to an abrupt end when the boss shouts something like "Where's my coffee?" The use of an upbeat piece of music was inspired by the opening scene of Adventures to Babysitting.

Directors of Chick Flicks

As more research, I looked into the directors of my two favourite chick flicks; Wild Child and Mean Girls. Both films fit the definition of a chick flick:

"Chick-flick is a slang term for a film genre mainly dealing with love and romance and designed to appeal to a largely female target audience. Although many types of films may be directed toward the female gender, "chick-flick" is typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes that are relationship-based."

Nick Moore
Nick Moore is both an editor and director. He has directed three relatively popular films, one of which is 'Wild Child'. This is about a girl who lives in Malibu and is very spoiled, she then gets sent to boarding school in England by her strict father. This film includes romance, teenage girls and mainly the colour pink. This is definitely aimed towards a teenage female audience.

This is the Wild Child film trailer. The trailer shows how much a princess Poppy Moore really is. The trailer begins with her walking through a particularly girly bedroom, which has a common theme of the colour pink. It then shows how she, both, gets treated by the girls at her new school and how she treats them. And of course, a chick flick wouldn't be a chick flick if it didn't have a bit of romance involved. 




Mark Waters
Mark Waters has directed many films including chick flicks. As well as 'Mean Girls', Waters directed 'Freaky Friday' and 'Just like Heaven'. Mean Girls is set in a stereotypical American high school and portrays the idea of the typical 'cliques' at high school. Cady has just moved from Africa to America and is hit with the 'plastics', the most popular group at the school. Cady makes the mistake of falling head over heels in love with the most popular girl at school's ex boyfriend.

This trailer shows a scene in the 'cafeteria' where Cady's new friends tell her about all the different 'cliques'. You get introduced to the 'plastics' and find out who they are and what they are like. They're the girls that strut around school and everyone wants to be like them. We then see who Cady's crush is and realise it's Regina George's ex, and apparently ex's are out of bound. 

Chick Flick Research

Towards the end of the year we have to produce a two minute intro for a film of any genre of your choice. I have chosen to film a chick flick. This was because that's my favourite genre so I have watched plenty and know what a film of that genre should include. In preparation for filming, I have to research into chick flicks. Firstly I put together a collage of the most popular/ well know chicks flicks, 12 out of the 16 I have watched and enjoyed.

As you can see, all the chick flicks pictured include; pictures of women and girls, the colour pink and give you a glimpse of what the film is about. Every one of these films include a problem which gets overcome, usually to do with love, and ends with an unrealistic ending. 

Using this as research, I know to include these key factors in my own movie introduction. The next step of my research will probably be watching lots of chick flicks and taking notes, oh no sounds like hard work for me!!

Preliminary Task Evaluation

The preliminary task that was set was to film someone walking through a door, sitting opposite someone else and exchanging a few lines of scripted conversation. To film this I used a Sony Handycam a tripod and used iMovie to edit, I had never used this type of video camera but I found it to be very simple to use and was easy to attach it to the tripod. To use the camera I just had to press one button to start and stop the recording and used the handle on the tripod to control it and film a pan shot.

Editing the video proved to be quite tricky. I had never used iMovie before but I soon got the hang of it. The first obstacle I came across was actually finding where the imported content from the camera went, after this was located I finally got on with editing. This took me a lot longer than anticipated and I did get very frustrated. Editing has to be very precise and even half a second can make a difference, I realised this when editing the match on action clip. Looking at that clip now I realise that  my actor's foot was still on the step when I was behind her, yet she had already got off the step when I filmed her front on. This could be overcome by starting the 'inside room' shot a few frames earlier. The effect of this makes the video look jumpy and jarred.

In preparation for filming I drew up a storyboard and planned what my actors were going to say. They were going to discuss whether actor one was to invite a certain boy to a party. This topic of conversation was basic and easy for my actors to remember. I referred back to the storyboard when I was filming to make sure I was sticking to what I planned. I found using a storyboard a good way to make sure I included the three techniques and didn't miss out any shots.

