The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed,
produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character
Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's
Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with
a returning cast of Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James
Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. The film introduces the character of
Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Gotham's newly elected District Attorney and the
cohort of Bruce Wayne's childhood friend Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who
joins Batman and the police in combating the new rising threat of a criminal
calling himself the "Joker" (Heath Ledger).
Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's
comic book debut in 1940, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold
Two-Face's origin. In addition elements of Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers'
Dark Detective miniseries as well as the unpublished follow-up were reportedly
cannibalised along with other elements of Batman mythology for the story. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other
locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used an
IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in
the film.
I have analysed this film because it may not be a
comedy but ticks the conventional superhero movie there is always a good guy
trying to get the bad guy before he commits the worst offence he ever would .
After analysing the opening two minutes of this film i have noticed that there
is very little detail this is because they are trying to inform the audience of
what is going to happen throughout the film i think we will also go down this
road and apply these.
We have designed and handed out questionnaires to the rest of our class and friends and asked whether they would fill them out for us. The results of the questionnaire will give Conor and myself a realistic idea as to what to base our film on and what would make our film watchable to them and a attractive prospect. Our class and friends is the age that we are trying to attract, they are our target group, so it is important that we take their comments in consideration as they know what makes a good film for them so we must acknowledge that. Results soon to follow.
For our trailer me and Conor are very much going to make it similar to the oceans 13 trailer when it introduces the character and gives the audience a breif idea as to what their personality is like and their role within the team. The only issue with using this technique is the that we would need more than one team member and as their is only two of us it would mean that me and Conor will have to do some casting to fill out our team. The thought of casting in some extra characters is very tricky as we would have to base our filming schedule around them and the extra team member would require for them to be briefed and informed of and changes we make to the film, so they can stay in the loop. We just need to decide as to whether having the extra team members would be a good thing, and whether it would be worth it.
I have look at some music making software we could probably use. The first software I looked into was Garage Band on the IPad, iPod and Macs. On the garage band app you can make all sorts of music from using various different instruments such as guitars, keyboards, drums, and voice there is different types and styles to each of the instruments mentioned. The next software I looked at was an free Internet application called audiotool. Audiotool contains several different samples and loops for the user to edit and play around with. You can insert you personal sounds as well, you can edit them by using several different pedals such as a phaser and echo to edit the sounds. I have used both of these softwares and I have enjoyed using them and I found them fairly simple to use and would help greatly towards making the soundtrack to our movie and trailer. We could also use a non-copyright music website which will give myself and Conor the complete track rather than us make the soundtrack by our selves. We could use a website such as: http://freeplaymusic.com
To make a decision for which film institution is hard as all intsitutions offer the same services, all the big companies such as Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers and Universial etc have all films covering all film genres. Making a choice which institution offers the most to out film is a hard decision to make. The Oceans triology were all made by Warner Brothers studios, whilst both Italian Jobs were made by Paramount Pictures. Layer cake was made by Sony Pictures. (not finished)
I have been researching possible certificates for the film by looking at other 'rat pack' films and they all vary around 12 and 12a. this is a good age as I believe that we want to make the film accessible to the majority of possible film viewers. 12 to 12a allows all viewers 12 and over to watch the film, the 12a allows younger viewers to watch the film as long as supervised by an adult. Below is rat pack films and their ratings:
Oceans Eleven-12
Oceans Twelve-12A
Oceans Thirteen-PG
The Italian Job (2003)-12A
The Italian Job (1969)-PG
Layer Cake-15
From looking at films such as Ocean 11we have found out that the clothing for that genre of film is suits and smart shirts as they are quite often in casinos and gambling in high up places. If our story line involves some kind of gambling scheme then it is likely that we will feature in our film wearing shirts or suits as it fits in to the genre. There have been parts in the films where some of the characters have worn boiler suits or dressed as matainence men, that is usually included so they can sneak into the casino or reach areas which are perhaps out of bounds to non-staff. Personally I like the idea of wearing suits or shirts as it make us look smart, it is also a good idea to have the same dress scheme as films in the similar genre especially the Oceans films as they were very successful.
There are a lot of main selling points as most of the cast in this film are big names, that are well recognised.
Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman recents starred in the Dark Knight Rises which was very popular and also starred big names in it.
The title is in red which could represent danger, which would suit the genre of the film or it could blood which again would suit the genre of the film well.
Our film will be similar to films such as the Oceans where scam artists are held at ransom and they have to produce the funds for the villain. Myself and conor will have to rod some kind of person or esthablishment in order to pay off the ransom we have on our heads. We will recieve either a phone call or be in a business meeting from the villain explain that we owe him a lot of money and we will have to produce the money fast otherwise there will be some kind of consequence for us. We will then realise that we will have to pull of a huge scam which will be collosall compared to our usual small time petty scams. The title of the film will be Bankroll.
