Shooting Log: Day I

Our day began at 9:15, when we boarded the train to London Waterloo. Unfortunately Lee Davidson was unable to attend the shoot due to prior commitments, so on the train we made some last minute adjustments to the scene, so it became a scene with just Philip and myself. On the train on the way up we ran through the schedule with our cast and crew, detailing where we were to go in London and what we were going to film. The basic plan was to film a meeting on Parliament Hill between Philip and myself, and then film an action sequence in Highgate Cemetery. If we had time we planned to go to Camden Market to film some inserts there. It was due to rain, but we thought that that would just add to the atmosphere of the film, especially in the cemetery. The only problem we foresaw was the camera getting wet, but we had an umbrella at the ready.

At 10:00 we arrived at Waterloo station, and at first were slightly confused concerning the underground map, however eventually we found our way onto the Northern line to Belsize Park station, which was the closest to Hampstead Heath. If all went to plan we wouldn't have to take another train to the cemetery, as our shoot would carry us across the heath. However, we got slightly lost on the heath. The paths from the station to the heath were confusing, and when we got to the heath we weren't sure where the Parliament Hill part was, as the rain obscured our view considerably. We filmed a shot of James walking across a field that looked moderately desolated which could be used to intercut, and then carried on searching. The group morale sank at this time due to the heavy rainfall and the lack of productivity.

It was about 12:30 or so that we finally located Parliament Hill, but to our severe disappointment the view was terrible due to the rain. The camera couldn't even pick up a few of the famous landmarks that you could only just see with the naked eye through the rain. We filmed a few shots of Philip and myself sitting on a bench, and talking, but we were behind schedule because of the rain. It had become a bigger problem than anticipated. After these shots we decided it was essential to bring the morale up, so we took a detour to Camden Town for a KFC bargain bucket.

Around 13:00 we arrived at Camden Town KFC, being able to find our way off the heath significantly faster than finding our way on. KFC was crowded and we were forced to sit on uncomfortable stools, but the group morale was raised and the vegetarian James proclaimed: 'That was the best KFC I've ever had!' We decided to put our filming at Highgate Cemetery on hold indefinitely, as we decided that would be almost as miserable as filming on the heath, so instead we resolved to filming a few shots around Camden Town. We filmed a couple of shots of me running, and then found the infamous Cyberdog shop, where we filmed a couple of shots of Zubin walking around. After filming a number of shots here we had a discussion as to where to go next, and we decided that, seeming as the rain had stopped, it would be alright to film at Highgate Cemetery.

After much confusion on trains and buses, we arrived at Highgate Cemetery at approximately 15:45, where we were greeted by the most delightful old gatekeeper with much enthusiasm. After a ten minute lecture on the history and heritage of the site, we moved into the cemetery and pulled out Zubin's spray painted BB gun to film some action sequences. This became a race against the clock, as the Cemetery closed at 17:00 and all visitors had to head for the gate at 16:45. We had around 45 minutes to film as many action shots as possible, forcing us to be as efficient as possible. Fortunately, it seemed to be the most productive 45 minutes of filming we'd ever done, probably because of the time restrictions. We filmed a number of shots of people shooting guns, pointing guns, chasing, fighting, looking at gravestones, posing, pausing for breath and more! Although it would have been nice to have had longer to create a rounded scene, this was not possible, so we made the most with what time we had.

At  17:00 we headed home, after a gruelling day of filming. We didn't do everything which we would have liked to get done, but this was mainly due to the bad weather getting us lost, obscuring shots and lowering group morale. Without the weather we would have had a far more productive day, but unfortunately it was out of our control. This day was one of the few days which we were able to film an action sequence in Highgate Cemetery as it was an inset day, so no one would be around. The lack of productivity was largely out of our control, but we still got a fair number of shots that will be highly useful in the final cut of the trailer, even if they weren't exactly what we were hoping for when we began.

Feedback

Well done; your blog is looking very detailed in terms of research and you are moving on to focus on the planning aspect. Make sure you address my last targets - I can't see the post explaining why you have chosen not to include female characters.

To complete over half term:
Initial storyboard and shotlist.
Filming diary begun, the material you begin to film over half term.evidencing

Casting - Zubasu

Zubin Parekh

Zubin knows his artform, and he knows it's drama. We are so lucky to have Zubin acting in our film, and he will play a pivotal role in the leading assassin for Crucifix. At the end of the trailer we will reveal that his character - Zubasu - actually has a twin, so there will be twice as much excitement with twice as much muscle power.  We chose Zubin for this part as he is better at the physical side of drama then the vocal part. He was the most physically able of all the actors who came to play the part, and seeming as the assassin needs to be just that, he was perfect. I have worked with him on previous occasions, in films such as 'The Piano' and 'Global Warming: World at Risk', and on both occasions he most certainly delivered. I have known him for a very long time and we have a very strong working relationship. He doesn't understand the technicalities of film making very well, so he leaves that up to us and just does as he is asked to do. He focuses on what he does best.  Zubin will do great things in this production.

Inset Day Filming

We have found a conveniently situated inset day on 16th October, which we hope to use to film a large chunk of our trailer in London. This day is perfect, as we want as few people around as possible for our filming in Highgate Cemetery, as we'll be using fake guns and don't want to alarm other visitors. If they see us filming a fight scene they might get worried and inform the police, who could arrest us, and this wouldn't be ideal. Therefore the inset day is the perfect day to film this, as very few people will be visiting Highgate Cemetery midday on a Wednesday in the middle of October. It is due to rain on that day as well, so even fewer people will be visiting, however this could make for a very atmospheric scene, as long as the camera doesn't get wet.

