Casting

[M] News Presenter -  Mitchell Cox

[F] News Presenter - Charlotte Hutton

News Correspondent - Sophie Rowson

Sebastian Markov - Josh Hinds

Scientist - Evie Gruszyk (?)

Office Worker #1 - Caitlain Horan

Enemy Soldier #1 - Megan Roberts

Enemy Soldier #2 - Jessie

Enemy Soldier #3 - Lizzie Wilder

Enemy Soldier #4 - Connor Brookes

Enemy Soldier #5 - Shannon Websdale

Ally Soldier #1 - Kane Snape

Ally Solider #2 - Connor Hewitt 

Ally Soldier #3 - Megan Roberts

Ally Soldier #4 - Phoebe Wright

Yuri - Bethany Taylor

Character Profile of the Ally Characters

The Heroes-

Soldiers:
No.1
Name: Damien Foster
Age: 20
Occupation: Soldier
Appearance: Medium height and build, camouflage/sandy clothing, boots, short hair
Characteristics: Brave, athletic, efficient
Role in the film: Damien is one of the soldiers that can be seen running up the stairs through the window, he is then seen when he and another soldier stop to talk to Yuri before running off with the other soldiers


No.2
Name: Andrew Marsh
Age: 19
Occupation: Soldier
Appearance: Medium height, brown
Characteristics: Determined, Energetic, Impulsive, Keen
Role in the film: Andrew is also one of the soldiers that can be seen running up the building through the tilt shot of the windows, he then stops along with Damien to give Yuri instructions before running off to complete his mission.



No.3
Name: Sandra Moore
Age: 19
Occupation: Soldier
Appearance: Long blonde hair, ponytail, green coat, brown boots, dark trousers
Characteristics: Smart, sensible, wise, loyal
Role in the Film: Sandra is only seen during the film in the tilt shot as she is running up the stairs with the other soldiers but when the two soldiers break off in order to talk to Yuri she continues on up the stairs without pause.



No.4
Name: Amanda Lane
Age: 19
Occupation: Soldier
Appearance: Shoulder length brown hair, ponytail, dark trousers, black Dr Marten boots, green jumper, khaki coat
Characteristics: Inventive, humble, efficient, daring
Role in the film: Amanda runs alongside sandra up the side of the building so is seen with the other soldiers through the window tilt, we only get a glimpse of the back of her as she continues to run up the stairs with Sandra as two of the other soldiers stop off to talk to Yuri.

Office Worker:

Name: Ginette Mayfair
Age: 18
Occupation: Intern
Character Traits: Modest, kind, helpful
Appearance: Short brown hair, blue eyes, office clothes
Role in film: Ginette and Sandra are sat watching the news report which is shown at the start of the film, they both work as interns in the science building which the news report is actually being filmed in.

Survey

Here is a link to our survey for our film:  Click here to take survey

Character Profile of News Reporters

Reporter in the field:
Name: Jessica Ludgivsen
Age: 23
Occupation: Rookie News Reporter in the field
Character Traits: Determined, intelligent, bold, curious.
Appearance: Brown hair, long, curly, white blouse, dark jeans, black boots, visitor pass
Role in film: The news reporter from the beginning of the film, Jessica is the reporter in the science building and it is her first real job. She is in Markov's science building when the nuclear weapon goes off which means that her broadcast cuts out and glitches, once the connection is regained the camera is on a canted angle and only Jessica's feat are in view and she sounds worried.


Female Desk Reporter:
Name: Laura Smith
Age: 20
Occupation: News reporter
Character Traits: Gentle, Efficient, curious, confident
Appearance: Long straight brown hair, glasses, black dress, khaki coat
Role in film: Laura is one of the news reporters that is seen at the desk during the beginning of our film, right into the beginning of the report she receives a breaking report which means she interrupts Michael talking and holds a hand to her ear to listen to the news which eventually leads to her then passing over to their reporter in the field Jessica.



Male Desk Reporter:
Name: Michael Johnson
Age: 21
Occupation: News reporter
Character Traits: Hard-working, intelligent, likeable, proud
Appearance: Grey shirt, green coat, dark trousers, short brown hair
Role in film: Michael is sat with Laura at the start of a broadcast, like any other normal broadcast they begin talking about their main news stories when Laura interrupts him. As Laura is listening to what is being said to her in her ear he attempts to continue with the original story before Laura interrupts him for the final time.

