Title Research.

Art of the Title is a site that our media teacher introduced us to, and in terms of research and ideas, this came in very useful.
It gives a variety of different opening sequences (of all genres) and brief expansion on how and why the credits/title/logo and so on, we're used and how they were affective/not.

Typography.

example of San-serif font; Arial, Verdana, Tahoma.
example of Serif font; Times New Roman, Garamound, Century Schoolbook.

Opening Sequence Storyboards (rough)

Our Opening Sequence Re-write.

The screan shows 'new message'.
Lucy walks in from other room, can only see her feet.
She clicks 'open' and zooms in on her horoscope.
Blurs out the rest of the writing except 'you'll meet you prince charming today'
shows the back of the screen, and then her face comes up, smiling.
*music plays*
split screen.
Homeless man is shown on the right-hand side.
She begins getting ready, as he just sits there watching people go past.
HER; 1. dances out of the room.
         2. throws clothes/shoever the bed.
         3. does her make-up in the mirror.
         4. sings in the mirror with hair brush.
HIM; 1. watches people go past.
         2. mimes thanking a stranger for change.
         3. wrapps his sleeping back around him more.
         4. behind his head watching people.
she walks out the house, music died down - screen on left-hand side largens to fit whole screen.

Her feet walking down the street, tilts up at her whole body.
side of the homeless man looking in front, looking to the camera - double-take.
She looks up from her phone and spots him.
shot reverse shot of their eyes.
he looks down, she looks away.
behind his head - her walking past.
him looking at her and then down.
her walking down the street, mugger seen behind walking after her.
tilits toward him counting to three and then grabbing her bag.
close-up of the bag being pulled.
his panicked face as she doesnt let go.
girls face tugging at the bag.
the homeless man looks up at them and runs toward them.
just as the woman lets go, the homeless man grabs it.
the mugger looks at them both and lets go.
giving a yelp, he runs off almost tripping over.
homelessman hands the woman her handbag, tilts up at her.
she smiles.
he smiles back.
she thanks him and offers him money for his help but he refuses.
he walks back to his spot and sits down.
she starts walking aswell, pausing to look at him aagain -and then walks away.
A card drops from her bag onto the floor but she doesnt notice it.
the homeless man does and gets up to retrieve it.
he calls out to the woman but by the she was already gone.
the card is her oyster card, with her name and picture.
zooms in to the 'if missing please return to ____'.
he smiles.

Encouraging Focus Group (letter, brief explanatory).

To whom this letter was given to,
                                      We are writing to invite you to attend our focus group that will be held in ME2 at 9:50am on Monday. You dont need to bring anything but your advice and personal opinion to help us establish the target audience for our media production.
During the focus group, you will encounter a series of simple questions regarding our media project.
This focus group should take no longer than 20 - 30 minutes.

We hope to see you there, thankyou for your time !

Group 1.

'Lost and Found' ; Our Opening Sequence.

LOST AND FOUND.

SETTING; big city, busy streets, large buildings etc.
TIME; daytime, morning, bright and sunny.
CHARACTER(S); successful business woman on her way to work, and homeless man on the floor outside a building watching everyone go past.
DIALOGUE; none.
BACKING TRACK/MUSIC; cheerful music, comical, positive.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
__  = ANGLE OR SHOT.         ___ = SOUND OR DIALOGUE.         = CAMERA MOVEMENT.

       = EDITING.

