Monday, 30 November 2015
Questionnaire results.
3 said; What do you first think of when you see the words - 'Action Film.' The results show that people would associate 'Action' with -
Violence, fighting, climax and blood.
This helped me to realise what elements people expect to see in an Action Film. Although we don't really want our production to be too cliché, and similar to other films. We still want there to be aspects of the film that the genre theory will help identify this genre.After the results we see some of the things we should include in the production.
4 said; How do Action films make you feel? The results showed me that -
75% felt Excited
18% felt Tense
7% felt Nervous
These results show that the most feelings of our audience would be excited. Although we don't know what makes the audience feel excited. We could have improved this questionnaire by asking what in the action films makes the people feel excited. Then we would know exactly what to focus in the two minute production.
5 said; How important do you think these items are for an Action genre? (1 being the LEAST important.)
Results:
61 points for an AXE
52 points for a KNIFE
46 points for a SWORD
43 points for a GUN
38 points for EXPLOSIONS
Having the axe as the top of the list shows that this is one of the main weapons that people think are rather important. We as a group have decided that we may use this, or the use of knives which was the second from top important weapon. We will use this to show the type of genre we decided to do as our production.
9 said; What do you think is important for an Action film?
Results:
26.67% of people said that Jump-scares were important.
53.33% said explosions
20.00% said violence
33.33% said blood
86.67% said a unique story line
With the results being high for the unique story line shows that we have to focus on this part of the script when we write it. This also means that the ideas have to be original. We can be influenced by people,films, directors etc... We will not be able to use explosions which is another thing people think of to associate with action films. but we will be able to use blood which is also important for people to see during action films.
11 said; IDEA: one evening, three people sit at a dinner table together enjoying a meal as they socialise. The room stands silent. You can only hear the sound their cutlery scraping across their plates. Two of the characters look at each other and look back at the third character on the other side of the table. A fight lashes out. Please give some of your opinions, and tell us how we can improve this idea :)
Results:
One person stated -
'One character could go to the toilet, or go to move away, turning their back, and then the fight starts, as he hears them move towards him, he turns around and comes face to face with the knife. FIGHTTT.'
I feel that this could be a good idea if filmed and edited properly, but they shouldn't be face to face with the knife. As it could be dangerous and if we were to do a close up of the persons face, their expressions may turn out wrong and not look the way tit was meant to. I really like the idea of someone walking away with their back to the other people in the scene.
Another stated -
'Maybe have a small argument before hand then the silence cuts and the fight follows so that the audience have some insight as to why the fight is happening but not too much insight, they can't know everything. but sound alike an amazing idea :)'
I like the idea of the audience knowing a bit about why the characters in the film are having a fight scene, nut not knowing all, as the rest of the film/production if were to be longer than 2 minutes would be finding out exactly what happened. . Although that story will need to be unique. I feel that the silence shouldn't be too long as it could cause too much tension if were to put that there.
All together I found that we should use some sort of weapon in the production. We should also focus the main characters in the first 30 seconds - 1 minute of the clip. I also found that people enjoy watching action films, so we should find out what the audience finds exciting about these types of films. The results of the questionnaire show that the use of blood, this makes our idea of using blood even more dominant for the production.
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Theatrical Research:
Karlton armstrong and faith starie We worked together through this research as there was a lot to do. I did the audience theories, and the representation theories, and me and faith worked together on the Narrative theories as we both used Knight and day as an example.
Questionnaire
We helped Faith came up with questions to put on our questionnaire that was emailed to people around the school. This is our questionnaire.
Conventions


We also found that the princess is never really in the first few minutes of the film, the antagonist and protagonist are always the main characters in the opening clips, so we as a group have decided to follow this convention.
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Splitting the work between us.
Today we have decided that we are going to split the work between us, so that we can get the work done sooner and get to the filming of the clip.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Talking about ideas
We had even more ideas today. We talked about keeping the fight scene in the dinning room but not start the two minute clip with that. We would start with the guest of the house walking down the street towards them, he opens the door to the house to find the two house owners fighting, and almost getting hit by something flying towards him. We have decided that we will all think of ideas round the setting of the dinning room. We have also decided that we will most likely use Faith's dining room as we feel that her house is the biggest out of all of ours, and that it also more of a open plan which means that there is more room for us to follow the convention of action by having a good fight scene.