Character Profile of Yuri

Name: Yuri
Age: 18
Occupation: Soldier
Character Traits: Sarcastic, intimidating, powerful, fierce.
Appearance: Brown hair, short cut, short height, ponytail, green khaki coat, camouflage shirt, black leggings and black shoes
Role in the film: Yuri has super powers from the nuclear blast, and now she uses these powers to help with the war efforts. But she is told to hang back and keep watch rather than than go with the other soldiers, even though they know that she is incredibly powerful and useful to them. While she is complaining out loud about being left behind she is confronted by two enemy soldiers which she then defeats with her powers.

Costumes and Props

Costumes in our Movie:

Markov (Politician)

Costume: Tie (optional), shirt, smart trousers, smartly dressed but casual.

This isn't a traditional look for a politician however because Markov is younger than most typical politicians, we though it would be more suited for him to have a more casual look but we still wanted him to look smart.

A more traditional look for a politician, dressed smartly in a suit and tie, is also an option. 

Soldiers

Props: Fake guns.

Costume: We chose to have our soldiers all in black because they are an independent army formed by Markov so they won't wear the traditional khaki colours.

Office workers 

Costumes: Smartly dressed, black trouser/skirt and a smart top, so basically casual work wear.

Props: Mug with pens in, cups of coffee, files, paper etc. All to create a believable office atmosphere.

Scientist

Costume: Lab coats, goggles, general lab wear.

News Reporters

Hosts

Costumes: Female wearing smart dress and Male wearing shirt, blazer and tie (optional)

Props: Coffee mugs, sheets of paper and additional decorations (optional).

 

Correspondent

Costume: Smart/Casual. Jeans and a blouse, possible blazer.

Props: Microphone (optional) and Lanyard, or other proof of the buildings authority.

 Costumes often used in Sci-Fi films:

X Men: First class 

This film is set in a different period of time, this is shown in the way the characters have been styled e.g. mini skirts and go go boot's. This would have have been typical for the time period it was set (1962) as that it was stylish to wear block colours and for women to wear short clothing and go go boots, men also wore leather jackets and block colours.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is set in the current time period so most of the clothing used in the film is current fashion. Whoever the super villain  electro is shown to be a super human when post makeup/editing as he is shown as a blue glowing man (like electricity) this links in with our film as Yuri (our superhero) has super abilities which is shown by her glowing hands.

Captain America: The First Avenger 

Captain America is set in two time periods 1942 and the present time of the films release. However in the film there is a scene in which the army are wearing all khaki colours and holding guns this is how the 'good' soldiers are styled in our film as they were dressed in earthy colours such as khaki and sand and they had guns.

Character Profile of Sebastian Markov

Name: Sebastian Markov

Age: 20

Occupation: Peacemaker, Billionaire, leader of the new world.

Character traits: Manipulative, dangerous, charming, leader, smart.
Appearance: Brown hair, tall, facial hair, posh suit and tie, polished black shoes and a staff pass on a red lanyard

Role in the film: Markov is seen to be shaking hands with one of his employees in a clip that is shown in the news broadcast, he is also shown in photos where he is shaking hands with important politicians throughout the world

Title Sequences

After all the trailers and other marketing adverts title sequences are usually the first thing that the audience sees once the lights go down, this means that they are a good way for the filmmakers to outline their intentions.
A good title sequence has to:

• Relate to the narrative- possibly give background to the plot and the main characters
• Show the genre
• Build anticipation
• Show the Production and Distribution company logos- advertisement and informs the audience what kind of production budget the film has
• Movie Title
• Top billed actors/actresses
• Director
• Producers/Executive Produces (rest of the crew featured in end credits)

 

 

Individual Analysis- X-men First Class

For this task I chose to look at the film X-Men First Class, one of the similar films to our own.

Trailer:

Plot (From imdb.com):
"In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III."

Stars:

• James McAvoy
• Michael Fassbender
• Kevin Bacon
• Jennifer Lawrence
• Nicholas Hoult
• Lucas Till
• Rose Byrne
• Zoe Kravitz
• Caleb Landry-Jones
• Oliver Pratt
• Jason Flemyng
• Morgan Lily
• Laurence Belcher

Details:

• 20th Century fox
• Action, Sci-fi and Adventure genres

Analysis:

The start of this film is a very standard one, going through the distributors logo and production companies starting with 20th Century Fox and moving through to Marvel who own the rights to the X-Men franchise.

