Lighting

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Working Title Film trip

On Tuesday 5th April we went to Working Title. It was really interesting to meet the founder of WT as well as the people behind productions.

Tim Bevan

Tim explained the whole process that WT go through before producing the film. I didn't actually realise that WT don't actually direct the film, or hire the crew. 

They are funded by Universal Pictures, who also distribute their films are made.

The first stage is Development. This takes place in the 'engine room', where all the ideas are taken and developed into a possible storyline and screenplay. Their ideas are sent to Los Angeles to get writers who are interested in creating this film. The writers pitch their ideas and how they want to portray the film to WT. Then the company have to find a casting director and a director. Then the script, cast and budget taken to the studio where a cost analysis is created. The Marketing section are always thinking about the film, things that would look good on a trailer, poster ideas, thing in the film that are good/bad that may put people off seeing the film.  

WT make around 3 or 4 films a year.

One of the questions that we asked Tim Bevan was about the issue of piracy. He said that there are two things that put people off buying or downloading pirated films. the first is the fact that the cinema experience is the best way to see a film. The incredible quality on a huge screen, with excellent sound and comfy chairs, as well as popcorn and the general atmosphere. The other is that people know how much money it costs to make a film, there's more to it than illegally downloading a song as so much more work time and effort has gone into making that film.

Sarah-Jane Wright
SJ works in the production department. She talked a lot about Atonement which cost £17 million to make. The beach scene was particularly interesting how they created it, as they used local Army men as extras, and used a technique call tiling to make it look like more people. The director Joe Wright wanted the perfect sunset for the scene, so they had to wait all day to film the scene.

Emma & Harriet
Emma is an intern at WT, and Harriet is a creative executive. They talked about how they got into working at WT, through doing work experience as a runner, and then being offered an internship. They spend time in different areas of WT to gain experience and learn about how things work. It was really useful to find out how people actually get into the business.

Dan Mazer
Dan was the writer for Borat, Bruno and Ali G. He talked about some of the controversial issues that people had with his films. 

What is a British Film?

2.
The King's Speech

• Historical drama, set in the early 20th century. The film is about Prince Albert of York who suffers from speech stuttering problems, and follows him as he becomes kings, and tries to solve his speech problem. I think the film is very British as the monarchy is seen as a very British symbol.
• The main star Colin Firth is British as is Helena Bonham-Carter. However, seveal of the other main actors are other nationalities. This may be to appeal to a wider, especially American, audience. The main characters are also very well known.
• The director Tom Hooper is British. He has also directed several other period dramas.
• the genre would be historical drama. it is based on a true story.
• The film was produced by See-Saw films. They are based in London and Sydney. The film also recieved £1 million from the UK film council. This is an article about the importance of the britsh film council, not only for this film considering the success of it, but the impact on the British film industry.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/culture-cuts-blog/2011/mar/01/arts-funding-oscars-2011
• 
  

127 Hours

• biography that follows the story of a climber that was stuck in a canyon for over 5 days. it's not really related to British subject as it is set in america, about an american and based on adventure activities that are not necessarily classed as British
• the main actors is James Franco, an American.he has been in several well known films before.
• The director Danny Boyle is English, and has directed several very well known films such as Slumdog Millionaire (not at all a British film), and Trainspotting (definitely British)
• 
  

Another Year

• drama feel good film about an elderly couple and the people around them. It is quite a British film as it features an old couple, who have English accents, and contains British humor.
• All the actors are British, although none of them are particularly well known.
• Mike leigh is British. he has also directed Happy-go-lucky, a very british, feel good film although none of his other work seems familiar to me. 

Four Lions

• Dark comedy film about terrorists, although they seem to be pretty poor at it. It is a fairly British film as although it is based around the islamic religion, it is set in Sheffield and the people and humor is British. 
• The main actors are all british, and none are well known.
• the director Christopher Morris is British and is known for a part in the IT Crowd, but none of his other work is familiar.
• 
  

Made in Dagenham

• Comedy drama about women fighting for equal rights in 1968. It is related to British subject matter as it is based on true events, and is set in England.
• The cast are English, and the main character played by Sally Hawkins, who was in Happy Go Lucky, although she is probably not that well known. 
• The director Nigel Cole is British, and known for Calender Girls. 

3.

I consider The King's Speech, Another Year and Made in Dagenham to be very British. This is because they have British actors, directors and a subject matter. Four Lions is also very British because of the comedy used , and the British location and actors. I consider 127 hours not British because the actors are American, the location is in America and it is based on an American real life story. 

Working Title Films

Questions; 1. What are your plans for your future tv channel, what things do you plan to show, to what audience, and how will improve awareness and profits of your company?
2. How is the closure of the UK film council affecting your future plans?
3. Have you got any future plans for 3D?
4. Why did you chose to create a different ending in Atonement to the book?

