Treatment

Title

The title that we have chosen is 'Half Empty'. This is because it has a double meaning in the sense that it connotes that this is a pessimistic film taken from the saying 'is the glass half empty or half full', which means it sets up tension and seriousness. As well as this it connotes that it is about alcohol but this is a less obvious connotation but it still however sets up an enigma. We believe that it is conventional for a BSR genre mainly because it sets up quite a depressing feel to the film due to the negativity in the title. When we spoke to our target audience they came to a unanimous decision that this is a title that would persuade them to go watch the film as they would like to find out what its about. It something like a riddle. From this we gained that it would appeal to our target audience as it creates enigma and mystery which our target audience will appreciate.

Target Audience

Our target audience is males and females but predominantly males age 16-24, who are interested in partying and enjoy socialising. It will be aimed at a fairly educated working class audience so they'll be able to grasp the seriousness of the theme. Our themes of alcohol and dysfunctional families will appeal to this audience as they are major issues in todays society. The narrative and language that will be used will feature urban language used by youths today, this could also be said to be our USP. The representation characters in the film will mirror the common stereotypes of youths in todays society. E.g. 'chavs' and how they dress. It will appeal to young males via the uses and gratifications theory; personal identity as they may see themselves in the main character .The type of research we employed was a focus group where we discussed with our target audience the types of things they'd like to see and why and how they feel about a BSR film on the negatives of alcohol. Here is some research that I found on binge drinking.

Technology

We plan on using a HD camera due to the high quality and sharpness which the camera entails, this is because it captures details of the characters and location which is critical in BSR films as it adds an artistic dimension to it. For sound we are going to use Logic Pro 8 to compose a soundtrack so that we can create the appropriate atmosphere that will compliment the seriousness and heighten the verisimilitude. For editing we will use Final Cut Pro to make sure that we can edit the film in a way that will capture the audience and again create an appropriate atmosphere and heighten the verisimilitude.



Representation

The leading protagonist in the film is a 20 year old male named Sam, who is slowly realising that he's turning to alcohol as a solution to all of his problems and becoming an alcoholic (played by Anand Pithia). Another key character will be Sams mother who is very worried about the welfare of her son.
We will show the typical stereotypes but we will also try to challenge them as we will be looking at them through different viewpoints. For example when he realises he is an alcoholic, typically in a BSR film he would give up with life maybe, but in this he tries to fight against it.

Narrative

A young man comes to terms with the fact that he is an alcoholic. He soon starts to feel economically depressed simply because he doesn't know where he'll get the money to feed his obsession.
We will show Sam and his friends using alcohol as a source of enjoyment, but then we will slowly see the depressing aspects in Sam life that will push him towards using alcohol as something other than enjoyment. We will show his dysfunctional family when he gets home and show that this is what pushes him towards alcoholism. After this we will show his personal economic crisis and how this has a negative effect on him. We decide to use a non linear narrative, mainly because we feel that it is important to show the audience the pinnacle of the film as this will engage them and want to find out how he got to that outcome.

Conventions
We will use minimal dialogue and use a smash mouth beginning and using this as a non linear beginning as Sam is at an alcohols anonymous meeting in the start which immediately shows a crisis. This will instantly capture the audience. It will subvert the conventions of a BSR in the sense that the ending will not be as depressing or be a cliff hanger as it will show the personal growth of Sam.

Style and Iconography

The camerawork we will use will include many long shots followed by close ups to show comparisons between the positivity in Sams friends and the negativity in Sam. We will also use a variety of shots such as tracks to make it look as if though we are following Sams life and looking into his mind. This will highlight personal identity for the audience.
We will use non continuity editing as we are using a smash mouth beginning. We may use a series of jump cuts to show that Sam may not always be thinking straight and to show how dynamic the life of a teenager is. The costumes we will use are typical urban clothing of today (e.g. Adidas Originals, Vans, Snapbacks) as our audience may wear the same clothes and feel involved in the film. The props will revolve around alcohol as this is the main issue, e.g. bottle openers, bottles of alcohol.
As we are using minimal dialogue there will not be a lot of diegetic sound. We will be using a soundtrack which will ultimately set the mood and ambience of a serious film about serious issues. The instruments that will be used will be played in minor chords as this emphasises the tension and maybe even the negativity in the film.