From the Marvel logo it moves into an upwards tilt through a black screen, this then becomes a sort of wipe where the frame turns into a wall. This leads into an establishing shot, with a tagline of text which gives some context behind the scene. It is common knowledge that 1944 was the time of World War Two, and the fact that it is a dirty and dark scene means that a link to the Nazi concentration camps can be made due to the fact that it is set in Poland. The dark tone set by the dark lighting and colours as well as the rain shows the audience that this isn't going to be a pleasant scene.

This close up on the arm of one of the men shows a tattoo, which are fairly painful even when voluntary, shows numbers which has a strong connotation of a prisoner number. The rain in the background shows that he is at the place that we assume is the concentration camp, which this now backs up. He is standing in heavy rain with just a flimsy shirt on which shows just how badly he is being treated.

This high angle shot to look up at this particular character gives him a powerful status, he is inside away from the rain, looking down at the other people and simply watching them work in the pouring rain while he's in the comfort and safety of inside. Even though he is poorly lit, it can be seen that he is wearing an expensive looking suit which backs up that he is in high status, and he is drinking from some fine china which would not be cheap.

This next establishing shot with text to give context shows a much different scene from the one that we have just witnessed, set in the same year but in a different country altogether it shows a nice country mansion surrounded by green land and it looks like pleasant evening weather. The dark shows that it is nighttime in this scene, and all the lights but one room in the house are on which shows the audience that someone in the house is up, whether it be someone who lives in the house or someone who is visiting illegally.

This medium shot with a zoom out is showing the audience the powers which this young girl has, the blue skin that she has stands out against the plain colour scheme of the interior of the house. This makes the point that the girl is unusual, someone that is different and would possibly be scary because of how she could easily sneak around.

This two shot shows us the blue girl once again, but the way that she is clearly smaller than the boy shows her innocence and that she is not a danger even though she isn't something we see everyday. The way that the boy is extending a hand out to the girl shows that he is friendly and that this relationship is going to be important for the rest of the film.

The fact that every single character in this shot is in focus, gives the impression that even the ones that are placed at the back of the shot are important to the scene. The characters on the right side of the shot all have brown, dull looking clothes on which shows their lesser status to the man sat behind the desk with the posh suit. The fact he is holding a pistol which he is holding up to the weak looking woman in relation to the young boy is holding his arms out clearly attempting to use super powers but the pain on his face still seen though this wide shot shows that he is struggling.

These next two master shots show both sides of the young boys power, in both it is clear to see that with his arms raised he is putting a lot of force into his powers, and the pain that was expressed earlier when attempting to use his powers has now been replaced by anger. The first screen cap by only seeing the back of him and watching as all the metal objects flying around through the windows, makes him look powerful. Then the next screen cap from the perspective of the room where all the metal is flying around, it could possibly make the audience feel like they are in the middle of the metal storm, in a dangerous place and they're looking right at the anger on the young boys face. 

Because this scene is all spoken in German, reading the subtitles is important because it makes the whole thing even more believable. Linking the subtitle to the image of the man guiding the boy into the wrecked room, "You and me..." and the close proximity makes it appear that they are father/son rather than two strangers. The dark lighting and their silhouetted bodies gives off the sinister tone that is behind this relationship. 

The graphic match of the Nazi coin to the movie logo finally completes the title sequence and the silver on the black background gives it more of an official and serious look which sets the tone for the rest of the film.

When we get this close up of the arm, with a number tattoo similar to the one which we saw at the start of the show. From the way that the Nazi coin is seen hovering above his hand gives us a hint that this person is the same boy that we saw earlier on, just grown up.

This low angle shot gives the audience the first glance of the man's face, and the blank look he has on his face while concentrating on something off frame. The low angle on him links him back to the boy because its hinting at the fact that he's constantly oppressed. 

Once it has completely zoomed out to this wide shot, the date on the text shows that it is now 1962 which means that the war is over and the man on the bed very much is the little boy from the start of the movie but grown up. The props fit the 60's era furniture. What made him make the move from Poland/Germany to Geneva, Switzerland?

The close up on the pencil drawing means that the audience can recognise that the man in the picture is the same one from the start of the movie, and although at this point the audience don't know it the coin in the middle of the head is a very significant image. It is foreshadowing what is going to happen to this man by the end of the film, by the man on the bed who fired the coin at the wall with his super powers. This shows us a line of sight, as this is what he was concentrating on in earlier shots, and the fact that he's done this to a picture of the man shows great anger towards him.

