For this movie we can't really spend much money on it, so the budget will obviously be very low, fortunately we have most of the props and locations we'll need and for everything else we can borrow that stuff from other friends who are willing to help us with production.
Friday 11 March 2016
Thursday 10 March 2016
Superhero Comedies - Openings
These are some openings of comedy and/or superhero films which we could take inspiration from.
KickAss:
The KickAss opening establishes location immediately with an establishing shot of the Empire State building and the New York skyline which tilts don to reveal the hero in full costume, standing on the edge of a roof. The colourful costume and cape like wings establish that this is a superhero. The low angle shots from the floor then establish that people can see him. The monologue over the footage establishes that the hero is a young man from the voice and parodies dramatic speeches in the dramatic close ups of his face and what he says, while also establishing his character and reasons for becoming a superhero; "I always wondered why nobody did it before me. I mean, all those comic books, movies, TV shows, you'd think that one eccentric loner would have made himself a costume. I mean, is everyday life really so exciting? Are schools and offices so thrilling that I'm the only one who ever fantasised about this? Come on, be honest with yourself. At some point in our lives, we all wanted to be a superhero." The fact that he crashes on a taxi, looking to be seriously hurt, establishes that this is not a successful hero by undercutting the dramatic monologue and drop, while parodying the trope of a superhero falling from great heights and landing in a three point pose.
The Incredibles:
Shaun of the Dead:
The opening scene shows people walking around like zombies. This introduces the theme of the film, zombies, and one of the major jokes of the film, that people are like zombies anyway. It also introduces the two main protagonists (Nick Frost as Ed & Simon Pegg as Shaun), and their personalities; both are relatively lazy but Ed far more so, not moving in the whole sequence. It shows the living room as incredibly messy, with crushed drink cans, crisp packets and wrappers everywhere. It also establishes that Ed is unemployed but Shaun has a job through the one line of dialogue; Ed saying "Don't you have work?" This is a very effective example of show don't tell, establishing much of the two main characters and a general theme with almost no dialogue in only one minute.
KickAss:
The KickAss opening establishes location immediately with an establishing shot of the Empire State building and the New York skyline which tilts don to reveal the hero in full costume, standing on the edge of a roof. The colourful costume and cape like wings establish that this is a superhero. The low angle shots from the floor then establish that people can see him. The monologue over the footage establishes that the hero is a young man from the voice and parodies dramatic speeches in the dramatic close ups of his face and what he says, while also establishing his character and reasons for becoming a superhero; "I always wondered why nobody did it before me. I mean, all those comic books, movies, TV shows, you'd think that one eccentric loner would have made himself a costume. I mean, is everyday life really so exciting? Are schools and offices so thrilling that I'm the only one who ever fantasised about this? Come on, be honest with yourself. At some point in our lives, we all wanted to be a superhero." The fact that he crashes on a taxi, looking to be seriously hurt, establishes that this is not a successful hero by undercutting the dramatic monologue and drop, while parodying the trope of a superhero falling from great heights and landing in a three point pose.
The Incredibles:
Shaun of the Dead:
The opening scene shows people walking around like zombies. This introduces the theme of the film, zombies, and one of the major jokes of the film, that people are like zombies anyway. It also introduces the two main protagonists (Nick Frost as Ed & Simon Pegg as Shaun), and their personalities; both are relatively lazy but Ed far more so, not moving in the whole sequence. It shows the living room as incredibly messy, with crushed drink cans, crisp packets and wrappers everywhere. It also establishes that Ed is unemployed but Shaun has a job through the one line of dialogue; Ed saying "Don't you have work?" This is a very effective example of show don't tell, establishing much of the two main characters and a general theme with almost no dialogue in only one minute.
Market Research
This is some Market research Aidan had done
Comedy
We are thinking about creating a comedy film opening. We are thinking about this because it doesn't require much budget. It does not require lots of props, effects or exotic locations; it san easily involve normal people in common locations. It would not need much choreography or stunt-work; it can be based around everyday situations with a comedic twist.
It is also a very popular genre, particularly in the UK:
As you can see by the charts above comedy movies do very well, in the British film industry they are just behind Drama for the largest quantity of movies made and make the most money with the most tickets sold among other genres.
Audience Research by Aiden
A lot of data changes here but there are some constant factors:
Firstly, the fans of these films are mainly males aged 25-39, with some correlation with 40-54 and 18-24 year olds, but very few over 55. This implies that this genre appeals to a young adult audience mainly, so we should aim for this audience. Therefore, the hero should be relatable to these age groups.
