Composer Profile

Our composer is James Richardson, a seasoned veteran on the music front. We are truly blessed to have such a talented individual such as James to compose for us. Not only is he brilliant at composing, but his piano playing skills are unparalleled even by the likes of Lang Lang and Billy Joel.
James's composition technique favours the classical genre, as this was a genre that he enjoyed for many years, and indeed still has a passion for. Some of his favoured classical composers include Rachmininoff and Beethoven, who are his inspiration. He generally composes for the piano, this is how he started out, but he does have plenty of experience composing for other classical instruments, including the cello, which is an instrument that features in his score for the opening sequence.
James has composed for a film for us before, where his track ran the length of the film . In fact, he also played the lead role in that film, and played the piece at one point in it! He worked with us more recently on the opening two minutes for our hit film 'Sins of the Martyr.
James has worked with us on multiple occasions and we have a great working relationship with him, so  he knows exactly what we want, and he'll get it right every time.

Costume Design - Agent Davidson

These are some of the sort of costumes that we plan on using for the character of Agent Davidson. We like the look of these costumes as they are stylish but not too showy. It's not the undertops that we are looking at, but the jackets, as the undertops look a bit too much on the fashion side, which isn't really suitable for Davidson's character. The first jacket looks more covert, and the sort of thing that an agent might wear to avoid being seen, but as an audience it could be seen as suspicious. Of course, in real life it wouldn't seem as suspicious, but in movies the audience has a hieghtened sense of danger. The second jacket is more natural, and the sort of jacket that Davidson would wear just on an average day, which is also a feel we want to get at, as the mission isn't meant to be as serious as it gets. Perhaps a mixture of these two looks would be relevant, so we'll see what we can find.

Casting - Agent Davidson

After a series of gruelling auditions for the iconic role of Agent Davidson, we finally settled on the little-known, yet talented actor Lee Davidson, who ironically has the same surname as the lead character in the film, and even more of a coincidence, his first name is the L.E.E without the dots between them!

Lee Davidson

My co-worker and I have a very good working relationship with Lee, and have worked with him on many occasions, most recently on our Preliminary Task and Sins of the Marytr where he proved to be very adept at fight sequences. We have also worked with him on stage in a play called 'The Nero Complex', which can be viewed below. In this he portrayed the iconic role of Praetorius, and really brought a new dynamic to songs such as 'The Lady is a Tramp' and 'Life's a Happy Song'. The raw emotion that was balanced with the delicate poetry offered something special that not many actors can master.

 He has also had training in martial arts and enjoys sport, lending him perfectly to the role. Another reason for our decision was that he was by far the most muscle bound of all the people auditioning for the role, and that's the kind of thing we need for our action hero. It is clear to see that even from this early stage, Lee will bring his own into the character of Agent Davidson, and his performance will be something to be remembered.

Feedback

Well done for completing the questionnaire and beginning the filming diary. This should regularly be added to as the blog should be the record of all of the hard work you are putting in outside of lesson times.  Remember you can also upload any online tutorials you have watched, along with an explanation of what you have learned from them.

Targets:
Storyboard
Regularly updated filming diary, with discussion of what went well, what the challenges were, which scenes you shot etc

REMEMBER All filming to be completed by 20th December

The Camera

28mm Wide angle Shooting
40x Intelligent Zoom
26x Optical Zoom
1080p Full HD
5.0 Megapixels
Optional 3D conversion
SD Card Memory
Capable of taking stills
Microphone slot
Image Stabilisation



This is the camera that we are using to film our opening two minutes with. It's my personal camera that I use all the time and it has never failed me, so I thought that this would work well for our opening two minutes. It films in full HD, which should make it look pretty decent, and this was the main appeal for this camera. It also has a microphone slot, so we don't have to rely on the internal microphone. The zoom is also good, and so we can get some shots from far away and it would still be very good quality.

Soundtrack Ideas

We have decided that we will hire out our good friend, James Richardson, to compose the music for our soundtrack this year. I will be posting a composer profile shortly. We have a few initial ideas for what we want the soundtrack to sound like, and the general idea is that it will start slowly with a piano part, and then it will build up slowly, before a sweeping ending. James's composition technique favours this structure, as he is good at this style of composing. The beginning of the trailer is almost an emotional beginning, showing the character Lucas Thorne in retirement and thinking about his past, before being thrown back into action. The opening of the music must reflect this, with a calm and slightly reminiscent theme, to match the visuals of beaches and Thorne in an emotional state. There must then be a break in the music before the characters are thrown into the intense action of the film. Below are a few examples of the sort of structure I am hoping for.

Location Scouting - St Dunstan-in-the-East

Last year whilst location scouting for Sins of the Martyr we found a pretty amazing location, which we saved for the trailer this year. Here is the production diary:

Box Office Successes of All Male Casts

SUCCESSES
The Expendables (2010)

Budget: $80 million
International Box Office: $274,470,394

Black Hawk Down (2002)

Budget: $92 million
International Box Office: $172,989,651

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Budget: $1.5 million
International Box Office: $14,661,007!

In fact, the only female cast members in the film are as follows:
Linda Kaye as Shocked Woman
Suzanne Celeste as Shot Woman

FAILURES

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Budget: $25 million
International Box Office: $28 million :(

Screenshots: Day I of Shooting

Questionnaire B

After our first questionnaire we decided to ask more open ended questions to get a wider response:

Which genres most appeal to you as a moviegoer?
- Action
- Romance
- Comedy
- Adventure
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Horror
- Other (specify)

Did you enjoy the general tone of our opening sequence to 'Sins of the Martyr'?

Do you wish to see more of the same or see us explore something different?

Of the following elements, what do you feel is the most important?
- Action
- Music
- Cinematography
- Story & Dialogue
- Other (specify)

Compared to our opening sequence to 'Sins of the Martyr', which of these elements do you feel could be improved upon?

Do you prefer trailers to explore the storyline of the film or showcase the action?

Do you have any suggestions for things you would like to see in our trailer?

Concerning Women

In recent weeks we have come under fire due to the controversy surrounding the absence of any female characters in our new film. Thus we have composed a letter of apology to the female gender.

Dear Women,

We understand your concern regarding the lack of representation of your gender in Enigma Entertainment's upcoming feature 'Osiris Unbound'. We can see that this would be frustrating as we are some of the most acclaimed directors working in the industry today and serving under us would grant you unparallelled prestige. Therefore our decision to neglect your kind could, through the eyes of the uninformed, appear as imposing a glass ceiling upon your careers. However, we only had good intentions at heart.

We believe we are incapable of portraying women authentically due to our lack of experience as females, therefore it would be in your best interests that this film remain all-male, through and through.

Yours misogynistically,
Nicholas Ashurst and Philip Smith