As we now have the context of the leap in years, by the close up on this particular character we can assume that this man is the other young boy that we were introduced to at the start of the movie, and he is physically demonstrating his power here, by placing his fingers against his forehead. Certainly hinting that his power is mind related. His hair look neat and done well, which matches with the nice suit he is wearing which shows that he is much better off which makes sense if he grew up in a mansion.

When it comes to the first shot, it is a two shot but it is framed in a way that the blonde girl sat at one of the tables at the back of the pub is perfectly in shot even if she is out of focus. This means that she is going to be an important character, the fact that she is a girl could mean that she is the little girl who has the blue skin. She has the power of disguise, which means this could be the form she wears now she's older. In the second shot we see her moving into focus as she walks towards the two at the front which shows that she is in fact important.

Individual Analysis of Star Trek: Into Darkness

For this task, I chose to look at 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' as a similar film to the one we are creating. 

Trailer:

Additional Information:

Analysis:

In the first minute before the opening scene, the logo's of the above production companies are played, along with the movies soundtrack, showing and advertising those involved in the production of the Star Trek Movie.

The movie then begins with a clear establishment of the location, which is helpful to the audience as this happens to be a completely new and unheard or planet. Fading from the final logo, an establishing shot, along with text stating the whereabouts of the scene, shows unusual scenery, and then quickly zooms into a figure, then to a tribe of an unknown species closely following them. The camera then moves back to the previous figure, showing him fleeing into the red forest away from the tribe, suggesting a dispute between the two. The bright, vibrant colours give the audience the impression that this planet is pleasant and the dark costume of the figure being chased suggests they are indeed dark and unpleasant, however these impressions are used to subvert stereotype and create a small sense of shock factor as we see later on in the opening scene.

The chase is then continued, and followed through a range of tracking shots, showing the tribe's violent actions towards this unknown figure. The fast pace is exaggerated by the passing of the trees, as when the camera follows the figure, trees obstruct his path, and therefore the cameras.

When confronted by a monstrous beast, the yet-to-be-identified pulls out a high-tech stunning device and shoots it without hesitation, and a close up of the gun shows the audience a clear shot of the weapon being used, despite the quick paced scenes before. By doing so, the scenes previous sense of urgency is still conveyed through fast shots, yet the audience are still able to see what is going on within the madness.

Once the beast is stunned, it reveals yet another character dressed similarly to the first. This newly introduced character states that the gun is not set to kill, and in doing so, both figures reveal themselves to be Captain Kirk and Bones, two members of the USS Enterprise. For anyone who has seen the previous movie, they will instantly recognise the two characters, however if members of the audience have not seen the first movie, the fact that the gun is set to stun rather than kill will inform them that they mean no harm. The following conversation between these two characters goes into further detail about why they are on this planet, stating they are in fact trying to help the inhabitants.

A close up of the tribe chasing the two confirm that they are another species, and the use of a different language suggests a misunderstanding between both the tribe and Kirk and Bones, due to this language barrier.

Following a couple more shots of the chase scene, the camera films up to a volcano spewing smoke, with what seems to be a crane shot, making an easy transition into a smoky background for a space shuttle to fly through. This indicates a change of location, but as the intense soundtrack still plays over the transition, it informs the audience that this is still the planet, and same problem.

To show the audience that the characters being chased by the foreign tribe and the crew members aboard the space ship are on the same mission, Captain Kirk and Spock communicate back and forth, explaining their situations both on the planet and in the shuttle. This communication also informs the audience of what the previous events have happened for, and why the following events are relevant.

When Spock jumps from the ship in order to help the two members stranded, a tilt shot follows him as he jumps from the ship, as he passes and where he is falling to. This shows the audience the extent to which Spock is willing to fall in order to help Kirk and Bones, as well as his bravery.

A close up of Spocks face shows his sceptical expression, and following this with a shot from his POV gives an explanation to his emotion. Showing the audience where Spock is falling to informs them that although it was Spocks decision to make this jump, it is still a dangerous and terrifying journey to make. This can also allow the audience to imagine themselves falling to such a location, and the terror they would feel.

As Spock falls, more scenes from the shuttle shows malfunctions aboard the their escape vehicle, including a close up of an alert telling them that their engines are overheated. The red alert instantly gives the audience a sense of danger and urgency, increasing the tension of the overall situation.

Despite the crews opposition towards Spock's choice of action, Spock takes an uncomfortable landing within the opening of the volcano, and the danger of his situation appears to have increased yet again. As he regains stability, the camera takes an establishing shot of what surrounds Spock, showing his figure amongst lava and molten rock. By showing the audience Spock location relevant to this location, the audience can see the extent of danger.