Secondary Research- Kingsman

Through the advice from our teacher, Ed and I realised that our narrative was rather similar to that of a previous film we had seen called Kingsman: The Secret Service; a mix of Science-Fiction and Action & Adventure which are both quite closely related to the Thriller genre, therefore, we thought it appropriate to research what made the film popular and what prompted negative responses. Below is a short 'review' detailing:

• Budget and Box Office figures
• Editing, Mise-en-scene, Representations, Camera and Sound notations (film)
• Why people dis/like it

Figures

Budget	$94 million (gross)[3] $81 million (net)[4]
Box office	$414.4 million[4]

*As of Wikipedia

Budget:

 $81 000 000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

 $42 000 000 (USA) (13 February 2015)

Gross:

 $128 248 205 (USA) (26 June 2015)

*As of IMDb

Box Office:

$119,469,511.00

*As of Rotten Tomatoes

I included the opening sequence for this movie and provided some quotations from what people have said about the opening credits underneath that.

Reviews from the general public, as found through 'YouTube' comments:

"I heard that song and knew this movie was going be good"

"No movie has ever put to rest any and all doubts I had about watching the movie so quickly." 

"The opening with the music and cool vibe is fantastic. But it would have been better suited to launch into an action scene or something because the way it cuts the music and straight to a talking scene means it loses a lot of its promise." 

Below you will find an analysis of the whole movie separated into conventions. Although this isn't necessary, I thought it important so that Ed and I are able to form opinions on the opening sequence and its significance.

Kingsman: The Secret Service Action Adventure/ Thriller Film

29th January 2015 (UK)- 2hrs 9mins, rated: 15

- Colin Firth

- Taron Egerton

- Samuel L. Jackson

A spy organisation recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training programme just as a global threat emerges from a twisted technological genius.

Critics:

Chris Sawin rates the film five stars and says that it's "Obscenely and brutally shaken, not stirred". (A reference to the Bond movies' famous line "shaken not stirred" whenever he is offered a cocktail). He describes loosely what the film is about and goes onto speaking about Richmond Valentine who is repulsed by violence, but ironically condones violence among people. He also compares the film to Kick-Ass. He claims that the "plethora of vulgarity and raunchy humour" makes the film not only humorous but also human and relatable.

He talks about how apparently, Collin Firth did 80% of his own stunts as well as the way the stunts and action scenes were filmed; 360 views as it slows down and speeds back up. He also compares it to James Bond and describes it as funny while adding extremes but "unflinching" amounts of humour.

Conventions:

*Conventions which apply to thrillers are listed in bold.

• 'Good guy' vs 'Bad guy'
• Three spies have to save the world from utter domination.
• 'Bad guy' (villain/ antagonist)
• Valentine and his sidekick, Gazelle, plan on creating a 'new world', selecting a few people to be part of this special 'elite' group while the rest of the world is taken over by anger enhancing chips in the form of phone sim cards.
• Special effects
• There are a lot of scenes of violence including blood spill and very serious injuries. 
• Special effects would also be needed to make much of the 'high-tech' spy gear look realistic.
• Stunts
• Almost all characters perform dangerous stunts, parkour and fighting.
• Explosions/ pyrotechnics...
• ... Are included in fight scenes where for an example, a hand grenade is dropped.
• 'Damsel in distress'/ love interest
• A princess is locked away while the villains attempt to complete their plan. Later she becomes a temporary love interest, much like the Bond films.
• Chase scene
• The protagonist runs away from the bullies and performs interesting stunts.
• The 'good guys' always win concept
• Although towards the middle of the film, agent Harry Hart dies, his death is avenged by agent Eggsy.
• Use of weapons
• The agents receive many tools and weapons for self-defence e.g. guns, knives, tasers, some of them disguised as harmless objects such as pens.
• Big set pieces
• Ticking clock scenario
• It is only a matter of time before people are taken over completely by violence and resort to killing each other, while a system countdown is performed.

Avoiding Mistakes

Of making a horror opening sequence, or a trailer:

Audience Research Analysis

Due to the difficulty, I found in formatting this blog post in a way that would make sense to whoever is viewing this, I have provided a link to an alternate document I have produced to analyse the results Ed and I collected from our audience research questionnaire. I used a website called 'emaze' to create this slideshow and you may see it below:

Filming Locations (Update)

 

(Where the majority of the Sequence will take place)

On the left, you may see a few shots of the definite location our Thriller opening sequence is going to take place in for the most part.  

Toton Sidings, as nicknamed due to the train depot nearby, is a free space available to the public without necessary permission. This immediately became attractive to us (Ed initially having the idea of filming here, due to previous knowledge) as there isn't any need hassle over permissions or availability of the space. 

The area is also very well lit, with natural sunlight exploiting any shadows of trees and voergrowth. The period of the year in which we're filming (winter) is also rather appropriate due to the bare trees and the unkept condition it appears to be in. These conditions appeared to be popular in our audience research (as shown in my audience research post). 

