Creating a Brand - Film Studios and Logo Analysis

Now that you all know how to film a basic moving image sequence, your next task is to come up with a production company name and logo before we embark on developing an idea and creating a successful film opening. 

How will I do this?

Initially, you will need to complete some research on film studio logos. 

Can you identify who the main six studios are?  Give examples to highlight your understanding.

Before you look at film production companies in more detail, you will need to analyse film studio logos and think about what each of their idents connotes to audiences. See the example below.

Universal

 

"The word universal connotes global success, as if announcing to audiences that the films produced by this company have universal appeal and are recognised worldwide.  The fact that the text 'Universal' has a gold rim around it suggests high quality; that the films produced will survive the test of time, reflecting the 'golden' age of Hollywood film production.  The logo denotes that the sun shines behind the globe, which can also suggest that Universal is a beacon, a leading light in film production . . . "

 

I could write more, perhaps use some examples of their great films which highlight this.  Remember, this is a film studio, the company with the money that pays the film companies to produce the films for them, they will then distribute this film around the world. Sometimes, they distribute their money to their own film companies or organizations who have a financial interest in the country.

 

• You can try entering the name of a film studio into Wikipedia and looking at who the parent and subsidiary companies are.

 

At the start of your film you will be using the studio logo that you would want to finance your production.  You should visit www.boxofficemojo.com and look at what types of films each distributor specialises in and what is commercially successful.  You can often find patterns by looking at the type of films they make.

 

Here's the studio logo for Universal, look at how it has changed over the years. Is the brand's ideology still the same? Universal have always produced groundbreaking movies, what evidence is there in the logos to suggest that?

And here's some more film studio logos for you to compare and analyse.  Whilst I do not expect you to become a whizz at computer animation, I will show you of some shortcuts and ideas for making something as effective.

Film production companies

In the first 2-3 minutes of any film opening, the first two things you see tend to be the studio logo, followed by a film production ident.  Have you ever seen a Jerry Bruckheimer film?  If you haven't, by watching the ident below, we can probably assume (as audiences) that it will involve dark storylines, action, be exciting and have a certain finesse.



How do I know this?  Well, I just watched the same sequence as you did.  The connotations of each image is significant, and when lighting strikes, what does that say about this film company?

• Branding is closely linked to the key concept of Ideology. 
• Ideology, you will recall, represents a company's or person's views, values and opinions. 
• What you stand for and firmly believe in is known as your ideology or instilled belief. 

Creating a brand for your film production company will take careful consideration and time.
If you work on your own, the film company should represent elements of your personality and fit the mood of the film.  Likewise, if you decide to work in groups, you should create a logo or acronym which binds all of your ideas and tastes together.

Calling yourself 'Happy Clown Films' creates certain connotations. I would not expect you to make horror films with this branding unless you used Pennywise imagery from IT.  Choose wisely - see the next post on Logo Design.

Reflection on the Preliminary Task

The vast majority of you have now completed this exercise.  Well done!

Now it's time to reflect - and BLOG - about your experience.

Firstly, lets do a little audit of skills and technologies that you used to create your prelim.  You should be able to identify what you have used in the creation of your blog.  Here's an example:

"My brief for my preliminary task was to demonstrate an understanding of continuity editing, this meant filming a sequence whereby a character walks through a door and sits or stands opposite another character, and exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.  I would need to highlight my understanding of media language by filming a match on action shot, shot reverse shot, and not break the 180 degree rule."

Most of you did this.  Some of you failed first time round, some even failed second time round, mainly because you crossed the line or needed to show another shot.  I need to see them before you post your completed prelim to check if it works and to make sure that you have passed. 

If you did fail - good, you will have more to reflect upon and know how not to fail when it comes to producing your final piece. 

Tools Used

• Computers/internet - to view the blog and watch examples on the blog of good and bad practice
• Storyboard sheets - to sketch initial ideas (take pictures of them if you did this) If you did stick men, how did you improve upon this?
• iPads - you used the camera function to take digital images of each shot, then you cropped each one so that you could use them in a storyboard
• Apps - you used shot designer to map out your location, and you may have used storyboards to experiment with orientation and pre-visualize. Evidence these on your blog!
• Walkthrough using Camera - you may have used your iPad to take pictures of your filming location before you filmed (good practice) and created a slideshow in shot order.
• Casting - you will have emailed or texted or tweeted your friends to get involved in your productions.
• Note/Word - if you were properly organized you would have scripted the dialogue.
• Videolicious - this app lets you talk through your storyboards in sequence, particularly useful if your drawings are really bad and you want to explain what's going on.
• MovieMaker - you may have edited the animatic in moviemaker first to add titles, narrate or even just see if the sequence works.  Again, you could have used still images or those created in Storyboards.
• iPads - many of you used the video function to film your prelims - how was that? Some of you held the iPad the wrong way round (durghh!) - don't make this mistake again - hold it like a TV screen 14:9 ratio, not 9:14 - that's just wrong.
• Cutecut - although limited to 30 seconds, many of you experimented with this because you have used this before.  It works and can truncate your movie (see below)
• blogger/weebly/wix - whichever one you have chosen, I expect you to have documented the whole process outlined above.