Another common factor is the general interests category; the top three for all is, in some order, movies, video games and science. Their favourite sports generally include forms of motor racing and boxing. Movies is an obvious correlation, but video games, boxing and motor racing give more information, suggesting that they enjoy fast paced action. A relatable character to this audience would likely also enjoy these things. It would not be difficult to use video games in establishing a relatable character.
In terms of entertainment, people who like these films also enjoy thrillers and horror films, such as District 9, V for Vendetta, Evil Dead and Alien (except for The Incredibles, this category is entirely other Pixar films). Therefore, in appealing to this audience, elements from these genres could be included in some way.
Audience Profile - Nathan
Name: Nathan Charr
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Hair Colour: Black
Skin Colour: White
Nationality: British, Scottish, a little Japanese
Social Class: Middle Class
Income: On a regular allowance from his mother and father.
Home Area: Tooting
Likes: Anime/Manga (particularly action comedies), Competitive sports (Boxing, Wrestling, Kendo, etc), Ninjas, Assassins, High-Action Games, Build ups, Cliffhanger endings.
Character Type: Very casual, Quiet when concentrating, Talkative around his friends, Has a strong attention span.
Dislikes: Generic Archetypes, Media that's too happy-go-lucky, People who have a very stuck up attitude.
Favourite Colour: Black
Favourite Music: Guitar Tracks/Tunes
How Often Does he Listen to Music: Frequently
Favourite Games: Open World Action Beat-em-ups
How Often Does he Play: Whenever he has free time
Favourite TV Shows: The Walking Dead, One Punch Man, Friends.
TV Usage: Around 7 hours a day, watches with his parents sometimes.
Favourite Movies: Deadpool, Kick Ass, The Incredibles, The World's End.
Why Would he Watch my Movie?: If my movie were to be advertised using posters for example, it would have a colour scheme of mostly black with purple highlights, the main character would be shrouded in the darkness with something on/around him to offset the ominous atmosphere and create a comedic feel. In a trailer it would use allot of guitar riffs and have small parts dedicated to the comedy side of the movie like the Deadpool trailer, it would also share some qualities with One Punch Man's "Speed O' Sound Sonic" and comedy similar to The World's End and Deadpool.
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Hair Colour: Black
Skin Colour: White
Nationality: British, Scottish, a little Japanese
Social Class: Middle Class
Income: On a regular allowance from his mother and father.
Home Area: Tooting
Likes: Anime/Manga (particularly action comedies), Competitive sports (Boxing, Wrestling, Kendo, etc), Ninjas, Assassins, High-Action Games, Build ups, Cliffhanger endings.
Character Type: Very casual, Quiet when concentrating, Talkative around his friends, Has a strong attention span.
Dislikes: Generic Archetypes, Media that's too happy-go-lucky, People who have a very stuck up attitude.
Favourite Colour: Black
Favourite Music: Guitar Tracks/Tunes
How Often Does he Listen to Music: Frequently
Favourite Games: Open World Action Beat-em-ups
How Often Does he Play: Whenever he has free time
Favourite TV Shows: The Walking Dead, One Punch Man, Friends.
TV Usage: Around 7 hours a day, watches with his parents sometimes.
Favourite Movies: Deadpool, Kick Ass, The Incredibles, The World's End.
Why Would he Watch my Movie?: If my movie were to be advertised using posters for example, it would have a colour scheme of mostly black with purple highlights, the main character would be shrouded in the darkness with something on/around him to offset the ominous atmosphere and create a comedic feel. In a trailer it would use allot of guitar riffs and have small parts dedicated to the comedy side of the movie like the Deadpool trailer, it would also share some qualities with One Punch Man's "Speed O' Sound Sonic" and comedy similar to The World's End and Deadpool.
Our Jobs
I will be doing the Storyboards and costume design along with directing and Aiden will be the cameraman and write the script.
We will both do the editing .
We will both be doing research and sharing ideas on our film.
We will both do the editing .
We will both be doing research and sharing ideas on our film.
Friday 4 March 2016
Atmosphere
The over all atmosphere of the opening of a film is crucial to any movie, so we need to know what works in a superhero movie.
Kick Ass's opening had a grandiose atmosphere with a large establishing shot with a man looking like he'l fly off a building, he drops and the crowd applauds before he face-lifts into a taxi below. The atmosphere then shifted to a kind of cringe/black comedy.