Begginning- So were going to start off with a conference room scene
where we will see all the main characters in one place this will describe the
plot and who the ransom will be paid too who will be the conventional villain .
We will also describe the fee that is to be paid that way everyone understand
how much is on the line in this film.This adds tension to the film and gets the
audience excited. The conference room will use close up shots and long shots of
the charcters this will be effective shots in the room we are planning to
use.
Middle- Quick scene flashes we want a fast paced action shots .In
this scene we are going to flick between black shots and an action shot.We will
use various action shots to portray a scene in which we get the audience
enticed. Obviously because of the small budget we will have to leave out things
such as explosions ! We will use guns though and it being fired. This will
obviously excite the audience we will also have a short clip of one of me and
alex running . We could also introduce the villanious charcter maybe in a solo
office in a dark enviroment which obviously makes the audience see this man as a
villain
End- This is where we need to leave the audience wanting more by
using a witty catchphrase to end the scene which will make the audience wanting
more and maybe a dramatic scene such as the hero which is yet to be decided
rolling down in a mountain/hill in a suit then we make the character walk to the
camera maybe brushing himself off or leaving with a catchphrase this will really
make the audience associate this man with a hero and make him see
unbeatable.
The woods is where Conor and I will film one of our scenes and we think that the
chase scene would be most effective in this enviroment because there are alot of
things that could go wrong in a chase scene and being in the woods incorporates
them all for example getting flung into trees or jumping over a log these two
add a bit more action to these scenes. You could also have him falling over a
stick this grabs the audience attention and makes them ask the question is he
going to get caught . I think though that me and Conor are going to use the
glimpse of the heroic charcter jumping over the log because we feel like theat
could be the shot where the audience start to relate the charcter to a hero. We
also feel that we will shoot the small scene in the day obviously we feel that
will get the greatest effect. We would also like to shoot this particular scene
in the rain . We've discussed it and we came to the conclusion that if it was to
rain we would add excitment to the scene because of the conditions.
In this
scene i feel like we could use transport to our advantage. As we see in other
films such as The Bourne Identity and James Bond we see a train scene where
somebody is maybe tracking somebody on the train then follows them off or as
they walk off they take them with them and lead them to the villanous
charcacter . I feel like this could be effective in our film but i have not
concluded wether i could use this scene as at the end or another small clip in
the middle i personally feel that this scene would be more effective at the end
where the villanousor heroic character could amke a witty catchphrase which
could leave the audience on the edge of there seats wondering what is going to
happen and how this will effect the heroic character.
Sin City, also
known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 American crime thriller film
written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It is a
neo-noir based on Miller's graphic novel series of the same name.
The
film is primarily based on three of Miller's works. The Hard Goodbye: About a
man who embarks on a brutal rampage in search of his one-time sweetheart's
killer, killing anyone, even the police, that gets in his way of finding and
killing her murderer; The Big Fat Kill: Focuses on a street war between a group
of prostitutes and a group of mercenaries, the police, and the mob; and That
Yellow Bastard: Follows an aging police officer who protects a young woman from
a grotesquely disfigured serial killer.
The film stars an ensemble cast
including Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Benicio del Toro, Carla Gugino, Rutger
Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke,
Nick Stahl, Bruce Willis and Elijah Wood
Trailer
Analysis
The trailer begins, like the other trailers, with
a distribution logo ‘Dimension Films’ and ‘Troublemaker Studios’. Troublemaker
being relevant as founded by Robert Rodriguez and also director of Sin City. As
the trailer builds up there is a non-diegetic, mysterious and slow music which
also sounds action based. There are a few banging sounds which can connote guns.
The shot of Marv dissolves to an image of a woman, where there is colour
illustrated. There is then a quick, long shot of two police cars; the shot
doesn’t look real, almost as though it’s a cartoon reflecting back to the
narrative being unrealistic. The cars are outside, where we realise that it is
night, this can connote crime as depicted in the dark so nobody can
witness.
The shot fades to black where we see another mid shot of a
female character, where the background is misty, connoting an eerie sense. The
character looks innocent as she is wearing crosses that stand out. The character
is small compared to the majority of the shot indicating her innocence further.
The dissolve transition may indicate that the separate stories interlink with
one another. There is a mid shot of the dependent looking girl, which zooms in
to her face as the woman says ‘’helpless little girl’’ signifying her
vulnerability further. Additionally, she looks younger than most of the other
characters being portrayed, signifying her purity in comparison to them. There
is a close up shot of a sword, which indicates further the significance of the
weapons to the story. There is the indication to the rain again, which is a
common motif within the ‘Sin City’ products that I have analysed highlighting a
suppressive feel to the atmosphere. We see Marv again, where the camera slowly
pans up him. The camera then cuts to a character holding a gun, which then
quickly cuts up him, perhaps indicating that he is a distorted figure within the
film. The camera focuses on his face for a while, with him looking directly at
the camera, giving him a fierce and dominant persona.