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Sub-genre of action
There a lot of conventions for action films, but they do have sub-genres. One of their sub-genre's is Action Adventure - this sub genre can take place in another world, or shot as though it is set in the future. The hero is usually human and the villain is usually a different creature or someone from the future or past trying to stop what is going on. Some examples of these sub-genres are Men in Black, Avatar.
Another sub genre of action films are fantasy action;
These are mostly super hero films, they are classed as action as there is a hero who tries to good but there may be a fight scene. The conventions of this film genre is that both hero and villain are some sort of creature or thing that is non-human as well as being human. For example Spiderman - Spiderman was the hero but there where many villains that had other identities (the big lizard). As well as the is usually hero costume would be brighter and lighter than the villains whose would usually be black.
Action-thriller is another sub genre of action. This types films are usually darker than the normal action films. There will probably be a lot more use of blood and more dangerous weapons.
Another sub genre of action films are fantasy action;
These are mostly super hero films, they are classed as action as there is a hero who tries to good but there may be a fight scene. The conventions of this film genre is that both hero and villain are some sort of creature or thing that is non-human as well as being human. For example Spiderman - Spiderman was the hero but there where many villains that had other identities (the big lizard). As well as the is usually hero costume would be brighter and lighter than the villains whose would usually be black.
Action-thriller is another sub genre of action. This types films are usually darker than the normal action films. There will probably be a lot more use of blood and more dangerous weapons.
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Genre Research
In Todarov's Narrative Theory, the usually equilibrium of Action films is the hero doing something every day like going to the shop or hanging around with friends and family. The disruption would be them finding the antagonist's and the hero finding out that he is a good fighter. The recognition of disruption is when the hero plans to defeat the antagonists and he also plans to do something good, which usually is to try and get the girl. The attempt to repair disruption is where we see the fight scene between the antagonist and protagonist. This can usually be very dramatic, but the protagonist usually wins. The return to the equilibrium is where the hero usually gets his happy ending and gets the girl.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
I emailed the company 'Moving Picture Company'. I got the email from a person I know who works there and they were more than willing to help me and my group.
This is the email that I sent;
This is the email that I sent;
I have covered the email addressees as the person I talked to asked me politely not to give them out so I doing just what they said.
The response to this email is
Ideas
We have know decide to do a action film with thriller elements. We are still not sure on whether are we are wanting to do a dream state or not but we have completely decided that we are doing a fight scene. We are leaning towards having the fight scene in a dining room and being able to get a hold of props that could cause damage to humans if the props where real. Our idea is that we have two sisters or best friends are having a meal with their friend, and they do something as a code to kill (nod, touch a glass) and that'll start the fight scene. We have decide that the we see the protagonist and the antagonist in the opening scene. The main people in this film are going to be two girls and one male based around a dining room. And then the fight scene will occur.
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Influential Figures.
I have many influential figures, but not many from the genre that we are picking which is thriller and action. Although i have researched many actors that have been in thrillers and action films, as well as directors, institutions and producers.
Actors:
Liam Nelson - This actor has been in the many action films, the Taken series is one of the films he is well known for. He has been around for a while so has been in many films ranging from comedy to action. He is well known to the young generation as of Taken and Ted 2. He has a 2 children, a daughter and a son, and unfortunately his spouse in 2009, and yet he still manages to have a brilliant acting career. This one of the reasons that Liam Nelson is a influential figure. He has also been in the rom-com which gives him a range acting techniques and a range of experience for the films he stars in. We feel that Liam Nelson is influential to our genre as he has been in a lot of intense scenes in the film he has done. As we want a intense film we have him to look at on how to get the actors to react.
This is taken from taken 2, one of the most well known films he has been in. This photo shows that he is not using a gun which is good for us, as we are unable to use guns. His facials also gives us influence on how to get the actors to do a smiler face.
Tom Cruise - This actor again has been part of many action films. He is one of the most famous and well-known actors to this day. He has been married 3 times and has 3 children ranging these marriages. At the age of 53 he has been in over 50 films. One of his most famous franchise was the mission impossible. This is one of the many action films that he has been in. He like Liam Nelson are mostly known for there action films rather than the other genres that they have stared in. Tom cruise usually plays the laid back but intelligent character but also the hero in the film. In the romantic films that he has played in he is the leading man in them. We type cast Tom Cruise with action films. We think that he is influential as he does a lot of his own stunts.