Questionnaire Response

Here are the results of our questionnaire, they will be highly useful in tailoring our film to make sure that as many people as possible get what they want out of it. A lot of our creative decisions will be based off these results.

What is your favourite type of action sequence?

 - Chases                                                                  46%

 - Fight Sequences                                                    36%

 - Shoot-outs                                                             18%

 - Other (Please Specify)                                           0%

What is the most important element of an action film?

 - Action Sequences                                                  54%

 - The battle between good and evil                          6%

 - A good-looking, muscular protagonist                   20%

 - Stunning locations                                                  20%

Which of these films do you prefer in relation to fighting style?

 - Sherlock Holmes (2009)                                        10%

 - Bourne Identity                                                      84%

 - The Dark Knight                                                    6%

What trait do you value most in an action film protagonist?

 - Muscle and gunpower                                             24%

 - Technique and cunning                                           46%

 - Good looks                                                              20%

 - Uses militaristic semantics                                       10%

What sort of locations do you prefer in action films?

 - Iconic buildings                                                        72%

 - Iconic landscapes                                                      15%

 - Small scale locations with their own personality       13%

 - Large scale landscapes                                              0%

In an action film would you sacrifice realism for spectacle?

 - Yes                                                                            97%

 - No                                                                              3%

What do you expect to take away with you from an action film?

 - A profound moral message                                         5%

 - An enjoyable spectacle                                               75%

 - An inspiration to achieve greatness                             5%

 - A jealousy for the life of the protagonist                     15%

Questionnaire - Action Film

We have created a questionnaire in order to find out what people want out of an action film, and what they would enjoy. We haven't given much choice for the questions because we would like to see what they would chose out of the options available, in order to narrow down our creative choices.

What is your favourite type of action sequence?
 - Chases
 - Fight Sequences
 - Shoot-outs
 - Other (Please Specify)

What is the most important element of an action film?
 - Action Sequences
 - The battle between good and evil
 - A good-looking, muscular protagonist
 - Stunning locations

Which of these films do you prefer in relation to fighting style?
 - Sherlock Holmes (2009)
 - Bourne Identity
 - The Dark Knight

What trait do you value most in an action film protagonist?
 - Muscle and gunpower
 - Technique and cunning
 - Good looks
 - Uses militaristic semantics

What sort of locations do you prefer in action films?
 - Iconic buildings
 - Iconic landscapes
 - Small scale locations with their own personality
 - Large scale landscapes

In an action film would you sacrifice realism for spectacle?
 - Yes
 - No

What do you expect to take away with you from an action film?
 - A profound moral message
 - An enjoyable spectacle
 - An inspiration to achieve greatness
 - A jealousy for the life of the protagonist

Film Classification - U

When a new film is released, it undergoes a process known as film classification, that gives the audiences an idea of the sort of audience that is recommeded for the film. For example, more violent, swear-heavy films would have a higher rating, as they are not suitable for a young audience. In Britain, films are classified by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). In the following series of posts I will go through each of the ratings and talk about what makes a film that rating, and what sort of audience it would attract.

This is the lowest film classificational; it stands for 'Universal' - a universal audience. This means that anyone can watch it, from babies to elderly people, however they tend to be aimed for a very young audience. A lot of U rated films are animation and almost all of them are aimed at the 5-7 audience. There are a few exceptions, such as a few of the Star Wars films are U rated, however they are aimed for a very wide audience. This film classification is very much for family films, and you do not get many thrillers that are made for this age group, especially not serious thrillers, because of their dependance on threat and violence. I don't think our film is rated for a universal audience as it is aimed at a 16-25 audience who may think that watching a U rated is childish, and it would reduce our audience.

Film Classifications - PG

'PG' stands for parental guidance, meaning that people under the age of 12 should not watch it without the consent of their parent. PG films are a slight step up from U films in the sense that they can subtly reference drugs and sense and nudity is allowed, but not in a sexual way. PG's are still not very explicit in any way, and are still aimed at a young audience. Again, I do not think that this would be a suitable genre for us to do, as it would not appeal to an adult audience, and they may not think that it is serious enough for them.

Film Classification - 12

12 rated films mean that the audience has to be over 12 to be able to watch it, or they can be accompanied by an adult. These films are a significant step up from 'PG's' as they can include a bit of blood and they are allowed mild swearing. These are the borderline of adult films, as they are the start of getting into more serious topics, but they are still very mild. 12 rated films tend to appeal a lot to a teenage audience, as they allow all teenagers to see it, however this means that an adult audience may be reluctant to go and see it. The James Bond franchise is an exception to this rule, however, as it is an accepted franchise that is loved by all  ages. 'Licence to Kill' was the only Bond film rated higher than a 12, but nowadays would probably be considered a 12.
I think we could consider making a film that would appeal to this classification, but maybe it's a tiny bit too mild for our liking as it cuts down on how much we can show the audience

Film Classification - 15

If a film is rated 15, it means that no one over the age of 15 is allowed to view it, even if accompanied by an adult. These films can include more gore, harder swearing, more sexually explicit scenes and more. They tend to be taken more seriously than the lower classifications, as they are primarily aimed at an adult audience, with no attempts to please anyone younger. A lot of films that are aiming for the teenage audience cut out a lot of their violence in order to appeal to a wider audience. 'The Hunger Games' cut out seven seconds of violence in order to stick with its target audience and to allow teenagers to watch it. A similar cut was made in 'Taken 2', which is an interesting example, as the first 'Taken' film was rated '18'. 15 rated films do well because they attract a wide range of audiences, by sacrificing the younger years, they attract far more of the older generations, who, after all, are the ones with the money. This would be a good rating for our film to be, as it could include a fair amount of gore and swearing to make it more realistic, while keeping with our target audience.