Institution

The main institution of our film is Film 4 as they are renowned and well known for making films with similar concept. Our original production company will be called 'Contrast' and will compliment the film is todays issues in urban England as the logo will connote this through the images used.
It will be distributed through Film 4, will be exhibited on all Channel 4 platforms to generate more viewers and our target audience may watch shows on these channels e.g. Skins. It will also be on the internet as todays youths use the internet a lot, therefore we will also create a website for the film so the audience can broaden their understanding of the films meaning. It will be available on DVD and the soundtrack will be available on leading digital media stores. E.g. like 'This is England' and 'Fish Tank'.

Meeting up with Bikram

Today I met up with up with my partner Bikram, and we discussed in more depth and detail our treatment. We talked about the ideas that we had in our head and thought about different narritives in which we could incorporate them into our opening sequence. We also talked about the overall look we want our film to have as we both were thinking to portray Britain in a raw and gritty style however we both differed in levels of grittiness. We also looked at the film My name Is joe, and generated some ideas from there as to how we could introduce our story and that is when we decided that we would use an AA meeting to introduce our protagonist. however we thought that we needed something else in order to be different and we couldn't really decide what would be the driving force for our protagonist and make him go to the AA meeting. We watched a clip from the peep show although it is a sit com we needed to see what an AA Meeting consists of and the kind of props and lighting systems we coulde use. By thinking about this we were able to think and work out a possible location were we could film this scence. Also we found that the life experiences and their personal reasons as to why they drink are a good way of introducing the themes in a film. Overall we talked and generated a lot of idea between us and I am more confident that we have a secure, realistic and unique idea.

Target Audience

For my Target audience research my partner and I conducted a focus group to see what teenagers would like to see in our film. We had a discussion based on four questions, which were based on the titles, what they thought on the themes of the film, who the protagonist should be and finally what other themes they thought would work well with alcohol.


What I found that was good was that my target audience had a lot to say on the topic and I was even given suggestions about possible scnes that Icould have within the film. Out of all the titles that I mentioned to them majority of them agreed that 'Half Empty' was the best one and thought that it added a 'suspicious atmosphere' to it and some thought that the other titles were too obvious were as 'Half Empty' would make them think as to what the film would be about.

When I asked my peers about how relevant they felt the issue was to modern day society. Raees explained how more and more younger people are drinking. I went onto the Drink aware website and found this statistic on Binge drinking which showed that it is most common among 16-24 year old and more common in men than women, it showed that 21% and 14% of women drink more than double thier daily guide lines,  so the fact that I am talking to people who this statistic revolves around means that I am really aiming for them.

Another point which was raised in the discussion was social influences that youngsters may recieve which included peer pressure and how they are forced to do things and how its not always their fault as they are doing it to be 'cool'. Another significant issue I beleive that my audience would like to see is were the alcohol problem begins from and one of the paraticipants talked about how and elder, more responsible person drinks and thats what makes it acceptable for them to drink. I believe that I need to include more experiences in the film and go into more depth as to why they cause and what causes them to behave in the way the character does.

They seemed to like the idea of using both genders in the film and showing the negative effects on alcohol on both sexes as they beleived that it would generate a wider audience and would avoid being sexist and biased towards females. They also thought that by using both genders they audience would be able to generalise how the opposite sex reacts with alcohol and how they could possibly accomodate this. It allows them to see both sides of the picture.

I beleive this piece of research has helped me significantly and shown me what I need to do in order to be successfull in creating my film. It has also given me a lot of inspiration and generated a lot of ideas in my mind that I could put towards my final piece. I believe that in this piece of work I have learnt the importance of analysing target audience as they know what they like and all that is required is you asking them.

Meeting Up With Bikram

I met up with my partner and we talked about our target audience and how we should face this, we had three options we could either do a questionnaire which I did not want to do and neither did Bikram mainly because it generates quantative data which we did not really want to obtain as we wanted to know what the audience thought of our idea. The other option was Vox Pops which would work however my partner and I want to discuss our idea with our peers in full breadth and depth so we decided the best way to do so would be doing a Focus Group. We were both happy with the outcome and felt that our audience were very helpful and provided us with a lot of vital information.