Deadpool opened with a slow motion pan around a flying taxi with Deadpool and some other men fighting, it was full of either crotch shots or people getting hurt by Deadpool. On top of that the credits were all like jabs towards the actual production team, like calling the camera man "some nerd with a camera".
Kick Ass's opening had a grandiose atmosphere with a large establishing shot with a man looking like he'l fly off a building, he drops and the crowd applauds before he face-lifts into a taxi below. The atmosphere then shifted to a kind of cringe/black comedy.
Deadpool opened with a slow motion pan around a flying taxi with Deadpool and some other men fighting, it was full of either crotch shots or people getting hurt by Deadpool. On top of that the credits were all like jabs towards the actual production team, like calling the camera man "some nerd with a camera".
Monday 29 February 2016
What Geres of Music Should I Use?
When I see superheroes in the media, I notice that most of the main heroes have there own theme songs which play during their roles.
The genre of music for these themes vary depending on there personality or there role as a hero or villain.
The genres I recognize the most are, Hard Rock, Dubstep, Techno, Metal, and Dramatic Orchestral pieces.
The genre of music for these themes vary depending on there personality or there role as a hero or villain.
The genres I recognize the most are, Hard Rock, Dubstep, Techno, Metal, and Dramatic Orchestral pieces.
Music
For a superhero comedy movie we'll need some music that sounds funnily overdramatic to poke fun at the original dramatic feel of superhero movies.
We will need to have some goofy or casual theme music for the main character to either represent his incompetence or his casual nature.
Since we can't use copyrighted music we will need to find some loyalty free music.
I know that the YouTube Audio Library has some good tunes in there so I'll start searching there.
https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music
We will need to have some goofy or casual theme music for the main character to either represent his incompetence or his casual nature.
Since we can't use copyrighted music we will need to find some loyalty free music.
I know that the YouTube Audio Library has some good tunes in there so I'll start searching there.
https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music
COMEDY! - Cringe Comedy
The art of cringe comedy is when someone makes a joke of embarrassment or embarrasses themselves in order to get a laugh.
Stephen Merchant is good at this form of comedy as his comedy show "Hello Ladies" is an hour and a half of him cutting himself down which gets a big laugh.
Stephen Merchant is good at this form of comedy as his comedy show "Hello Ladies" is an hour and a half of him cutting himself down which gets a big laugh.
COMEDY!
When it comes to comedy I really like over the top physical comedy and British verbal comedy.
My favourite forms of British comedy are in Simon Pegg movies directed by Edgar Wright, his editing style is quite unique and adds to the moment in is films.
COMEDY! - Anime's Physical Humour
When it comes to the physical humour in animated films and series its always super exaggerated.
For example in One Punch Man the hero trained so hard that his hair fell out.
On top of that he's had some very spectacular victories over monsters in the series.
For example; slapping a mosquito girl into a blood splatter, punching a giant in the face and uppercutting a beetle monster in a rush to get to a saturday sale.
The joke is that he's so sting he just puts no effort into dispatching these monsters, the site of him slapping a monster into a blood splatter or walking backwards at mach speed is just hilarious because of how silly it looks.
For example in One Punch Man the hero trained so hard that his hair fell out.On top of that he's had some very spectacular victories over monsters in the series.
For example; slapping a mosquito girl into a blood splatter, punching a giant in the face and uppercutting a beetle monster in a rush to get to a saturday sale.
The joke is that he's so sting he just puts no effort into dispatching these monsters, the site of him slapping a monster into a blood splatter or walking backwards at mach speed is just hilarious because of how silly it looks.
COMEDY! - Black Comedy
Black comedy is when a controversial subject matter or a sensitive topic is used for laugh, things like death, rape, sexuality, etc.
For example: Frankie Boyle is a Scottish comedian that pocks fun at very sensitive subjects like 9/11 or the Death of princess Diana. To most people they wouldn't dare touch these topics but Frankie takes the P out of them without hesitation.
We may not use subjects as sensitive as this but it may be incorporated because of how gutsy you need to be to tell these kind of jokes.
Another example of what uses black comedy well is an animated series called the Gregory Horror Show, this series is strangely a horror/comedy, an odd genre that it uses very well. This series relies mostly on psychological horror which it uses in its black comedy; blood, death, and pain are made light of a lot in this series and each of its characters are hilarious exaggerations of primal fears.