This is from the film knight and day, this film shows off his fighting techniques and his techniques with gun. Although we are only focused with the his fighting techniques, and his usual cool statue when put in to the fight scene. We want the protagonist to look like this when
they are put in the fight scene.
Christopher Walken - He is a well known actor who can play many characters and can do them well. He has been in genres ranging from romance, to comedy, to thriller/horror. Some of the films he has been part off are Pulp fiction, Hairspray, the deer hunter and seven psychopaths. these are only some of the films that Walken has been in. Christopher Walken is influential to us as he can show a wide range of styles of horror (psychological horror). We see how he re-acts to the surprising things that has happened through films.
Directors:
Tony Scott - Tony Scott is a well known British director who is the director of top gun. Unfortunately Scott died in 2012 after directing and producing many films and TV series. Scott would usually cast Denzel Washington and Christopher Walker. He also like to use dogs in some of his films such as such as, enemy of the state, man on fire. Tony Scott is the younger brother of Ridley Scott who is also a well known director. His directors trademark is a camera pan across a large towers or sites. He likes to use sunlight flashing at the characters to make the picture more effective. He is influential to me as he has a great technique of making action films. We like the use of camera shots he used through
Paul Greengrass - he is a director and a writer, and is well known for the Bourne Ultimatum, captain Phillips, the Bourne supremacy, and united 93. These are all action films. Greengrass is a British director and he started his love with the camera in secondary school with a simple camera where he made short animation films of horror with old dolls, dummies and things around the house. He likes to use a held hand camera as he feels that it creates a sense of realism. He also likes to tell the stories from real life experiences or stories. Again we like the shots through the fight scenes, and the plots of
the film he has directed.
James Cameron - Cameron has won three Oscars for the work he has done, he has also had 11 academy awards from just 'Titanic'. He is mostly known from directing Avatar, Aliens, Titanic, and terminator 2. He has his own production company ' Lightstorm Entertainment' in 1990. He is one of the most sought after directors in Hollywood. Cameron has a lot of trademarks in his films some of those are;
Alfred Hitchcock - Hitchcock was known for making psychological thrillers/horror films. He is mostly known for these four films; psycho, vertigo, rear window, north by Northwest, although he has directed many more films. He has been nominated for around 32 awards and has won 25 awards. He was English but had moved to America where he died in 1980. he had many trade marks some being that; he liked to have close ups of women's hairstyles; he liked the theme of mistaken identity or the wrong man theme or even assumed identity in his movies; when he wanted to create suspense in his films he would alternate between different shots to extend cinematic time,and when doing car chase scenes he would alternate between shots from the drivers point of view and close up shots of those inside the car from different directions ( this would keep the viewers in the car so if any danger was encountered it would be more richly felt); he would create shadows on walls to create tension and suspense; he liked to shot films in a study so he could have full control of lighting and other effectors that could effect the shoot if they were out on location. I like the idea of psychological thrillers as it makes us think about what it is happening on screen and it will leave us thinking about it for a while once the film has finished. I find him influential as he can mess with people's mind which is part of what we want to do.
Actors:
Liam Nelson - This actor has been in the many action films, the Taken series is one of the films he is well known for. He has been around for a while so has been in many films ranging from comedy to action. He is well known to the young generation as of Taken and Ted 2. He has a 2 children, a daughter and a son, and unfortunately his spouse in 2009, and yet he still manages to have a brilliant acting career. This one of the reasons that Liam Nelson is a influential figure. He has also been in the rom-com which gives him a range acting techniques and a range of experience for the films he stars in. We feel that Liam Nelson is influential to our genre as he has been in a lot of intense scenes in the film he has done. As we want a intense film we have him to look at on how to get the actors to react.
This is taken from taken 2, one of the most well known films he has been in. This photo shows that he is not using a gun which is good for us, as we are unable to use guns. His facials also gives us influence on how to get the actors to do a smiler face.