Film Classifications - 18

18 rated films are the highest rated films on general theatrical release. There is also 18R, but these films are not shown as widely, and are reserved for sex shops and specialised theatres. 18 rated films can go extremely far in regard to violence, sex, language etc, and the boundaries are continually being stretched. Twenty years ago, what is now rated an 18 would have been banned, showing the development of the film industry and the acceptance of some topics being shown on film. 18 rated films are not always pointless sex, violence and swearing, but a lot of 18's have actually won Best Picture Awards, such as American Beauty in 1999. Due to it being the highest film rating, there is a very wide range of what is shown in an 18 film. Some are reasonably mild and only show the odd bit of violence, but others are completely crazy, and go all out in every aspect. Films such as 'Saw' turn film away from an art form, and simply turn it into what is known as 'torture porn', and I personally do not think that these films are needed, as they degrade the art form. For our film 18 may be a little extreme, however if we feel that we'd need to delve into 18 territory to tell the story better, than we shall. The trouble with 18's is that it reduces the audience, and stops the teenage audience going to see the film. Teenagers make up a big part of the film's earnings and without them, the film would lose out on a lot of money. Seeming as our target audience is 16-25, we would lose one fifth of our audience by making it an 18, so I think that it may be inappropriate.

Overall I think that our film should aim for a 15 rating, as it takes it into the 'adult film' world and allows us creative freedom, while still attracting our target audience.

Fight Sequence Analysis - Bourne Identity



The Bourne films are notorious for their fast-paced, thrilling fight sequences, and the films were pioneers in advancing the quality of them. Therefore I think that it would be appropriate to analyse a fight sequence from a Bourne film, so that we can get a higher understanding of how to choreograph a good fight sequence.
The first feature that I noticed about this fight sequence is that it is ver gritty and brutal. You can clearly see that the actors are properly getting into it and really throwing themselves at the opposition. This adds an extra degree of realism; without this the whole sequence would lose all it's impact and seem weak and ineffective. We want our characters to be battering eachother as if their life depended on it and they should be physically breaking eachother down in the most brutal ways possible. All the punches and kicks in this fights sequence hit their target or are blocked and there are no hits that obviously miss. This is the biggest mistake in fight sequences - when a blow is supposed to look like it hits but it obviously doesn't even come close. There is clearly none of this in the above clip.
Another interesting part of this fight is the way that Jason Bourne makes use of his surroundings in the fight and will use anything as a weapon. This shows the characters's resourcefulness and shows that they are very professional about what they do, and are very experienced. In this case he manages to use a pen to disarm the character of a knife by stabbing it into the antagonists' hand. It also adds an extra level of brutality to the sequence and it really makes the audience cringe as if they were getting stabbed by a pen. This little part with the pen is dragged out a lot in a good way, to emphasize how he is using the pen, as if he were to use it effectively straightaway, then the audience would be confused as to what just happened. When he picks up the pen there is quite a long time between his hand searching for the pen and when he finally picks it up and takes the lid off. In this very long amount of time, the opposition only manages to run across the room! However, this is only discovered through lengthy analysis, so would not be obvious the first time of viewing. This has to be done to emphasize that he is picking up a pen and that it is going to be of importance later in the fight, without this the audience would be left confused and the pen would lose all it's power as an interesting weapon that shows the cunning of the protagonist.
Normally when I think of fight sequences I assume that it cuts at a rate of about twice a second, so that the audience is caught up in a blur of action. The fast cutting makes it more exciting and seem more fast paced, and this is a technique which I have always employed. However, in this case, there are some very long cuts, and the camera doesn't cut around nearly as much as I thought it would. This is probably because the fight sequence is very well rehearsed, and the actors have been fully trained in fight choreography. We do not have this privelege, which makes it harder for us to keep a long shot going with all the punches looking decent. Quick cuts have, for us, become a necessity, as we have to at least cut every hit in order for every hit to look as if it hit the target. Just one missed punch could ruin the whole sequence. I think I can take away from this that we should definitely rehearse our fight sequences a lot more, and be able to do them fluently and realistically in order for us to get some longer cuts in. Longer cuts here do look a lot more impressive, as it shows just how well choreographed the fight is, and is something that we should aspire to do.
Overall there are a lot of things we can pick up from analysing this fight sequence - trying longer cuts, choreographing fights more intricately, using the environment, playing around with time, fighting brutally with all our strength, and make every blow hit home.