Seeing as it was my first time using a proper camera to film certain techniques, the first shot was interesting to say the least. I managed to crop actor one's head out of view and wasn't fast enough when I was panning, meaning my actor was out of shot. I did get used to the camera and after multiple attempts, managed to include the three different techniques.

After I finished editing my video, myself and my peers watched it and they gave constructive criticism. The key things that would need to be changed if i re-did it were;

• Try to follow actor one out the room from actor two's eyeline 
• When filming, need to make sure the actors are in the same position if I have stopped filming e.g actor one's arms are folded, when previously weren't 
• Get rid of the empty room at the end, I could have avoided this by maintaing continuity and filming my actor exiting from the other side of the door
• Tell actor two to lean in towards actor one, so she doesn't seem so far away
• Match on action when actor one leaves. I intended to do this but sadly ran out of time.    

After these points were made, my peers also gave me some positive feedback;

• I pan well on entrance
• Manage to include the photographic technique, the rule of thirds, when actor one opens the door
• Good head-room
• Good eyeline view when using shot reverse shot. 
• Smooth tilt to follow the actor when she stands up

To conclude, I really enjoyed constructing the preliminary task and found that all criticism will be useful for the tasks I have to film in the near future.  

My Preliminary Task

And here it is, my preliminary task :)

Filming the Preliminary Task

Last lesson I started to film and edit the preliminary task. It took a whole lesson as it took longer than I thought.

Filming the task, I found difficult as you have to film from all sorts of angles, ensuring everyone one is seen and heard, you remember where you last stopped filming and to include the three filming techniques mentioned before.

I thought the filming was difficult, and then came the editing. I found this very time consuming and hard work. When re-watching the video I realised it jumped between clips and didn't flow well. To battle this issue I had to be very precise as to when the previous clip ended and where the next one started. For example, for the match on action technique, I filmed person 1 from behind walking through the door but also had to film her coming through it at the correct moment. I had to acknowledge where her hand was in the first clip and where to start the next clip with her hand in the same position but coming through the door.

I'm sure I'll find editing and filming a little easier over time as it is the first video I've ever had to film using specific techniques and edit.

Preliminary Prep

In today's lesson we started to plan our preliminary task. I decided that my two speakers would be planning for a party and specifically discussing whether to invite this one particular person or not.  To do so, I drew a rough storyboard to refer to when I actually film :

Shot 1 will  be when person 1 enters the room. The camera will film them entering through the door and will be positioned behind them. Then shot 2 starts once they open the door, the camera with be in the room they're entering and will film them coming through. Person 1 then goes to sit down opposite person 2, this is shot number 3. All three shots will be using the match on action technique. Shot number 4 and 5 is when the conversation starts and so does filming using shot reverse shot. The camera will have to change sides to be opposite each person when they speak, ensuring the camera is the same distance in front each time.  The final shot will be the only one using the technique of the 180 degree rule. The camera will be situated in between both speakers, so both are visible at the same time.

I am unsure whether to capture person 1 exiting or not, but if I decide I want to include that I will use the match on action technique.

Getting to Know the Camera

In preparation for the preliminary task I have been set I have to learn and use three specific camera techniques:

Match on Action
180 Degree Rule
Shot Reverse Shot

When researching the different techniques I stumbled across a video showing the differences between all three angles.



Match on action is when you see the camera follow both behind the character and in front so you can see them either walking away or towards you.  This technique is most commonly used for when someone walks up to and comes through a door.

Shot reverse shot is used for when two or more people are having a conversation. The camera flips between characters but has to stay in the line with the person's eye so it feels like you, as a viewer, are part of the conversation too.

Finally, the 180 degree rule is the trickiest to do. But this video explains what it is well…

Introduction to AS Media Studies

In today's lesson, I was introduced to the subject of media studies and am very much looking forward to  looking into the production of films. 

As I am an avid film watcher the thought of analysing the way in which films are created and filmed interests me a lot. My all time favourite genre of film would have to be, stereotypically for a teenage girl, cheesy chick-flicks. This being said, I do enjoy the thrill when watching horror films.

I am especially excited to be able to create my own individual film opening using the skills, that I hopefully will develop in the next year.