There is then a
line up of shots containing the actors and their name. The writing is a similar
font to the ‘Sin City’ sign at the end of the trailer. The writing is red, and
looks abraded; some of the letters look as though they are gun shots. The
deformation effect to the writing suggests a portentous indication to the film.
There is then a few action shots, one where there is a female character, who
throws a weapon, she is wearing dark clothing and has a leg showing, suggesting
that she may be a seductive figure, like a lot of the other women, in the
trailer, are indicated to be. There is a cartoon version of two characters
previously shown in the trailer accumulating to the reflections of Miller’s
comics. Additionally there is an unrealistic shot of a character with a yellow
substance on his hand.
Ideas
Two Characters One is a Lonesome
Character who is on his own on the run from a villainous character who could be
after something such as money i think we would also incorporate a chase scene as
the picture below i think that a chase scene in a film could be effective as it
gets the audience interacting in the clip and make them want to see the film to
know why the character is being chased and if the other character catches him
what will he do and why was he chasign him in the first place.
I have picked this picture because firstly it
incorporates a chase scene which is very important to the trailer i want to make
but not only that they are both wearing suits which i think is the route i want
to take our film down where you can tell that maybe one is a buisness man and
the other is more of a gangster with a suit so you cant tell the difference
between them and what role they will play in the film.
I also want to add
a scene where maybe the more heroic character in the trailer is on some sort of
transport in a race against time i think adding that will involve the audience
as it will get them thinking will this heroic character make it in time to this
destination or will the villanious character catch up to him and what will he
do.
In the trailer i think we should start with some soft music then as
the trailer goes on we build the music up until around half way where the music
reaches a climax with a dramatic scene we then lower the music tension as the
trailer finishes off.
Brief Overview of Oceans
11 Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American
comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name.
The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast
including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy GarcÃa, and
Julia Roberts. The film was a success at the box office and with critics.
Soderbergh directed two sequels, Ocean'Twelve in 2004 and Oceans Thirteen in
2007.
Analysis of
Trailer Music- throughout the
trailer they have the same upbeat music i think with our film we may start more
tensley .
The trailer starts off with a comedic joke in an interrogation
this is effective as straight away the audience relate to that genre and know
what the film is about. They also incorporate Warner Bros and Village roadshow
pictures so we know straight away what companies have helped them out. The
interrogation also gives a back story.
It then gets heated and the music
tenses up this adds a different dimension to the film. After being released from
prison, Danny Ocean George Clooney breaks parole and travels to Los Angeles to
meet up with his former partner in crime and close friend Rusty Ryan Brad Pitt
to propose a scheme he has in mind. The two go to Las Vegas to pitch the plan to
wealthy friend and former casino owner Reuben Tishkoff Elliott Gould. The plan
consists of simultaneously robbing the Bellagio,
The Mirage, and the MGM
Grand casinos. Reuben's familiarity with casino security makes him very
reluctant to get involved, but when he begins to think of it as a good way to
get back at his rival, Terry Benedict Andy GarcÃa, who owns all three casinos,
Reuben agrees to finance the operation. Because the casinos are required by the
Nevada Gaming Commission to have enough cash on hand to cover all their patrons'
bets, the three predict that, on the upcoming night of a highly anticipated
boxing match, the Bellagio vault will contain more than $150 million
The red writing reminds the audience of the previous installment of the film.
Brad Pitt gets a call a call from a character in the previous film who the crew robbed from. this gives the audience an idea as to what the story line will be about.
Within the film there are many unique selling points as there is an a list cast which includes the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
the phone call and the ransom is serious as Pitt's car explodes.
When Pitt is on the phone the camera is filmin over the shoulder
This is the poster for the film Killing Them Softly:
Again white bold writing on the black background following all the conventions of crime posters.
Brad Pitt is clearly the main selling point as he is the only character on the poster and his name is above the others by the film title.
No film release date for the film.
the gun indicates the film genre.
Names of the other actors underneath the character.
Cannes film festival award recognition on the film poster which could indicate to the audience how good the film is. Cannes is a globally recognised film festival.
For my trailer this year I will be working with Conor Redmond, our genre is going to be crime/theft type film that follows such films as the oceans 11,12,13. Within our trailer we will try to make it similar to the conventions of the oceans films trailers, as they gained critical acclamation globally. We have looked at these trailers already and we have noted some of the conventions that these trailers follow. Will need to have plenty of action scenes such as fights and chases, there will most likely be very little gun fights as there isn't much of those in this series of films. All that we know is that there will be some kind of ransom that this pair of professional thieves have to pay of off and they will pull a major robbery that will give them the money to pay it off. Another thing I noticed in the trailers is that there were some funny punchlines in the trailer which my self and Conor will most likely try and add into our trailer.