Film Institutions - Enigma Entertainment

Enigma Entertainment is the production company owned by Philip Smith and myself. It is comprised of two divisions - Enigma Theatre and Enigma Cinema, which are a rebranding of the now defunct ASP-TV and it's subsidaries Collossus Pictures and Spartan Entertainment, which were responsible for projects such as 'France 24' and 'The Piano'  in the cinematic department, as well as 'Love, Lies & Venice' and 'The Nero Complex' in the theatre department.

Enigma Cinema is a production company that specialises in virtually no-budget blockbuster epics, with our debut feature the hugely successful 'Preliminary Task' which accumulated over 200 views within a fortnight on Youtube. More recently, they have released the opening two minutes to Sins of the Martyr to examiner acclaim. Subjects tackled in Enigma films tend to gravitate towards violence and fast-paced action, forever culminating in an explosive climax. Enigma Theatre, however, is best known for its disgusting and outrageous subject matters, and is not afraid to take taboos to another level.

In the upcoming Enigma Cinema feature film 'Sins of the Martyr' (Spring 2013), the audience will see a more sophisticated level of film making, and a higher class of action sequences. Despite its extremely low-budget, the film retains an extremely high production value through it's iconic locations and world-class acting.

Other Film Institutions

So far I have been through all of the 'big six' film institutions, but of course there are many more which much be addressed. These smaller institutions tend to be more specialised, and instead of competing with the big six, rely on their level of story telling and their film making techniques in order to get money and acclaim. They are known collectively as the 'mini-majors'. Mirimax Films especially tend to make a lot of films that win awards at festivals and are generally more about art than money, however they have recently been taken over by Lionsgate so do not count. Here are a few of the smaller institutions who are still independent:

- Dreamworks: Dreamworks tend to make films aimed at a younger audience, and have done very well in this field. Dreamworks films include: 'How to train your dragon', 'Shrek', 'Kung Fu Panda', 'Madagascar', 'Prince of Egypt' and many more!

- Lionsgate Entertainment: In recent years Lionsgate have started to have to join together with bigger companies in order to get the money needed to make films, but they still are making very strong, high grossing films. This is due to the fact that they specialise in making action films, or films with violence, generally aimed at a male audience. Their films include: 'The Hunger Games', 'Saw', '3:10 to Yuma', 'Rambo', 'Transporter', 'American Psycho' and more!

- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: MGM have become bankrupt in recent years, and so haven't really been releasing anything, although they have had involvement in 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' and 'Skyfall', which they believe will restore their funds. They tend to make a wide range of films, and follow what is in trend at the time. MGM films include: 'Rocky', 'Stormbreaker', 'Rescue Dawn', 'The Pink Panther', 'Nanny McPhee', 'the James Bond Franchise' and much more!

- Relativity Media: Relativity media at the moment is very low-key, seeming as it was only founded in 2004, and is still growing. In a few years time, however, they may be big players in Hollywood, and they may make 'the big six', the 'big seven'! As of yet, they have a fair bit of growing, and they have not made many films that have received great critical acclaim. Their films include: 'Season of the Witch',  'Immortals', 'Limitless', 'Haywire', 'The Raven', 'House at the End of the Street', 'Machine Gun Preacher', 'Mirror mirror' and not much more!

The Weinstein Company: The formation of the Weinstein Company is an odd one, as they actually are a faction that separated off Disney. The founders used to work for Miramax which they had also founded, which was owned by Disney, and then they decided to turn back to their independent film making and form The Weinstein Company. It is also a very recent company; only formed in 2005, but as with Relativity Media, I think that it is aiming high. The work that it has done already is excellent - producing a few best picture nominees and winners already! The Weinstein Company seems to be one of the few institutions that seem to be aiming for the art in film, rather than just the money, as Miramax was originally meant for that, and after stumbling over Disney, the founders have got back on their feet again, and are ready to progress the film industry. It will be institutions like this that will move the film industry forward. Weinstein films include: 'The King's Speech', 'A Single Man', 'The Master', 'The Artist', 'The Fighter', 'The Iron Lady', 'Coriolanus', 'Lawless', 'Nowhere Boy', 'Submarine' and a fair few more!

Of course there are more film institutions out there, but they are not accepted as big as these ones. The ones mentioned here are the 'official mini-majors', but of course there are a lot more, and to list them all would take forever, and moreover be impossible!

Film Institutions - 20th Century Fox

Another of the most famous film institutions is 20th Century Fox, who probably have one of the most famous logos in the industry, that has been parodied many times. 20th Century Fox was founded in 1935, so it was one of the later film institutions, but it has certainly still had a big impact. It is owned by News Corporation, as they also own the Fox television channel, which gets them a lot of their money. The television channel alone produces many classic programs that are loved around the world, and the film side of it just makes it even better! Of course at some point they may consider updating it to '21st Century Fox', but for now they seem to be content with their original name. They tend to make very high budget films, and they try to go all out as far as money is concerned. To a lot of people though, they are not much more than a logo, as they haven't really got any theme parks or anything else to attach their audience to them, but none-the-less they are still very well known.

Famous 20th Century Fox films include: 'Avatar', 'Star Wars', 'Independence Day', 'Home Alone', 'X-Men', 'The Simpsons Movie', 'Ice Age', 'I, Robot', 'Marley and Me', 'Taken', 'Minority Report', 'Prometheus', 'Die Hard', 'Speed', 'Alien', 'Eragon', 'True Lies', 'Titanic', 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Road to Perdition', 'Night at the Museum', 'Austrailia' and much, much more!