Reflective Analysis (3)

This week we looked at treatments and what we need to include in them, which was titles and how we need to consider how its anchors certain themes and content and whether it would appeal to our target audience. We also looked at our target audience and how we could appeal to certain genders, and age. In our brief our target audience is people between the ages of 18-24. We also looked at the technology we would use and how it is vital that we are innovative in our titles an example would be the American show Weeds, although this show is American and not BSR I find interesting how every single show the titles are different. If I can consider using this idea I must incorporate this into the BSR theme and ensure that it is relevant. I the must also consider the representations and whether they will be stereotypical or whether I will challenge them and create new ones. Personally I am thinking that I will use the typical stereotypes but at the same time I will challenge them and attempt to change them.

I have learnt a lot about the conventions in British institutions and how they introduce their films and example of this would be using a smash- mouth beginning  an example would be London to Brighton. Were we see what seems to be the female protagonist come bursting in and talking without any introduction, this immediately sets up an enigma as to why is she bruised and severely injured? When doing my titles I would like to use a simple technique when introducing my audience however I would also like to make sophisticated by thinking of placement, an example would be that my protagonist may be walking down an alley way and as he is walking away on the floor would be the production company as I think its conforming to the BSR themes but at the same time is different and shows to the audience that we have paid attention to the little details even if they do not acknowledge it.

Inspirational 25 Word Synopsis

Treatment:
Alcohol never brought out the best side out of Alan, years of devouring beer after beer is taking its toll. Has he hit rock bottom?   

Opening Sequence Conventions

Open publication - Free publishing - More conventions

Analysing Sound In A BSR Opening Sequence

The film I have selected to do 1 Day. I personally like this film mainly because of the fact it focuses on gangs in Britain gives this kind of film validity and emphasizes realism. It is set in Birmingham and is based the rivalry between two gangs, the OSC and Zampa Boys. The sounds used in the opening are mainly  diagetic to create a specific atmosphere. 


As soon as the production companies have been introduced we are immediately introduced to diagetic sounds of cars driving on the motorway which creates verisimilitude, it also poses the question as to what the film may be about ? and therefore is enigmatic. I believe the use of the cars driving on the motorway adds mundane realism and to some extent is not an extravagant introduction with a huge orchestra playing a symphony which is not a typical convention of BSR. The use of FX (lasers) in the introduction makes the film look like its going to be quite electrifying,exhilarating and maybe action packed. I believe that the use of that specific sound draws the attention of the viewer as they may be preparing themselves for the film and that sound would be very high pitched and alarming. 

I find this effective and unusual. What I have noticed about films with this level of violence is that the soundtracks and scores is that the songs are played in a minor which is used in music to create a very tensed, sad and aggressive atmosphere, the instruments being used in the introduction are all very high class and solid sounding instruments and create a gritty ambiance but it has an element of class and sophistication. When the drums are introduced there is an element of youth and urban culture. There is also a use of diagetic sound of the helicopter and gunshots which reinforce that BSR idea of violence and organised crime. I would consider using these ideas as they would be appropriate for my opening sequence, however I believe they are cliche's which have been used over and over again. I liked the idea of having the police communicating to one another as it reassures and confirms to the audience what the film will be about and therefore they know what to expect from it. 

Title analysis

The film I have chosen to analyse is one of my personal favorite films 'Requiem For A Dream'. In the opening sequence it begins at the home of an elderly woman who is watching a program and then it cut off as her son takes away the TV for reasons which are not mentioned.  she is  afraid of her son and is hiding away from him as he is taking away her TV set. There is a use of basic household props e.g. chairs, tables. It is set in Coney Island, New York. The film is based on narcotic addiction and plots the downfall of all the character who become and are addicted to drugs.

Artisan Entertainment is an American independent film studio until it was bought by a Canadian studio and is now part of Lionsgate. The studio has produced films such as Pi, Grizzly Falls, The Blair Witch Project and Novocaine.


                                                                                                  Thousand words is an independent finance company founded in 2000. They have financed many films such as  Waking Life, The Clearing and Right at Your Door. These companies have both been responsible for producing and financing very niche american films and are no longer independent companies and have been merged with other companies.            