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REFLECTION

 WWW

• So, what do you like about the prelim you created? 
• Explain how you found completing the task. 
• How have you improved as a result of doing this? 
• Do you understand the rules of continuity editing, the 180 degree rule, match on action shot? 
• Which shot are you most proud of and why?

 

EBI

• Why did you fail first time round?
• What shot looked wrong and which did you have to refilm?  Explain your reasons for this.
• How's your framing - do you have the right amount of headroom or are you way off? 
• What if you weren't using iPads, how did you find the filming exercise?
• How could you improve?
• and incase you missed the last one, how could you improve?

 Bottom line, you could all improve - please make this very clear in your posts.

 







Re-examining the conventions of an opening title sequence

Look at this presentation and think about what you expect to see in the first 2-3 minutes of your opening.

 

Conventions of Title Sequences from reigatemedia

Make sure that you continue to watch film openings and complete basic analyses on a regular basis.

BLOG BLOG BLOG!!!

How to use Slideshare to improve your blogs

Below is a tutorial showing you how to upload all of your powerpoints that you complete for your AS coursework.

SlideShare Tutorial from ceheit3

Using Voki and other avatars in your blogs

 

The above was created in Voki in less than two minutes.  There is a simple text to voice translate tool that lets you share your thoughts in minutes.  Simply grab the embed code when you have finished and embed it into your blog or weebly or wix using the html function.

 

 

Production diary - schedule - please see what is expected from you by half term

Year 12 AS Media Studies Production Diary 2013-2014

Over the coming weeks you will be completing your Foundation Portfolio in Media Studies (coursework unit worth 50% of your AS grade).  It is important that you keep all your written notes organised and filed, as well as regularly updating your blogs/websites 2-3 times a week.

Below is a table that outlines some key dates for you to independently plan ahead. Remember, if you are not blogging, you are falling behind with your coursework.  (40-50 blog posts is expected for a C grade or above, 50-60 for a B, 60-70 for a low A, 70+ for an A* equivalent)

Ø  You are expected to spend at least 2-3 hours a week working on your blogs for homework

Week	Learning Objective	How was this demonstrated?  What was the outcome?
WEEK 1 30th Sept  – 6th October	You will understand the aims of the coursework brief. You will create a production schedule for your coursework. You will analyse a range of film opening sequences.	Creation of a blog account and a summative reflection talking about the weeks ahead.  Creation of an action plan for the next four weeks, adhering to deadlines on Bridge blog. Two analyses include the use of key words and media language (denotation, connotation, camera shots and angles); they also discuss genre, mise-en-scene, narrative and typography.
WEEK 2 7 – 13th October	You will understand the assessment criteria for the preliminary exercise task. You will identify the importance of good planning through constructing appropriate planning materials to help shoot and edit the preliminary task	Completion of the preliminary exercise in groups, showing an understanding of the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot (2-3 lessons).  Evidenced on the blog with personal reflection and evaluation on the activity, including storyboards, scripts, screen-grabs, animatics, pictures and other planning materials.
WEEK 3 14th – 20th October	You will complete an audit of new media technologies that you can use within your coursework over the coming weeks (apps, online software). Complete your preliminary task using the criteria from week 2 and evaluate your strengths.	There will be evidence of new media technologies presented on your blog, including Voki, Voicethread and Prezi. Your blog will have a comprehensive entry about your experience completing the preliminary task, including embedding the final sequence into a video player.
WEEK 4 21st Oct – 27thth Oct	You will understand the importance of ideology and branding in terms of film institutions and production. You will design, construct and analyse your own film studio logo.	Completed logo design and analysis with interpretation and reflection. Further analysis of film openings using new media. Completed action plan for half term and remainder of autumn term.
HALF TERM	MAKE SURE ALL BLOG POSTS ARE COMPLETED.	Ø  All blogs must have easily accessible content, including the use of labels and menu bars. Ø  At least two opening sequences have been analysed. Ø  genre is discussed and identified; Ø  The preliminary task has been undertaken and successfully completed and evaluated. Ø  You have come up with a name for your production company including any design ideas you might have.

RESPONDING TO POSTS

You should make a habit of blogging. 