Film Institutions - Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is another of the very well known film institutions, mainly due to the fact that they have a big theme park in America. They were founded in 1912 and were one of the first film institutions. It seems that only the film institutions that were around at the genisis of film making have made it to being the most successful, which makes sense as they've had time to grow. Universal Pictures target a very wide range of audiences and make a very wide range of films. They are just another company that want to make films for the money instead of the art form, which is sad, seeming as film is the only art form where this applies. Possibly in the future films will be a bit more free! They make very high-budget movies, and have been highly successful across the years. They also own Illumination Films and Working Title films, which are key companies in their film making machine. Working Title acts as Universal's attempt to get money out of the British, by giving them about $40-$50m to make a high quality product. This has worked well over the years, producing classics such as 'Love Actually' and 'Notting Hill'. The films tend to include a mostly British cast, but with a few American actors in, in order to appeal more widely to an American audience. Steven Spielberg also uses Universal a lot.

Universal films include: 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'E.T', 'Bourne Identity', 'Despicable Me', 'Back to the Future', 'A Beautiful Mind', 'American Graffiti', 'Love Actually', 'Bruce Almighty', 'Jaws', 'American Gangster', 'Mamma Mia!', 'Jurassic Park', 'King Kong', 'Meet the Fockers', 'The Mummy' and much much more!

Film Institutions - Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is probably the most famous film institution, mainly due to the fact that everyone in Western civilisation grows up with the name embedded into their head. It also has the most famous founder - Walt Disney, who, upon his death asked to be frozen so that when technology advanced enough he could come back to life. He's not had much success yet. Disney traditionally specialises in family movies and animation, but in recent years it has been expanding more into live action. They also own an incredible amount of film institutions: Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, and most recently Lucasfilm. Lucasfilm is the most controvertial of these companies as they have decided to extend the Star Wars films to an extra trilogy. This has caused both rage and glee across the fandom, and we will have to wait to see if they can really follow up the success of the previous films. Pixar are, in my opinion, one of the best film institutions in the world, as they consistently make excellent films. They do not make films for money, but rather more for the art form, and they don't make films as often, making every film special. Their films are enjoyable for both children and their parents, making them a real money grabber. Marvel too, are a brilliant way to get money, as they have a huge fan base of all their comic book fans. They, like Pixar, don't bring out loads of films, and instead take their time with each one, but in this case the quality isn't quite so high, but more 'fun'. Through these companies Disney manages to get a huge amount of money, and it is a big factor in their recent success.

Disney films include: 'The Lion King', 'Toy Story 3', 'The Avengers', 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'High School Musical', 'Tangled', 'Thor', 'Finding Nemo', 'Hannah Montana', 'Bambi', 'The Princess and the Frog', 'Alladin', 'A Bug's Life' and much much more!

Film Institutions - Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures is another of the film studios in 'the big six', and although it isn't heard of as much as the others, it does own Columbia Pictures, which is a much more well known company. Another slightly less well known, but still widely appreciated company that they own is Tristar Pictures. Sony is more associated with gaming and hardware, so their film side isn't really as well known. Despite this, they still continually release good films, and they are one of the most highest grossing companies in the world. A lot of their money comes from the fact that people have heard of Sony products, so trust them as a company, and then they also tend to advertise their films through their other products.

Sony Pictures films include: 'Spiderman', 'Men in Black', 'Gladiator', 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Quantum of Solace', 'Hancock', 'The Pursuit of Happyness', 'The Adventures of Tintin, 'The Social Network', 'Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star' and much, much more!

Film Institutions - Paramount

Paramount Studios was founded in 1916 and is one of the oldest film institutions. It is the last film studio that is still headquartered in the traditional film district of Los Angeles, although other film studios do still have studios in LA. It is a division of the American media company 'Viacom'. They have a good partnership with Steven Spielberg - the leading film director in Hollywood, and this is a major reason for their success. They are consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing film studios in the world. As with Warner Bros, they make a very wide range of films, and will make anything that will sell.

Paramount films include: 'Titanic', 'Transformers' 'Indiana Jones', 'Iron Man', 'Forrest Gump', 'War of the Worlds', 'Mission Impossible', 'Shutter Island', 'Paranormal Activity'

Film Institutions - Warner Bros.

In the following series of posts I will explain the six major film institutions (the big six), and examine their specialities in the film business. Film institutions are very important as they provide the money for films to be made, and without them, no one would ever get enough money to make a decent budget film. These companies also own studios, which are useful as they are reusable and efficient, and are dedicated to film making. The major problem with film institutions funding a film is that they like to have complete control over the project, and this reduces the amount of creative input. They are all about making money, and this stops film advancing as an art form. Films such as 'The King's Speech' rejected all offers from major production companies in order to keep creative control and keep it independent. However a lot of good films are made by studios and the film business wouldn't be what it is today without these major institutions.

Warner Bros studios was founded in 1903, at the birth of film. It was formed by the four Warner brothers, as the name suggests, and was one of the leading companies in pioneering 'talkie' movies. They also famously started the original 'Looney Tunes', as well as many more successful cartoons. Warner Bros don't really have a speciality in regard to what they do; they have a very wide range of films. They tend to make high budget movies, that get a lot of money, which are released around the world. Their films appeal to a very wide range of audience, as they are all about getting money. They also own New Line Cinema, which is well known for 'The Lord of the Rings' movies.