This is the trailer for the animated sequel of the popular kids film cars, in cars 2 the cast branch out across the world as Lightning Mcqueen aims to win the big racing championship only to find it has been hiding a tale of deciet and lies. This is the first kids movie I have analysed.
The narrator tells you when the original film was and what the "two unlikely friends" accomplished, this is designed to tell the certain group who haven't seen the film what happened before.
The music at the start is very slow, country and western music.
The comparrison of the empty radiator springs to the packed grandstands at the racing championships is a big difference.
Mater's quote of having average inteligence is very witty as he didn't understand what the agents said to him, his is clearly of lower inteligence than he claims.
The film seems to be largely based around Lightning, Mater, and the two British spies. There is no mention of any of the other cars from Radiator Springs.
They are on a complete different adventure compared to the last one and that is made clear by the spy theme and all the explosions.
Mater is still a centre selling point due to his witty one liners and general stupidness which apeals to the younger generation who find him hilarious.
This is the poster for the film Friday The 13th, it was originally just one film but there have been sequels and reamkes of the film. This genre is different from any other genre I have analysed before.
*The picture within the killer is at night time in what appears to be an empty forrest, perfect scene for a killer to cause havoc
*The killer is obviously the killer as he is weilding a knife coated in blood, most likely from his victims.
*The blood from the knife is dripping down onto the 13 in the title below.
*The quote at the top of the poster gives the audience an idea of what the ending could be as it claims that "nothing will save them"
*The title of the film is a traditional day of bad luck.
This is the trailer from the film Anchorman which is about a news anchor team whom are the best at what they do. The team is turned upside down when a woman enters the ranks. This comedy is inspired by true events. This trailer is a lot different from the previous trailers I have analysed.
The shoes when Ron steps of the helicopter are very fitting in the time era the film is set in.
The audience instantly know it is going to be a comedy when the huge, deep voice says the line "one man more man" and he makes a mistake with the telecaster.
The titles in the film claim that he is very caring as he walks away from someone complaining about their life.
He lives alone with his dog which then give an element of comedy as he is a grown man talking to an animal.
Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell and Steve Carell are all heavyweights in comedy so the film is likely to be a very funny one as they combine.
Ron and the women one scene are shown getting intimate and the next they are brawling as an audience watches on in their office.
Lawless is the true story of the infamous Bondurant brothers whom were re known bootlegging. Inspired by the true life tales of Matt Bondurant.
Accents are very country and western so audience instantly know where the film is set.
The era is clear by the clothing and the cars used in the trailer.
Violence becomes part of the trailer very quickly.
The audience will know from the dialogue that the Bondurant brothers are not ones to be messed with and all around them know exactly who they are
The plot is introduced as they are seen carrying whiskey and the gentleman on the chair asks for 'as much as he can get'.
The trailer tells you that is is based on a true story which gets the audience interested as they want to see a true story rather than a fictional one.
More characters are introduced which are seen to upset the Bondurant brothers and where they stand.
Music is very pacey towards the end.
Tom Hardy narrating over other scenes.
The film titles font turns red at the end which is often associated with evil.
This is a poster for the film Goodfellas which was based on a true story and gained critical acclimation. The film was based on the Nicolas Pileggi novel which told the true story of Henry Hill as he climbed the ranks of a local mob.
The poster clearly shows the 3 main characters in the film as they are lit up as the rest of the picture is dark.
The font is in fitting with other gangster movies as the Godfather follows a similar font.
Above the actors heads they have their names.
The men have very formal clothing on, which gangsters have a well known association of wearing.
There is a dead body underneath the title of the film.
The setting is America which you can tell by the railway bridge in which the body is under.
The credits are at the bottom of the poster as others are.
Neither actor is smiling, they are all pulling serious faces indicating what the theme of the film could be.
The genre of this clip is of a action film, James Bond has the most narrative as he is being asked questions and giving answers to them. this happens whilst other clips of him are shown. The unique selling point of this trailers is that the Bond films are recognised globally so there is already an audience for this film. These films are world reknown so the trailer doesnt have to provide much information as to whom the main character is. The target audience for this film is very broad as the older generation would appreciate this trailer and its film due to the fact that the films were first produced a good few years ago. The audience that wouldnt appreciate this movie would be the younger generation as they wouldn't understand the heritage of the James Bond series. But the younger generation would appreciate the the action of the film, made up of the gun battles, car chases and fight scenes.