Judgement Boy is a character that represents the fear of consequences and funnily enough he is a living set of scales that asks you emotionally difficult questions with this gleeful smile across his face and proceeds to float away singing his annoying little song which made him a fan favourite because of how funny he is.
For example: Frankie Boyle is a Scottish comedian that pocks fun at very sensitive subjects like 9/11 or the Death of princess Diana. To most people they wouldn't dare touch these topics but Frankie takes the P out of them without hesitation.
We may not use subjects as sensitive as this but it may be incorporated because of how gutsy you need to be to tell these kind of jokes.
Another example of what uses black comedy well is an animated series called the Gregory Horror Show, this series is strangely a horror/comedy, an odd genre that it uses very well. This series relies mostly on psychological horror which it uses in its black comedy; blood, death, and pain are made light of a lot in this series and each of its characters are hilarious exaggerations of primal fears.
Judgement Boy is a character that represents the fear of consequences and funnily enough he is a living set of scales that asks you emotionally difficult questions with this gleeful smile across his face and proceeds to float away singing his annoying little song which made him a fan favourite because of how funny he is.
Saturday 27 February 2016
Location Scouting
At start we considered using a large area like Morden park or Nonsuch park for an early fight scene or even have the majority in these areas, but when we came up with the final idea and the main characters persona we decided to hold the opening in a house so that we could represent the characters sloth-like lifestyle.
We have also decided to have a couple of scenes on a roof for an establishing shot and maybe a scene to reveal the villain. For this I have a friend that lives in the Amen Corner block of flats, he has access to the roof so we can definitely use that.
We have also decided to have a couple of scenes on a roof for an establishing shot and maybe a scene to reveal the villain. For this I have a friend that lives in the Amen Corner block of flats, he has access to the roof so we can definitely use that.
Thursday 25 February 2016
Institutions Research
In my research of institutions I think that 20th Century Fox would distribute our movie, as they have a great line-up superhero and action movies:
Deadpool
Batman
The Mark of Zorro
Zorro The Gay Blade
2 Power Rangers Movies
Daredevil
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Elektra
Fantastic 4
and 7 X-men films
Another possibility would be Columbia Pictures as they have had some superhero movies and some good comedy movies:
Mr.Deeds
Spider Man
Spider Man 2
Spider Man 3
Bad Boys II
The Longest Yard
Ghost Rider
Big Daddy
Below is some points that Aidan has made:
Aiden brings up some good points here, even though Columbia and 20th Century Fox do have some similar movies in there lineup of films they are too big of a company to even consider funding and/or distributing our movie so we would most likely need to go with a production company who would be able to get our movie out there but be small enough to actually take our film on board.
Deadpool
Batman
The Mark of Zorro
Zorro The Gay Blade
2 Power Rangers Movies
Daredevil
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Elektra
Fantastic 4
and 7 X-men films
Another possibility would be Columbia Pictures as they have had some superhero movies and some good comedy movies:
Mr.Deeds
Spider Man
Spider Man 2
Spider Man 3
Bad Boys II
The Longest Yard
Ghost Rider
Big Daddy
Below is some points that Aidan has made:
It is unlikely that our film would be distributed by a major American distributor; this small production would be unlikely to interest them. It is unlikely that a major cinema release would be possible; getting a film into cinemas is expensive and difficult, with the major American companies able to buy out most cinemas and push out low budget British production like ours. Therefore, our film would likely be distributed by a small, British company, possibly via an alternative medium.
An example of such a company would be ChannelFlip. ChannelFlip is a small but relatively well known company and YouTube network who, among other things, ran the YouTube channel The Multiverse until the summer of 2014 when they lost funding from YouTube. Many shows from this channel, such as Knighthood and Decoy, are continuing on different media platforms. ChannelFlip often works on small and experimental projects, such as Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild, providing funding and good connections to help production. They are known for "geek flavoured entertainment" such as fantasy, science fiction and superhero related comedy. This is the kind of company who would likely distribute our film.
Wednesday 24 February 2016
Research for a superhero comedy
Research for a superhero comedy
I chose comedy because I thought it would be easier to film as there isn't as much choreography as in action movies but we need to make sure its funny otherwise the movie would be a bust.
For reference I've watched a lot of Simon Pegg movies as he is the funniest british actor there is in my opinion.
A superhero comedy that I took a lot of inspiration from was the Deadpool movie as the humour in that movie was god with physical slap-stick and verbal comedy, the fourth wall breaks in it were funny as well.