(SPLIT SCREEN - LEFT BUSINESS WOMAN, RIGHT HOMELESS MAN)(LEFT, LONG SHOT, FLAT ANGLE. RIGHT, MID SHOT, HIGH ANGLE)(LEFT, TRACK. RIGHT, ZOOMS IN ON HIM)(CHEERFUL/COMICAL MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND)Woman is getting dressed and ready for work, while the man is sitting on the floor with his sleeping bag and backpack are behind him. The woman leaves her house and starts walking down the street with her purse over her shoulder. (LEFT SIDE IS LARGENED TO FIT THE WHOLE SCREEN - WOMANS SIDE)(LONG SHOT)(MUSIC DIES DOWN, ALL WE CAN HEAR IS HER HEELS ON THE PAVEMENT)(TRACK, TILT)
The woman walks along, and passes the homeless guy. (LONG SHOT, LOW ANGLE)The man looks up at her walking past and gives a brief smile, only to be ignored. (MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE)(STATIC)
Woman continues walking down the street (MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE)(TRACK)and suddenly a man from behind her, hooded and unrecognisable, seizes her hand bag from her shoulder.
The woman shrieks and grabs the other strap of her bag desperately. (CLOSE UP, HIGH ANGLE)(STEADY CAM)(FAST PACED MUSIC IMPLYING DANGER)
(BIRDS EYE VIEW)(ZOOMS IN ON ACTION, PANS ROUND TO SEE BOTH PEOPLE TUGGING AT HER BAG FRANTICALLY)(FAST PACED MUSIC STILL PLAYING)The woman screams at the top of her lungs, and yet no-one stops to help her, the walk on. (LONG SHOT OF EVERYONE WALKING PAST, FLAT ANGLE)(STATIC)
The homeless man looks up and spot the woman in danger (MID SHOT, HIGH ANGLE)(ZOOMS IN ON HIS FACE)he jumps up and runs to he rescue. (LONG SHOT, LOW ANGLE)(STEADY CAM)(HEROIC MUSIC GRADUALLY BUILDS UP)
The man snatches the purse from the mans hands, just as the woman lets go of it (MID SHOT, HIGH ANGLE)(ZOOMS IN ON PURSE, AND PANS ROUND TO CAPTURE THE WOMANS SUPRISED REACTION)(HEROIC MUSIC PLAYING)automatically, the thug runs away and disappears in the sea of people. (LONG SHOT, LOW ANGLE)(STATIC)
The homeless man, breathless, hands the woman her purse, (CLOSE UP OF THE PURSE, FLAT ANGLE)(TILTS UP AT THEIR FACES LOOKING AT EACHOTHER, AND ZOOMS OUT SO THAT YOU CAN FULLY SEE THEM)(HEROIC MUSIC TONES DOWN TO NOTHING SLOWLY)
The woman takes her purse back gratefully and thanks him humbly, (MID SHOT OF WOMAN, SLIGHTLY HIGH ANGLE - POINT OF VIEW SHOT FOR THE HOMELESS MAN)(STATIC)and smiles. (ZOOM IN ON HER SMILE)
The homeless man smiles back and says that it wasn't a problem at all, and starts to walk away. (MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE)(STATIC)
The woman frowns slightly at him walking away. (CLOSE UP, FLAT ANGLE)(STATIC)
The woman looks up at the street of people, about to walk away - and then stops, deep in thought. (LONG SHOT, FLAT ANGLE)(BACKWARD CREEP/ZOOMS OUT TO SHOW PEOPLE WALKING PAST)She looks back in the direction of the homeless man again and walks up to him.(LONG SHOT, LOW ANGLE)(PAN, ZOOMS OUT)
She smiles lightly and sighs, lowering herself to his ground-level to speak face to face again. (SIDE VIEW, LONG SHOT, FLAT ANGLE)(ZOOMS IN ON THEM)
The homeless man is lightly suprised she came back. (CLOSE UP OF HIS FACE, HIGH ANGLE)(TILTS DOWN AT HIM, LIKE POINT OF VIEW OF THE WOMAN CROUCHING DOWN)
The woman explains that she in partnership with a banking business on the highstreet and that she's looking for an work assistant to help her, (MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE) she adds that she knows his situation at the moment isnt ideal - but its the least she could do to repay him.
(CLOSE UP OF HER HANDING THE CARD OVER, POINT OF VIEW, HIGH ANGLE)(STATIC)She hands him her business card.
(MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE, POINT OF VIEW OF MAN)(ZOOMS IN ON HER FACE)She starts to tell him to ring the number, but then she looks down at his bags on the floor and realised he doesnt own one. (MID SHOT, HIGH ANGLE)(PANS ROUND TO SEE HIS BAGS, ZOOMS IN, AND THEN BACK AT THE WOMAN, STATIC)She carries on and says how he should pop in, and ask for Eleanor Green.
(CLOSE-UP OF THE AMNS FACE, FLAT ANGLE)The man frowns at the card (ZOOMS IN AT THE CARD IN HER HAND)(PANS ROUND)(MID SHOT, FLAT ANGLE OF MAN)(ZOOMS IN)and shakes his head.
(TILTS DOWN AT HIS CLOTHING)He looks down at his shabby clothing,(MID SHOT, SLIGHTLY HIGH ANGLE)(ZOOMS OUT) thanks her for the oppertunity, but refuses it. (BACKWARD CREEP UNTIL YOU SEE THE SIDE OF THE WOMANS FACE)
(MID SHIT, FLAT ANGLE)(STATIC)The woman smiles slightly, reassuring him that she'll fix him a suit and a temporary apartment to live in, just to get him going.
(LONG SHOT, LOW ANGLE LOOKING AT THE BOTH OF THEM LOOKING AT EACHOTHER)(STATIC)They both look at eachother.
(CLOSE-UP OF HER FACE, FLAT ANGLE)She smiles again, stating that she wont take no for an answer.