Previous Warner Bros films include: 'Harry Potter', 'The Departed', 'The Dark Knight', 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'P.S. I Love You', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Troy', 'Blade Runner', 'The Wrong Man', and much more. They are the studio who greats like Clint Eastwood and Alfred Hitchcock used.

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Annoucement Teaser Trailer

 

Press Release

UNIVERSAL AND ENIGMA ANNOUNCE “SINS OF THE MARTYR” SEQUEL

LEATHERHEAD, Surrey, Oct. 10, 2013

- Universal Pictures, a division of NBC Universal, and Enigma Entertainment announced today that pre-production on OSIRIS UNBOUND, the eagerly anticipated follow up to last years “Sins of the Martyr”, is officially underway in Surrey, England. Shooting will take place in the United Kingdom in addition to France and Australia. The film will be released to cinemas in summer 2014. Universal Pictures will distribute internationally, while StudioCanal will distribute domestically. Directed and written by Nicholas Ashurst and Philip Smith (“Sins of the Martyr”) the production will travel the world and utilize digital photography to bring to the screen a script based on an original idea and characters created by Ashurst and Smith.

In Enigma Entertainment's OSIRIS UNBOUND, Agent Davidson (LEE DAVIDSON), recovering from the events of “Sins of the Martyr”, finds himself at the centre of a global conspiracy involving an ancient cult, a corrupt government agency and a journey across multiple continents to uncover the truth behind this latest threat to himself and those he serves to protect. He teams up with disgraced O.S.I.R.I.S. agent Lucas Thorne (NICHOLAS ASHURST) and a pair of unlikely allies (RICHARD YOUNG and PHILIP SMITH) in order to battle an old adversary (JAMES RICHARDSON), who has re-emerged from the shadows, and his ruthless hit-man (ZUBIN PAREKH), who is torn between the will of his employer and the will of God. Together, Davidson and Thorne face their limits as they endeavour to overcome this formidable foe.

"We're so delighted to re-collaborate on the follow up to our smash hit “Sins of the Martyr” and be working once again with Lee Davidson. We've got a great script, an extraordinary cast and an incredibly talented creative team for this latest Agent Davidson adventure," said Ashurst and Smith.

OSIRIS UNBOUND features an impressive multi-ethnic cast that includes Lee Davidson (“Sins of the Martyr”), Nicholas Ashurst (“France 24”), James Richardson (“The Piano”)with Philip Smith, Zubin Parekh and Richard Young. The film is being co-produced by Nicholas Ashurst and Philip Smith, with Lee Davidson and Zubin Parekh as associate producers. James Richardson and Richard Young serve as executive producers of the film. The behind-the-scenes creative and technical team includes director of photography Philip Smith, production designer Nicholas Ashurst, costume designer Philip Smith, editor Philip Smith, composer James Richardson, visual effects supervisor Nicholas Ashurst, and stunt coordinator Zubin Parekh.

Moodboard #21 - Metanoia

The last item on the moodboard is the potential title - Metanoia. We were considering using this as the title, but we have now decided against it and are considering using a different title. The word metanoia is a Greek word literally meaning 'changing one's mind', however it has other different connotations as well. In theology, the word metanoia is interchangeable with the word 'repentance', which means turning away from your sins and starting a new life. This is relevant to the film in no way whatsoever, but I'm sure we could make it work. In psychology metanoia involves reforming one's psyche as a type of healing process and is a proposed explanation for the phenomenon of psychotic breakdown. This again has no relevance whatsoever. In philosophy metanoia is about rejecting consumerism and materialism as the basis of progress. This also has no relevance, so the title as a whole is completely irrelevant apart from the fact that it is a cool word. But in all fairness nowadays audience's don't care about what the title means, as long as it sounds exciting or intelligent. Half of the James Bond film titles take this stance, such as The Living Daylights, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is not Enough and Quantum of Solace. Overall we've decided to ditch this title, as we don't want to have a completely irrelevant title that only stands up when in comparison with James Bond films.

Moodboard #20 - Mercenaries

One of the features that our recent films have started to share is that the antagonists' mercenaries all wear balaclavas. The balaclavas solve a plethora of problems. Firstly they  allow us to reuse actors, so that we don't have to have an enormous cast to make it look like we have an army of mercenaries. Another benefit of the balaclavas is to make all the mercenaries look the same, so that if a character doesn't have a balaclava on they would stand out and the audience would know that they are a key character that they should pay attention to. To make them look more similar, we also tend to give them all black coats or hoodies, but there is a bit of variety in this to retain the ragtag mercenary feel of the troops.

We have a number of toy guns at our disposal that we've spray painted black. Many of the guns were bought at budget prices at poundland, but after spray painting them they look just as good as more expensive guns, albeit a bit smaller. Shotguns are something which we struggle with, not because we don't have any of them, but because most of the shotguns are very small and can look a bit stupid. Our guns specialist, Zubin Parekh, owns a number of BB guns that have been sprayed black, and these tend to look a lot better than the poundland guns. The BB guns can also be adjusted to look slightly different; the pistol can have a silencer and the machine gun can be adjusted to look like a sniper rifle. This variety of guns gives us a wide choice of combat troop types with which we can make an interesting selection of battle scenes.