For example the fourth wall humours definitely something we can do very easily as he would either mess with the camera or talk to/address the audience.
The superhero aspect was good as well because his whole backstory is; "I'm Wade Wilson, I'm a mercenary, I got married, I got cancer and became a mutant superhero to cure it. Now I'm Deadpool!"
The first 4th of the movie was just Wade (Deadpool) living his normal life, so we'll probably go down that route.
Deadpool was also the narrator which was funny as well, so we'll definitely use that.
Group: Josh and Aidan
I chose comedy because I thought it would be easier to film as there isn't as much choreography as in action movies but we need to make sure its funny otherwise the movie would be a bust.
For reference I've watched a lot of Simon Pegg movies as he is the funniest british actor there is in my opinion.
A superhero comedy that I took a lot of inspiration from was the Deadpool movie as the humour in that movie was god with physical slap-stick and verbal comedy, the fourth wall breaks in it were funny as well.
For example the fourth wall humours definitely something we can do very easily as he would either mess with the camera or talk to/address the audience.
The superhero aspect was good as well because his whole backstory is; "I'm Wade Wilson, I'm a mercenary, I got married, I got cancer and became a mutant superhero to cure it. Now I'm Deadpool!"
The first 4th of the movie was just Wade (Deadpool) living his normal life, so we'll probably go down that route.
Deadpool was also the narrator which was funny as well, so we'll definitely use that.
Sunday 10 January 2016
Why I've chosen comedy and what I've learned about it - Joshua and Aiden
The reason I chose comedy as my preferred genre is because it doesn't take as much planning as action or horror. Comedy doesn't need props or set pieces, and with that in mind I've tried to keep the comedy to funny angles and dialogue.
It is easier to get people to laugh with slap-stick and prop humour but that's not within my budget nor can I legally carry the desired props around in public, so unfortunately I'll have to try and make everyday objects look funny.
I personally don't think its a very difficult genre because after the script is made it's pretty easy to film. Or at least that's the impression I got from my last experience shooting a comedy.
When I look at stand-up comedy I notice a lot of exaggeration and deep description in order to make something like "taking the kids to school" sound hilarious.
Comedians would sometimes even put themselves as the punch line which gets a good laugh.
Sometimes an anti-climax works too.
However stand-up comedy is very different from movie comedy so I re-watched some of my favourite comedies to get some extra information.
For movies I watched Simon Pegg's Cornetto Trilogy: The World's End, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead which are highly praised as some of the best British comedies ever made.
The Director, Edgar Wright takes a lot of the credit as well as his unique editing style is what makes these movies so funny. For Example:
Say you needed to film somebody doing some paperwork, usually that would be boring but Edgar Wright filmed it in a series of fast paced jump cuts each either zooming in or panning around the paper quickly.
I also watched an anime series called Prison School which has some of the most hilarious camera angles and reactions I've ever seen.
However Prison School and The Cornetto Trilogy are meant for very different audiences so I'd probably have to lean more to TCTs type of comedy.
The reason I chose comedy as my preferred genre is because it doesn't take as much planning as action or horror. Comedy doesn't need props or set pieces, and with that in mind I've tried to keep the comedy to funny angles and dialogue.
It is easier to get people to laugh with slap-stick and prop humour but that's not within my budget nor can I legally carry the desired props around in public, so unfortunately I'll have to try and make everyday objects look funny.
I personally don't think its a very difficult genre because after the script is made it's pretty easy to film. Or at least that's the impression I got from my last experience shooting a comedy.
When I look at stand-up comedy I notice a lot of exaggeration and deep description in order to make something like "taking the kids to school" sound hilarious.
Comedians would sometimes even put themselves as the punch line which gets a good laugh.
Sometimes an anti-climax works too.
However stand-up comedy is very different from movie comedy so I re-watched some of my favourite comedies to get some extra information.
For movies I watched Simon Pegg's Cornetto Trilogy: The World's End, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead which are highly praised as some of the best British comedies ever made.
The Director, Edgar Wright takes a lot of the credit as well as his unique editing style is what makes these movies so funny. For Example:
Say you needed to film somebody doing some paperwork, usually that would be boring but Edgar Wright filmed it in a series of fast paced jump cuts each either zooming in or panning around the paper quickly.
I also watched an anime series called Prison School which has some of the most hilarious camera angles and reactions I've ever seen.
However Prison School and The Cornetto Trilogy are meant for very different audiences so I'd probably have to lean more to TCTs type of comedy.
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