Tom Cruise - This actor again has been part of many action films. He is one of the most famous and well-known actors to this day. He has been married 3 times and has 3 children ranging these marriages. At the age of 53 he has been in over 50 films. One of his most famous franchise was the mission impossible. This is one of the many action films that he has been in. He like Liam Nelson are mostly known for there action films rather than the other genres that they have stared in. Tom cruise usually plays the laid back but intelligent character but also the hero in the film. In the romantic films that he has played in he is the leading man in them. We type cast Tom Cruise with action films. We think that he is influential as he does a lot of his own stunts.
This is from the film knight and day, this film shows off his fighting techniques and his techniques with gun. Although we are only focused with the his fighting techniques, and his usual cool statue when put in to the fight scene. We want the protagonist to look like this when
they are put in the fight scene.
Christopher Walken - He is a well known actor who can play many characters and can do them well. He has been in genres ranging from romance, to comedy, to thriller/horror. Some of the films he has been part off are Pulp fiction, Hairspray, the deer hunter and seven psychopaths. these are only some of the films that Walken has been in. Christopher Walken is influential to us as he can show a wide range of styles of horror (psychological horror). We see how he re-acts to the surprising things that has happened through films.
Directors:

the fight scenes through out his films.


- he likes to have strong female characters,
- likes close ups of feet or wheels usually when crushing things,
- bringing the camera close in when there are fight scenes to give a claustrophobic effect,
- he likes using slow motion in intense film or to intensify scenes,
- he likes to include humanities ignorance and over-use and over-reliance of technology.
Cameron has introduced a new generation of stereo imaging camera called the 'fusion camera'.
He is mostly known for the action adventure fantasy films. I like how he uses worlds that are't with human existence.

Companies;
Companies don't really specialise in doing genres, the genres usually define with the directors, so if the company enjoy the work of a director they may want to publish there work...
Moving Picture Company: it is one of my influential figures as the company is British, and that they have helped publish a lot of well known films, although not all of them are action or thriller, the genres that they do range dramatically. This company has a lot of sections and they all range differently, They also do advertising.This company specialises in special effects. Some of the films they have done special effects on are; The Hunger Games, Fast and furious, The Amazing Spider-man, Harry Potter.
They also do production company which have produced Pan, Harry Potter, Fantastic Four, Pirates of the Caribbean. These are only some of the well known films that they have produced.
They have advertised many things including plane companies, alcohol, shops (John Lewis), cars and games and many more companies.
Paramount pictures - This film company has helped distribute many famous films.The films that they are produced are Hollywood film, they are very well known from all around the world. They have done a lot of action films and thriller films, such as, Paranormal activity and mission impossible, pain and gain, and top gun.
Universal - Again, this is a well known company. The logo of this a picture of the world, this is highly recognised by people around the world. There is a special theme park dedicated to some of the well known films they have helped produce for example, Shrek. Again this company does not specialise in genres. Some of the well known films they are known for are, 50 shades of grey, ride along. This company has offices across the world e.g. London, Los Angeles and almost anywhere internationally.Monday, 2 November 2015
Logo
We decided that this was a good idea for a logo for our production. Although, this is just a idea, we may change this.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
How to do a fight scene
One of the things that we are defiantly going to have in our scene is a fight scene.
Fight scenes are usually don't encounter physical harm to the people doing the scene. The camera shots and actions of the actors help with the realistic look of the fight. The people aim for the place they want to hit but miss it. Using fake blood is a good way to make the fight look realistic. This show how hard the punch is meant to be and how big the fight is. This is the visual image of the pain and injuries rather than just facials and body language. An example is if someone one punches a person n the face putting fake blood round their lips and/or get them to spit it out. Fake blood isn't the only prop that we will use, we will have to use eyeshadow, which will show the bruising and will also show the force of fights. These won't only be used on faces, it will be used for the knuckles and hands of those in the fight.
We may use slow motion shots to show the strength of the person behind it, and the weakness of the person receiving the punch. Having some slow motion shots it shows our ablity with the camera and editing.
We will also use other props in the scene. For example we may use plates. The plates would be thrown and broken. This will take time and a lot of takes as we want a specific speed and direction the plate would go. This means that we need to invest in quite a few plates that we are able to break.