Moodboard #17, #18, #19 - VW Polo, Renault Clio & Moped

These next three items on the moodboard I have decided to condense into one blog post as I'll be writing the same sort of thing about each one of them. As of last year, a few of our group have learnt to drive, so this is something which we are hoping to be able to incorporate into our film. Three of us have learnt to drive cars, and one of us a moped, which is helpful as we get a good variety of vehicles. Two of us have the same car - the Renault Clio, so this could come in useful when filming, as we could easily trick the audience into thinking that one car is the other. The Clio is a fairly basic car and there isn't much going for it in the film industry. It's a small, five door, silver family car and it's not exactly the sort of car that James Bond would drive around in. In short, it's the sort of car that is seen on the roads on an every day basis.

The VW Polo doesn't have much more going for it, but it is black, which is a far more cinematic colour for a car. The colour black has connotations of a foreboding atmosphere, so this car could be used as the antagonists car in the film. Apart from that the car doesn't look much different from the Renault Clio. It's still a small, five door family car and not the sort of car that James Bond would drive around in. However we're going to have to get over this, as these are the only cars that are available to us and if we want a scene with cars involved then these are our only choices. We are considering having some sort of car chase sequence in our film, and hopefully to try and film it in a way that it gives the illusion it is filmed in one long shot, in a similar way that the car scene in Children of Men was shot. This could work as the exciting ending set piece to the trailer.

To last vehicle that is on the moodboard is the moped, which would be driven by Richard Young. Car chases aren't nearly as exciting without motorbikes (or in this case a moped), as they are more agile and able to dart around traffic. They add a new dynamic to chase sequences and can also be fun to destroy creatively in these chases. Of course we can't really blow up Richard's moped, but I'm sure the magic of camera trickery can overcome that obstacle. The chase sequence will have to take a lot of planning in advance so that it's completely safe - we don't want to destroy each others' vehicles!

Moodboard #16 - Emmanuel Lubezski

Emmanuel Lubezski is much less well known than Roger Deakins, but has still been nominated for Oscars in five films. We discovered his work through the film Children of Men, in which Lubezski pulls off some incredible long take sequences. This is the main part of his cinematography we like, so I have put a clip below, but he also creates some stunning visuals:

Moodboard #15 - Roger Deakins

Roger Deakins is one of Hollywood's leading cinematographers and has been nominated for multiple Oscars for Best Cinematography. He is the master of the silhouette shot, as seen in three out of four of the images below, but retains very powerful images throughout his films. Deakins is one of the few cinematographers who makes cinematography a key aspect of the film. Many cinematographers do obvious, simple shots that get the job done, but Deakins takes it a step further and turns every frame into a work of art. From here I will let the visuals speak for themselves:

Moodboard #14 - Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is another acclaimed film director who inspires us. He is most famous for the 'The Dark Knight Trilogy' in which he completely redefined the superhero genre - gone are the days of 'holy macaroni' and brightly coloured spandex. Nolan recreated Batman as a much grittier more human character, and in turn fleshed out the other Batman characters to make a more realistic and threatening film. We like this gritty style, as it makes films seem much more serious and realistic. Although we probably won't go all out serious we'll certainly have an element of grittiness to our film. Another of Nolan's films that I personally have been inspired by is his mind twister Memento. This was a highly original, relatively low budget film, that showed the film backwards scene by scene as the main character suffered from chronic memory loss. It was an incredibly clever film, and I'd say (after seeing all Nolan's films) that Memento is his best work. Below are a couple of clips from a variety of his films.

Moodboard #13 - Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer is probably the busiest film score composer in Hollywood. He is fast overtaking John Williams as the most famous film composer and is starting to become a household name after the variety of films that he scores, from The Lion King to The Da Vinci Code. Admittedly a fair number of his tracks can sound similar, but I suppose with the amount of films he composes for he has to have some sort of formula for composing. Our AS opening was greatly inspired by his work, especially his work on The Dark Knight and Inception and we asked our resident composer to create something similar.

Our trailer this year will probably again take inspiration from the work of Hans Zimmer and we will be using the incomparable talent of James Richardson to create an original score. Below are two contrasting examples of Hans Zimmer's work. The first is from the film Angels and Demons which is a fast paced action movie style soundtrack, but with a choral element. The second is from the romantic comedy The Holiday and shows a different side to Hans Zimmer's style.

Moodboard #12 - Alfonso Cuaron

Alfonso Cuaron is one of my co-workers' favourite directors, and I too am a minor fan of his work. He is probably most famous for the third Harry Potter film - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - which reshaped the Harry Potter series, giving it a darker edge. There is a clear distinction between the first two films and the rest of the series which is largely due to Cuaron's influence. He is also gaining fame for his upcoming sci-fi fantasy film - Gravity - which is receiving huge critical acclaim throughout the film world. However, it is his less well known film - Children of Men - that is what we're taking most inspiration from. Children of Men is a gritty dystopian film set in a futuristic earth in which no one can have children. The key part of this film that we are interested in are the sequences which appear to be taken in one shot, such as the sequence shown below. The sequences seem more realistic and gritty, as it is as if the audience is actively involved in the film and they are following the characters on their journey. We are considering experimenting with this type of shot in our trailer, as it would work well for the ending to our trailer.