• An A grade students typically completes 70+ blog posts and shows the journey from inception to completion.  
• A C grade student does around 50+, and so on. . .  

When you complete an exercise in Media, the model student will go on their blog and talk about how it will help them.  Typically, they may start with "Today in class we looked at . . . " to put the blog into context, then they will talk about how they hope it will help them. 

Here's an example of a student using BlogSpot (part of a group of 2) that I taught a couple of years ago.  She got straight A's in Media.  http://astleyemmaasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/ she also did the whole coursework from start to finish in 13 weeks.

If you need some guideposts on other things you can be doing for your film opening, then I suggest you look here http://www.alevelmedia.co.uk/page27.php It is especially useful for those students who need to consider genre and what type of film they like before embarking on an idea.

Prelim Planning

If you find that the storyboard App is too fiddly for you, then just use the good old fashioned storyboard sheets here , we can then convert these into animatics and bring your ideas to life - great pre-visualistion tools!

The Preliminary Task

Before you even begin to properly plan and develop your opening sequence, you need to have a secure understanding of basic filmmaking techniques.  In particular, an understanding of continuity editing, the shot-reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule.

How am I assessed?

The exam board states that you must complete this exercise before moving on to your construction.  Essentially, the preliminary task is marked under the planning section (20%) AO3 & AO4.

What do I have to demonstrate?

To show your understanding, you must complete the following task:

'film a sequence in which a character walks through a door, sits opposite another character and exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.'

Sounds simple enough, but you'd be surprised how many people cross the line.  What do I mean by crossing the line?  See the video below:

 

Success Criteria

 

Unlike demonstrating your understanding of each shot type, which you did successfully for Mr Gourley in his lesson, you are expected to plan this out in detail and edit it to a professional standard.  Look at the following student exemplars of good and bad practice. 

 

Bad:

 

 

The main failings of this piece are the fact that it breaks the continuity flow (the character having shirt shown and then jacket zipped right up).  There is also really bad shot-reverse shot framing and even a jump cut, so it would be a fail.  This group would have to reshoot the whole thing until they get it right.  Don't rush - a shoddy preliminary task will most likely lead to a shoddy opening sequence.

 

Better:

 

Whilst not perfect, this group really go for it in terms of experimenting with camera shots, angles and editing techniques. They meet the criteria for the preliminary task within the first 30 seconds, but then decide to be experimental, even applying simple titles. 

I recommend that you use the preliminary task to get used to using the technology effectively.  There isn't really a match on action shot (hand going for the door, close up of handle opening, walking through door) but there is enough evidence to see that students are embracing the course. This exercise is essentially a warm up to the real thing.

Examiner Tip: Show that you care, seeing the preliminary task as a chore won't fill you, your teacher, or the moderator with confidence that you really thought about your project.

Apps you will need - Storyboards and Shot Designer.  I will demonstrate these in class.

 

Title Sequences - Homework

Reflecting back on the work we did on genre, I would like you to choose your own film opening and talk about how genre is established in the first 2-4 minutes of the film.

Example:

 

You can pick any film you like, even develop your first homework piece, but you must get used to using key media language and using the embed tool.

Key Terms to use in your analysis:

• Repertoire of elements
• codes and conventions
• signs, signifier and signified
• iconography
• genre
• representation
• narrative
• audience - expectations, positioning

Please read through your notes and make sure you follow this blog to get class updates.  You will be asked to use Voicethread next week for some of your tasks - so download the app.

This will count as your second of four film opening analyses and part of AP1.

The Art of the Title Sequence

Your G321 Foundation Portfolio brief is to produce the first two minutes of a new film to include titles, credits and original music.

Let's start by analysing what a title sequence really is.

 

Title sequences are an art form, almost as important as the opening scene from a movie.  According to Syd Field, Act 1 (The Set-up) happens in the first 10 minutes of a film.  Within this time it is likely that you will have some sort of prologue or intro into the narrative or conflict that will drive the film forward.  A title sequence not only acts as a breather from the action (which can sometimes be quite full on in certain movies) but a time to reflect on the enigma codes set up by the director; title sequences also give a flavour of the movie using several signifiers which help affirm audience's expectations about the genre and narrative.

 

The title sequence for Se7en was a well considered production that, if you see from the link below, involved a great deal of conceptual artwork and photography to get the right look. You can also look at the Art of the Title Feature about the work of David Fincher (an auteur).

 

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/

 

1. Your first task (and one of your first blog posts) is to write an analysis of this title sequence.
2. The nearpod code to help you is VIKSP
3. You need to take at least 9 appropriate screenshots from the sequence to analyse.
4. You will need to post this on your blog using: links, an embedded video clip, images, formatted and spellchecked analysis.