This is an article about the importance of working title for the british film industry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2821801.stm

Comment on the representation of Englishness in Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a unique TV drama as it uses Englishness to differentiate itself from other British crime dramas. The mise-en-scene is a large part of the programme, for creating specific shots of representations of England, such as establishing shots of thatched cottages, old women, and people riding bicycles.

The landscape setting is one of the most important parts of Midsomer Murders' representation of Englishness. There are always several shots of fields and quaint villages, that are very traditional and have little modernisation of the present day apart from cars and such. This image that the setting is presented is very stereotypical of England, and although we all know that villages are not really like that anymore, it is immediately apparent that it is definitely set in England. Props also play a big part in representation. Glimpses of 'English' things like land rovers, horses, cottages, post offices and old fashioned telephones create an immediate recognition of the location. The actual characters also add to the Englishness. Men in chequered shirts and hats driving land rovers; typically displayed as farmers, old women with wicker baskets riding bicycles added to the background scenes create a typical rural English village look. Almost all characters speak with a proper English accent, unless their character requires other. In fact, many rural areas tend to have a regional accent, rather than proper English, which is more associated with the upper class. However, people who are not English tend to stereotype English people as being posh and upper class, so this is in keeping with others' estimations of Englishness.

Camera angles are used mainly as establishing shots, especially during opening sequences. This is to emphasise the true Englishness of the location. Also, many of them are long shots or mid shots, to capture the Englishness in the background, instead of focusing on the characters' facial expressions less often. The creators of the programme seem to pay specific attention to things in the shot that represent Englishness, such as extra cottage views in the background of foreground action. 

Sound is another important part of representing Englishness. there is a lot of non-diegetic sound, upbeat, slightly classical music which mirrors the calmness and peacefulness of the village, and eerie tension-creating music, which sounds out of place with the calm music, so it suggests that there is something going on that is out of place. There are also several diegetic noises, such as birds, cars and leaves to emphasis ruralness.

All these things mentioned all play a role in keeping Midsomer Murders exclusively English. The locations in Midsomer are always typical of English ruralness, as are props and sounds. It uses people's ideas of what Englishness it and displays it in an exact way; not realistic, yet how we imagine rural countryside villages to be like in an ideal world. it is so different from other crime dramas because of the Englishness; other drama's of the same genre are mostly city-located, modern and rely on a gripping, and maybe more complex storyline, than Midsomer.

Hollyoaks

Episode: Thursday 3rd March
Extract: Brendan and Doug are discussing a coke deal, which involves Rae. Doug is unsure about including Rae but Brendan tells him he owes him to do this, so Doug has to agree. The scene then cuts to Mercedes talking to Lynsey about an article on women behaving like 'ladies'.


Camera
The camera pans in slowly towards the two characters as their discussion gets more intense. The camera angle then switches to an over the shoulder shot of Brendan close to Doug they talk, showing power of the character ,the intensity of their conversation, and the desperation of Brendan. During several over the shoulder shots between the two characters, it is made clear by the camera angle which is charge, as the camera points down slightly to look at Doug, an up when looking at Brendan. The camera then switches to mid shots as we realise that Doug has lost this debate, and Brendan gives him the bad of drugs. The camera then goes into an over the shoulder shot as Brendan reassures Doug. In contrast, the next scene has mostly over the shoulder shots, but at a further distance from the characters, as they are having a more light hearted chat. There are several closer ovs shots, but they still establish distance between Mercedes and Lynsey, showing that maybe they know each other less then Brendan and Doug, and in a less serious and business way.


Editing
The extract opens with a fade trasion between an establishing shot of the bar to Brendan and Doug in the office. Apart from that, the scenes use just quick cuts between characters talking and change of shots, even between the two scenes.


Sound
There is no non-diegetic sound throughout this whole sequence, to focus the audience's attention purely on the characters' dialogue. There is faint background of people talking in both scenes, in the office in the bar and the street.


Mise-en-scene
The location between both scenes is very contrasting, with Brendan and Doug talking in a quite office with no-one else present, showing secrecy, while the two girls having a conversation in the busy town centre. The costumes between the characters also differ, in scenes and between scenes. Brendan is wearing all black, suggesting he is a bad or shady character and a suit suggesting he is a business man, although the collar is undone at the top, hinting that now he is doing other kinds of business, rather than professional. Doug is wearing lighter colours, showing he is more innocent and a better person. Mercedes and Lynsey are both wearing coats and scarves, suggesting weather. The lighting also differs dramatically, with the office scene very dark, only seeming to be illuminated by one lamp, and the street scene obviously in natural daylight. The first scene suggests through lighting that this may be a dodgey deal, that the characters have something to hide.

In a group we worked on creating a swede of one of the episodes of Cutting It. In our group was Ed, Ben, Jordan, Holly, Caitlin, George, Hannah and me.