THE END.

Focus Group Questions.

1. What is your age?
2. What is your favourite genre?
3. Give an example of this genre.
4. Why do you enjoy this genre most?
5. In terms of a rom-com, what do you expect to see?

- brief explanation of our idea -

6. What do you like about our idea?
7. What could we alter/improve about our idea?
8. Do you like the idea of two people who contrast/two extremes being together?
9. Would you rather a happy ending, or a realisic ending?
10. What do you look for in an opening sequence of a film, to keep you interested?
11. Would you watch our opening sequence?
12. Any further questions/comments?

Rom-Com Research.

Pretty Woman (1990).

 

Pretty Woman is exactly like our idea, but with opposing features.
For example, our idea of a homeless man, meeting a successful business woman is contrasted by Pretty Woman's feature of the woman being poor (and resorting to prostitution) and the man holds a successful and highly respectable role in his business. So the character roles are switched, but are similar in circumstances.
Pretty Woman (1990) is a well-known blend of romance and comedy, captured by Julia Roberts (Vivian Ward) and Richard Gere (Edward Lewis) who play the two leading roles.

Plot

Successful businessman, Edward Lewis searches for an escort to accompany him throughout his business trip (as men of his class are not reguarly seen unaccompanied by a woman) - and in the midst of his search, he comes across a witty yet self reserved prostitute, Vivian Ward. Edward offers her a staggering amount of money for her company during the week, and Vivian accepts. As Vivian slowly learns the ways of being rich and resembling a 'respectable' woman, she still witholds her unique humour, and her objective to never fall in love. Despite this, as the week draws to an end, the two compress love for one and another and finally tell eachother. Edward offers Vivian an apartment in the city where he would visit reguarly - but Vivian refuses, because she wants 'the fairtale' she's always wanted, and at the end of the week - she leaves. Edward performs 'the fairytale' the day after, as he delays his plane and seeks to rescue Vivian from her regular life.

Simularities with our idea..
1. The two characters appose, therefore adding to the unlikelyhood that they'd ever be together.
2. (Like every plot; however maybe not in the same order) Long-term problem, small problem develop, small problem solved, long-term problem resolved.
3. Both resistant to their feelings (dont want to be vulnerable) - personal status may be in partnership with this.
4. Happy ending.
5. Light, funny kicks to release tension.
6. Realistic background (judgement of prostitution/expectations of successful men).
7. Appreciation of what they have, and acceptance of what they dont - long-term understanding.
8. Stereotypes portrayed excellently in that they all reflect the harshness of reality (prostitution frowned upon and often result in de-grading. All men care about is money and their image. Women should reflect/represent the men by being respectful.) And yet all of these stereotypes are broken by the end, to show that anyone can refuse stereotypical behaviour.
9. Beginning; looking for something/missing something. End; found/replaced by something.
10. Transformation in image, confidence, status, situation etc.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).



 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding starrs Nia Vardalos (Toula Portokalos) and John Corbett (Ian Miller) who fall in love under unlikely circumstances.