I personally find the typography very interesting and enigmatic. The font creates an element of suspense and tension and the fact that there is a use of simple, basic colors which creates more questions as there is no clues being given away. The fact that there is a use of capital letters suggests that something big may happen.            

From this I have found that the most important roles are displayed at the beginning of the film and towards the end of the film the most important crew are displayed at the end of the film. I have found that the institutional company are shown first and after then the cast are introduced into the film, then the crew. This has also helped me decipher what roles are more important than others and which ones I need to include in my opening sequence.  

Themes And Ideology Work

1.Why is it important that British social realism films have a theme or ideology? 

 I believe that it is vital that BSR films have a theme or ideology as it enables the audience to sympathize with the characters and puts us in their situation. I also think that having a theme and ideology in a film especially BSR allows the producers and directors to explore our system be it political, economical or social and show us how having these systems in place can be positive or negative. It also gives them the opportunity to use freedom of speech through the characters and shows the flaws in the system or mock. Finally I believe that a theme and ideology is important as it gives the story line direction and gives the producers and directors the opportunity to create an in depth, detailed story line which BSR is all about.   

2. What is unique about the themes and ideologies in British social realism films?

Personally, what I find interesting about all BSR films is the fact that most of them all revolve around economic or social hardships and how they attempt to overcome and combat these but majority of the protagonists fail which is realistic unlike Hollywood films who sugarcoat these topics. What I also find unique about the themes and ideologies in BSR  is how they all have a realistic and accurate grasp of reality and how they portray a situation exactly how it would be in real life and there are no extra adornments or exaggerations, what you see is what you get.  

3. Is there a pattern in the themes and ideologies presented in British social realism films? 

I think that all BSR films do have a similar correlation in themes and ideologies but they are presented in a different manner and revolve around different situations, some situations are more serious and bigger than others which are very small and simple. I think that the way the themes or ideologies are presented in a different system, some decide to focus on the economic sytem whilst others may focus on the social or political system. 

The story I have selected is about a club owner who had to sell his one of the most popular clubs in Sunderland because it breached too many restrictions e.g. multiple incidents of violence and disorder. I believe that this story has that 'kitchen sink' element that all BSR films have, without any doubt, as if this were a film it would have a lot of gritty scenes and locations e.g. dark alley ways, fights and a lot of bloody violence. The fact that it would be set in Sunderland would be an advantage as we could explore regional identity and create or break down those typical stereotypes of people who live in Sunderland and night club character such as Bouncers, Clubbers and the Owner. If this story were transferred into a film another positive would be that because this is a genuine story and not an idea that has been fabricated  it adds realism and conforms to the conventions of BSR. I would think that some of the ideologies that would be behind the film would be Karma as the owner may have done something bad in his past and now to sell his club which is his 'prized city venue' would be karma restoring balance in the world. I also think that another ideology would be the idea that if you work hard, you will prosper and this could be shown as the club owner may have worked many years to acquire his own club and the fact he accomplishes this dream shows and reinforces this. 

Reflective Analysis (2)

In this weeks lessons we learned about what is actually featured in a BSR opening sequence. We looked at the different ways film companies engage the audience and inform them of the issues and themes that may be raised in the film and how this is signified by the sound, music, editing, camera language and Mise en scene. The example we looked at was London to Brighton. It was very interesting to see how the films tend to employ a smash mouth beginning to engage the audience or  use a non- linear opening to confuse the audience or show them the most exciting part of the film at the beginning. An example of this would be 'Set Up'. Films like London To Brighton are extremely raw and they do not spare the audience of any gritty details and expose everything. 
We also looked at the ideologies and themes raised in the opening sequence of BSR films. An example we looked at was 'This Is England'. We see various images all of which are significant events that occurred in the 1960's. Through this we are able to what the film will include and to some extent this foreshadows what may happen in the film.  It tells the kind of audience the films are targeted at and and the images are used to anchor specific thoughts, but at the same time allow the audience to form their own opinion. We also looked at certain ideologies in films and how this is shown through the opening sequence. An example would be 'This is England' and how we see Margaret Thatcher immediately I thought that this film would feature a right wing ideology and have conservative opinions. 