Moodboard #11 - Benedict Cumberbatch/Calus Rothen

The next character along, sitting at number 11 is the infamous Benedict Cumberbatch, an English actor who in recent years has speedily risen from a small British TV show to big Hollywood blockbusters by big name directors such as Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. He is a very unique actor with a very unique look, and for these reasons I have chosen him to represent the antagonist of our film - Calus Rothen. Benedict Cumberbatch is quite tall and reasonably skinny looking, which is the sort of look we want to give Calus Rothen. Another aspect of this picture that has inspired Calus Rothen is the suit that he wears - we don't want Rothen to be some sort of thug, but to be an intelligent criminal mastermind with a plan. Benedict Cumberbatch also models this clever look, as he often plays intelligent characters in his films, notably Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, Smaug in The Hobbit, and Khan in Star Trek. These characters also have a sociopathic side to them, which is another aspect of their character we could adopt. Tall, clever sociopaths in suits work very well as cold calculating killers.

Calus Rothen is, for want of a less cliche phrase, the arch enemy of the film's protagonist - Lucas Thorne. The film will hint at some sort of prior conflict between the two characters, and although it won't go into specifics, it is established that the previous time they clashed Thorne defeated him, but only at great cost. Rothen is a cold, calculating sociopath who sits behind a desk and doesn't do much of the dirty work himself. He hires Zubasu to do all the killing for him, but he isn't afraid to whip out a silenced pistol if need be. Although his strengths don't lie in fist fighting, he is extremely adept in using stealth weapons such as sniper rifles and pistols. Rothen is the head of the Crucifix organisation, and he is organising the resurface of the organisation after years of lying low.

Moodboard #10 - Silas/Zubasu

Number 9 on the moodboard is the character Silas, from The Da Vinci Code. The Da Vinci Code shares a lot of features with our film, and we have taken a lot of inspiration from it. We like the idea of going to old churches and historical places, as they tend to make really interesting locations. The difference between what we're doing and The Da Vinci Code is that The Da Vinci Code tends to go to the historical places and have some intelligent investigation, whereas our film goes to the historical places and has shoot outs. In this sense, our film has more in common with the prequel to The Da Vinci Code - Angels and Demons. The particular character shown here - Silas - is a character that is very similar to our character of Zubasu. The character of Zubasu was first created for our AS media film Sins of the Martyr but is making a return for this semi-sequel. Between the two we have decided that he has joined some sort of cult, as he is now a highly religious fanatic. This is very similar to the character of Silas, as he whips himself under the teachings of the radical Catholic cult, Opus Dei. The two characters also share attributes in that they are both creepy assassins.

Zubasu works for the criminal organisation of CRUCIFIX, which is a criminal religious cult dedicated to terrorism. In the film they are just making a comeback, and it is Zubasu's job to protect it in its infancy. He is the most physically threatening of the antagonists, as he is a professional assassin and is trying to hunt down the protagonists. We are currently debating as to whether he should have a twin, to make him double as deadly and badass. This would also be a good opportunity to practise some of the skills we have learnt over the course of our media course. Twins tend to work well in action films, and we would be taking inspiration from the acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. In Season 3 of Breaking Bad there are two Mexican twin assassins and they are very threatening figures.

Moodboard #9 - Spider/The Techy

The next character on the moodboard is Spider from Elysium. We have taken inspiration from this character for the character of the technical expert in our trailer. Although in Elysium the character is also the leader of the resistance, we are not taking inspiration from this aspect of his character as we can't have too many badasses in one film or they would just all mush together. We haven't actually come up with a name for the technical expert, but I'm sure that this will come soon enough. The technical expert from Elysium was chosen because he is different from most technical experts in films, who are usually seen as nerdy and sometimes flamboyant. This technical expert is more of a tough guy, and this makes him a much more interesting character. We want our technical expert to be more like this - he's clever and knows his way around technology, but at the same time he can take care of himself outside of the lab.

The technical expert in our film is probably the least fleshed out of all the characters so far, as at the moment he is weighing heavily on stereotypes. At the moment he is far too similar to Spider from Elysium, so we need to make the character our own, and make him more interesting. As well as being the technical expert, he is also the expert on all the other aspects of the film, such as history, archaeology, ancient cults etc. He basically knows everything the the audience needs to know to understand the film and his purpose is largely expositional. Of course this would make for a rather dull character, so we are going to have to give him some extra roles and make him a more believable character, as well as justifying all the random information that he happens to know.

Audience Profile - The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

	Age:	%:	Gender:	%:	Class	%:

	4-6	0%	Male:	50%	AB	37%

	7-11	1%	Female:	50%	C1	32%

	12-14	4%			C2	16%

	15-24	24%			DE	15%

	25-34	23%

	35-44	15%

	45+	33%

The Da Vinci Code is a film that we'll be taking a lot of inspiration from in our production process, as both films combine intellectual puzzle solving with fast paced action sequences. Therefore we decided to have a look at statistics for The Da Vinci Code to see what sort of audience we would be aiming for in our production process. These statistics show that the average audience age is between 15 and 34, so it would be aiming towards the younger side of the audiences, but not so young that it would be haunted by teenage fangirls. To do this we would probably have to weigh more on the side of action scenes than intelligent puzzle solving. The audience is evenly split between both genders, so we would have to include some scenes that appeal to both genders. This would mean that we would probably have to try and include some female characters, so that they have people that they can connect to.