Plot
30 year old Toula Portokalos lives at home with her large Greek family, who are loud, bold and strong on their religion and influence of others. All the while, un-married, un-desirable and shows no confidence in herself, Toula feels like she's aged before her time.
Ian Miller however, is confident, desirable and although constantly dating women with the potebtial for marriage, he feels unfulfilled.
The two meet unexpectedly in Toula's family resturant 'Dancing Zorbas' as Toula goes to serve the customers and take their order, she finds herself gawping Ian. It's a classic 'love at first sight' moment, as Ian spots her staring and is quite taken back by the stranger. Toula babbles on in her desperate attempt to make a good first impression, but only makes a fool of herself as she sinks back into herelf despair.
Toula decides to d something with her life, and after family debating and objection to such a thing, she attends a University nearby to learn about computers for their business. Throughout this, she builds confidence and grows comfortable with who she is, and finds herself happy. Taoula and Ian meet again, and not recognising who she is (because of the transformation) and asks her out to dinner, and it is there that she reveals her true identity of the nerdy waitress - however Ian doesnt care.
Their relationship develops, and the two find themselves falling in love - but with a price. Their contrasting families know nothing of their relationship, and eventually Toula's loud religious family welcome Ian's small, quiet athiest family into theirs. As Ian is baptised, the wedding plans are set in concrete and they are married. They live happily ever after and teach their children to do whatever they want with their future, instead of conforming to what they are told to believe in.

Simularities with our idea...
1. Transformation in both personal identity, image, confidence, status, situation etc.
2. Contrasting people beating the unlikelyhood that they'll never be together.
3. 'Love at first sight' represented.
4. Judgement on image, values, religion and status.
5. Happy Ending.
6. Overcoming problems, regaining what they lost/missed.
7. Conquering the odds and showing that when in love, situations do not matter.
8. Representing how people (in this case, religious families) are extremely influencial on their culture and insist on everything remaining traditional.
9. Showing progress and valuing what they have, instead of what they dont (appreciation).
10. Acceptance of who people are.
11. Encouraging equality and personal growth.

Maid In Manhattan (2002)

 

Maid In Manhattan starrs Jennifer Lopez (Marisa Ventura) and Ralph Fiennes (Christopher Marshall) in a fun-packed romantic comedy, tugs on heart strings, aswell as funny bones.

Plot.
Marisa Ventura is a single mother, working as a maid in a first-class hotel - a twist of fate, and mistaken identity bring her face to face with successful businessman and soon-to-be billionnaire Christopher Marshall, who automatically assumes she is a guest at the hotel. When her true identity is revealed, they discover that they are worlds apart, not only in the financial world - but in opinion and belief. However, these set-backs are no match for the undying love that they both feel for one and another. As they both jeapodise their jobs and their background, they conquer their differences in order to be together. And Marisa finds herself living the 'fairytale' lifestyle that she's seen many women come and go with, while still holding her bonds with her own background.

Similarities to our idea..
1. Happy ending.
2. Distance between two people, financially, ethically etc.
3. Visual metaphor's - hotel a metaphor for the foundation of life/love, different levels/rooms all costing different amounts.
4. Two contrasting characters battling the force seperating them.
5. Change/progress of someone's life/situation.
6. Seeing different perspectives of life, and understanding them.
7. Stereotypes portrayed.
8. Money, in competition with love, is nothing.

Feedback from research..
After researching these differenr Rom-Coms, I've identified the simularities between their idea and our's. I also noticed that many of the similarities are the same, which is perhaps the reason why these productions were so successful. Therefore, throughout the further stages of this project - I intend to refer back to these as a guideline/header to what we should achieve/include also.

Questionnaire Feedback.

After viewing our questionnaire, as a group, we sat down and discussed exactly what we would do to follow what the audience wanted.
This included the fact that many of the audience members who enjoyed Rom-Coms and visited cinema regularly were female. However, we didn't let this information limit our audience gender; as we intended to influence mainly females, and partly males. Therefore, more feminine features, such as feminine-styled scenes would appeal to them; such as more feminine songs/feminine ideas. We decided that we would include pop music whenever we could, to get a positive/negative/comical mood (depending on what has happened in the sequence) and also to interest the audience, as 14 out of the 15 that liked our genre, also liked pop music.