Having looking through the lessons and gathering and absorbing the information, I have learnt a lot about how films inject their themes and ideologies into the film using different elements e.g. Mise en Scene, Music, Camera. I have also learnt and decided that in order for my production to be successful I must use a variety of techniques without making the opening too packed as I only have 2 minutes, so I must try and be simply but sophisticated when I am planning my opening sequence. I particularly found the Mean Streets opening sequence very intriguing as there is a handheld element to it which adds realism and a certain authenticity to the film, as I particularly found interesting when the title 'Mean Streets' appear and The Ronettes - Be My Baby is playing, this creates a contrast and in some respects confuses the audience which I find very peculiar. When I am planning and filming my opening I do not want to be compared to any other films, I want my audience to feel that they have never seen something like this before and I want to be original as much as possible. Having said that I would like to create something that is original but does have elements of BSR as this will give my opening that extra edge. 

BSR Opening Sequence Analysis

Reflective Analysis (1)

This week I have learnt how my blog is important for my planning and the work I post on here, must be of a high standard if I am going to achieve in this unit. I must embrace the idea of experimenting with different mediums which I believe I am beginning to grasp. We learned that there are a range of programs that we could use to make our blogs more attractive and interactive examples were Prezi, Posterous and we were also shown websites we could view a range of opening sequences for inspiration.I have also learnt how significant the production is and is worth the most marks and in order to gain top marks I must be creative, manage my time well and conduct a lot of research. From looking at past students work I have learnt that there is huge workload however if you are organised, committed and do not let yourself become complacent it can easily be accomplished. I have learned from the previous students that the research and planning you do will have a huge impact on the final product. In the lesson we came up with a couple of tips that target all aspects of the unit be it Planning, Production or blogging.

• Make your blog about yourself, convey your personality.
• Make it relevant to your film.
• Do a lot of research and planning. 
• Make it detailed. 
• Make you blog interactive. 
• Time management is key. 
• A combination of images, texts and videos is the key to good blogging. 
• Use of examples to explain points. 

All this has made me realize that there is no point coming up with all of these extravagant ideas because in actual fact I will only have two minutes, it has made me think more realistic as to what is possible. watching different opening sequences has been very inspirational as I am able to generate ideas from these and example would be 'Trainspotting'. We learnt about the conventions of a BSR film and I believe that this film is exactly that. It is gritty and realistic which is emphasized through the camerawork, Mise en scene and editing. What I love about this opening sequence is the use and placement of titles, I particularly like this typography as it is bold and straight to the point much like the protagonist doing the voice over.  I have learnt that Mise en scene of a BSR film uses a lot of natural lighting, and has a very dull color pallet as well as detailed props and 'found' locations. I must try and employ these techniques and elements in my opening sequence in order to portray BSR in a realistic way. I have also found that the characters used in BRR films are average people and there is a use of type casting as the directors want people who do not have experience and have a 'kitchen sink' quality to them. An example of this would be Katie Jarvis who plays Mia in 'Fish tank' she was casted for the role when she was spotted having an argument with her boyfriend. I must avoid cliches in my opening sequence as this will not be unique and will not engage my audience and make them want to find out what happens in the film.   

Evaluating Past Students Work

In our Media lesson we evaluated past students work, below are some of the observations and comments we made on each section of their blog, we then gave a mark for each section and totaled this. The first blog we looked at was Ellie's and then Gemma's. What was interesting is how they both presented their information and they way this influenced their final product. It was evident that Gemma who we gave 15/20 for her Planning & Research section spent much more time managing her tasks and her explanations were much more specific and detailed. On the other hand Ellie who we awarded with 11/20 was slightly more laid back about the task and her analysis' were not specific enough and were vague. 

Ellie's Final Video - As for Ellie's final piece we gave it 30/60 mainly because we felt that she met most of the requirements, but she didn't go the extra mile, I felt that this revealed too much of the story for an opening sequence, In my opinion I feel that the idea was slightly rushed and the idea was not planned as a whole film but for only the two min. 


Gemma's Final Video - Gemma's work was the complete opposite, production wise. It was much more interesting to watch and engaged the audience, I especially enjoyed the real footage they filmed on their mobile phones, I feel that this adds realism to the piece, on the other hand I thought that using a cliche opening  with the character waking up is slightly lazy, as I believe a more interesting and dynamic technique could have been used here.