We may also need knives. They need to be sharp and look realistic and look like we are using them in a violent manner, but we won't actually harm those in the scene. The camera shots and use of fake blood and voices will make this look realistic.

I feel that these are good props for the scene that we're doing. As the scene is set in a dining room and they're able to get hold of these props very easily.
There are some videos we watched on Youtube that has helped us with ideas about the fight actions that might help us when we film it. They also help with the camera shots and actions to do with the camera and how to do the make up to make the scene look real. These where the videos that stood out to us..
I found this clip very good at helping me understand the way to do a fight scene without hurting the person who is in the fight scene with you and how to position and hold the camera when they fight to show what type of fight scene we want like the heroic one or the realistic more brutal fight scene. This shows how important the body stances and performance are to make the fight look realistic, and affect the viewers and help the scene provide tension. Although the techniques in this video are quite simple and basic they are very effective.
This clip shows even more camera shots and how to hold the camera. This shows that it will take time to film as we need to find the correct shots that show the better punches. This clip shows that the use of blood is good for fight scenes. The clip shows that the victim when on the floor, the camera shots are usually pointed down, this could show how weak they are at that moment in time. The camera shots in this clip will make the fight scene look realistic and increase the energy of the fight.
The facials and movements through the fight scene are very important. They could make our break the clip. If the reaction of the punch or kick is a second too slow it could wreck the whole scene, as well as them reacting to quick to the punch. You facial reaction and body reaction is immensely important thing to focus on during the fight scene. This will show the realisation of the fight. I found that one of the best camera shots of a fight scene is the over the shoulder shot, this will make the people fighting look closer together.
Using a hand help camera through the fight scenes give the fight a realistic look as it is not clean cut. You should never voluntary shake a camera on purpose, but there will be slight shakes as it is a hand held camera, which could wreck the footage.
Editing skills I have found is that if we shoot a fight scene from two angels we will be to choose which one the fight will look better from. As we don't actually hit the person we are fighting we may need to find a angle that makes the fight scene look real.
Fight scenes are usually don't encounter physical harm to the people doing the scene. The camera shots and actions of the actors help with the realistic look of the fight. The people aim for the place they want to hit but miss it. Using fake blood is a good way to make the fight look realistic. This show how hard the punch is meant to be and how big the fight is. This is the visual image of the pain and injuries rather than just facials and body language. An example is if someone one punches a person n the face putting fake blood round their lips and/or get them to spit it out. Fake blood isn't the only prop that we will use, we will have to use eyeshadow, which will show the bruising and will also show the force of fights. These won't only be used on faces, it will be used for the knuckles and hands of those in the fight.
We may use slow motion shots to show the strength of the person behind it, and the weakness of the person receiving the punch. Having some slow motion shots it shows our ablity with the camera and editing.
We will also use other props in the scene. For example we may use plates. The plates would be thrown and broken. This will take time and a lot of takes as we want a specific speed and direction the plate would go. This means that we need to invest in quite a few plates that we are able to break.
We may also need knives. They need to be sharp and look realistic and look like we are using them in a violent manner, but we won't actually harm those in the scene. The camera shots and use of fake blood and voices will make this look realistic.
I feel that these are good props for the scene that we're doing. As the scene is set in a dining room and they're able to get hold of these props very easily.
There are some videos we watched on Youtube that has helped us with ideas about the fight actions that might help us when we film it. They also help with the camera shots and actions to do with the camera and how to do the make up to make the scene look real. These where the videos that stood out to us..
The facials and movements through the fight scene are very important. They could make our break the clip. If the reaction of the punch or kick is a second too slow it could wreck the whole scene, as well as them reacting to quick to the punch. You facial reaction and body reaction is immensely important thing to focus on during the fight scene. This will show the realisation of the fight. I found that one of the best camera shots of a fight scene is the over the shoulder shot, this will make the people fighting look closer together.
Using a hand help camera through the fight scenes give the fight a realistic look as it is not clean cut. You should never voluntary shake a camera on purpose, but there will be slight shakes as it is a hand held camera, which could wreck the footage.
Editing skills I have found is that if we shoot a fight scene from two angels we will be to choose which one the fight will look better from. As we don't actually hit the person we are fighting we may need to find a angle that makes the fight scene look real.
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