In terms of advertising - according to the result of the questionnaire; people found billboards, TV advertisements and cinema trailers most affective. This was useful information, and will, no doubt be helpful in the future - but for now, because we don't have that power/authority to advertise to that standard/size - simple posters/trailers and reviews will be our advertising techniques.

Questionnaire Results.

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS.

Gender	Age	Visit to the cinema	Ethnicity	Most liked genre	Why they like this genre	Best music genre	Advertisement	Occupation
Female	15	Regularly	Black British	Bridget Jones diary/rom com	Because its really funny	Pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Female	15	Regularly	White	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	It was really entertaining	Pop	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards	School
Female	15	Often	White British	Cat woman/action	It made me feel like I was cat woman	Rnb	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Male	15	Regularly	White british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	It was hilarious	Pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Male	15	Regularly	Black british	Mission impossible/ action	Really suprising	Grime	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards	School
Female	16	Often	White british	Big momma house/ comedy	It is just so funny	Pop	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School
Female	16	Regularly	Black british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	They are funny	Pop	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School
Female	16	Sometimes	Black british	Big momma house/ comedy	They are really funny	Jazz/classical	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School
Male	16	Regularly	White british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	They just make me laugh so much	Pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School/work
Male	16	Often	White british	Mission impossible/ action	They are really entertaining	Rnb	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Female	17	Regularly	White british	Big momma house/ comedy	So funny	Pop	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School
Female	17	Regularly	Black british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	Really funny	Pop	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School/work
Male	17	Regularly	White british	Mission impossible/ action	They have a lot of actions	Rnb	Cinema adverts/billboards/ transport billboards/ tv adverts	School work
Male	17	Often	Black british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	They are unrealistic	Pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School/work
Male	17	Regularly	White british	Harry brown/thriller	Thrilling	Grime	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Male	17	Often	Black british	Big momma house/ comedy	Funny	Rnb	Billboards/ TV adverts	School/work
Female	18	Often	White british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	Its really entertaining	pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School/work
Female	18	Regularly	Black british	Bridget Jones diary /rom com	Its so funny	Pop	Billboards/ TV adverts	School
Female	18	Often	White	Big momma house/ rom com	Its just something that lets you forget bout serious things	Pop	transport billboards/ tv adverts	School/ work
female	18	Regularly	Black british	Mission impossible/ action	See as potential role model	Grime	Internet teasers/billboards	School
female	18	Regularly	White british	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	Its really funny	Pop	Newspaper television/ advertisement	School
female	18	Regularly	Other	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	Its really entertaining	Indie	Television advertisement/ billboards/ transport adverts	School
male	18	Often	White british	Me myself and irene/comedy	Its so funny	Pop	Television advertisement/transport advert	School
Male	18	Regularly	Black british	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	Its really entertaining and funny	Pop	television advertisement/ billboards/ transport adverts	School
Male	18	Regularly	White british	Me myself and irene/comedy	I like to laugh	Pop	Cinema adverts/television advert/	School/work
Male	18	often	White british	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	This movie has a lot of funny elements	Rnb	television advertisement/ billboards/ transport adverts	School
Female	19	Often	Black	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	Its funny	Pop	Cinema advert	School
Female	20	Often	White british	The 40 year old virgin/ rom com	They are really funny	Pop	television advertisement/ billboards/ transport adverts	school/work
Female	20	Regularly	Black british	Mission impossible/ action	Really intense	Rnb	Television adverts/ cinema advets	Work

Our questionnaire proved highly useful in that we've learnt a lot about our audience.

We've found out that;
. 19 people of the 29 (15 - 20year olds) go to cinema regularly.
. Of the 19 people that go to cinema regularly, 14 of them are female.
. 15 out of 29 people would enjoy watching our Rom-Com sequence.
. People mostly enjoy Rom-Coms because they're a great blend of two genres, it makes them laugh, it makes them feel good about themselves and it's enjoyable to watch.
. 14 of the 15 people that enjoy Rom-Com, also enjoyed pop music.
. The most useful advertisement strategies were TV adverts, cinema trailers and billboards.

Online Questionnaire link.

Click here to take survey