As well as this, the lighting offers a very natural, high-key light which is also an aspect proved to be popular through our audience research. However, due to our reliance on natural lighting, we won't be able to control it very much which may make re-filming (if need be) very difficult.

Furthermore, the location isn't very far to access and therefore props such as chairs and equipment are easy to transport safely. 

We must ensure that the premises are checked before filming to confirm that there is no immediate danger that could affect the function of the camera, or to avoid accidents. We must also check the premises after filming to ensure that any parts of the equipement or props isn't left behind. This is due to the small parts which are required to use the equipment, for an example, the lense cap. We will aslo ensure that these are securely put away in areas such as pockets where the cannot be forgotten.

Due to the nature of the environment, some areas may be unsafe to travel on. We will be sure to avoid these areas (such as uneven terrain), not only to aid perfect filming first time (hopefully), but also to prevent any accidents and injuries to our actors and us.

Additionally, we must ensure that there is clear way to record any sound that is needed, for which details are provided in my 'sound' post.  

Fonts Experimentations

Here I have included a very short presentation on some of the fonts experimentations Ed and I have done. I ensured that the recce shots which Ed had taken of the sites of filming, were the background for these tests so that the experiment can be as authentic as possible and we are able to see and accurate representatipon of what the fonts may look like in our actual opening sequence.

       

       Font trials from CsengeNemeti

Graphics Variations

Below are different colour variation Ed and I tested to achieve one we preferred, thus, the image which is highlighted in yellow is the graphic we will be using as we thought it aesthetic and many other people have responded positivly to this also. We did some informal audience research whereby we asked anyone present of which one they preferred, as highlighted in yellow below.

Graphics Process

Below I have provided screenshots of the process that I took while making the logo for our 'studios' company. The programme used is Photoshop CS4.

 

Graphics

In this section, I'm going to talk about our decisions on the graphics which may be needed in our opening sequence. I personally have some experience in using programmes such as Gimp or Photoshop, therefore I think that it is within my ability to create a suitable logo for our 'studios' title. As you may notice, we have decided to name the studios "Barker Studios" with a logo of a barking dog underneith. This minimalistic approach is rather typical in the way most studios appear in title sequences, therefore we decided to also create a similar affect. Sketches of the plan may be found below:

As you can see here too, after I produced the illustrations, I did a small audience research round where I quickly asked my classmates to vote on the logo which they prefer and with six out of nine results, is 'Idea no.3', therefore, this is the logo I will be producing using photoshop. The template I will be using for this is a picture of my own beagle, as below:

I am first going to trace around his out line using the Photoshop 'paths' tool to create a path before 'stroking' it using a heavier line. This will then simplify the image and create a line drawing which I can then use to create a logo similar that of a real ife studio. Ed and I will discuss the appropriate font that should go with it and in the following posts, we will continue to do audience research on this logo to produce something appealing to the audience.

Test Shots and Basic Functions

Here I will make a personal note of the discussions Ed and I have had over the use of the camera. Practically, we'd like to avoid mistakes and make filming as quick as possible in order to aid the actors' comfort. Below is the information I have gathered through research in order to aid our knowledge of the camera's functions.

As well as this, I've provided pictures of us taking the shots as evidence of our method. The environment is quite inaccurate due to the school setting which will not be part of our opening sequence, however, the lighting is quite correct as we will be taking our shots during a similar time (11:00 am).

Producing the test shots

Here you can find the set-up which we used as well as Ed referring the table I was responsible for making (found below) in order to help set up for the long shot which I was about to take.

Brainstorm

Below is the brainstorm which Ed and I created at the start of the project. This is a record of our initial ideas and it is a good point in time to begin noting down how far we've strayed from or kept to our original ideas. After the brainstorm, there are two complementary videos giving a visual presentation of the whole map and one on each section of it, also created with a website I had used previously for my character profiles: 'PowToon' and a sound recording over a slideshow created with 'Prezi'.

As you can see, we have considered the most important aspects including 'mise-en-scene, camera, editing and plot, all visualised in the video below:

Here, I have included a Prezi presentation with an audio Commentary.

Scheduling

Below, I have provided a copy of the table which Ed was responsible for drawing up. We discussed suitable times and aspects which should be included in the time-table, however, he was responsible for this for the most part.

Another scheduling table may be necessary as we have an additional scene which we'd like to possibly film inside. 

*Just a note if there is any confusion: Due to Ed creating this table, the names which he included are 'Csenge' (me) and 'I' as in him, here, obviously this would be reversed. 

Filming Locations

We will soon visit each of our filming locations (hopefully in the upcoming weekend) in order to make finalised decisions over where the scenes should be held. Pictures will be provided in an update post. This will also help us make adjustments to our storyboard if need be as sometimes locations are limited or two many risks may be involved. Once we have completed our location visits, we can update our risk assessment to better suit the task ahead.

Here, however, you will find a list of all the locations which will be necessary for us to provide images of in the upcoming posts.

• Possibly a garage of some sort
• Necessary for the last scene in which Ivan listens to the voicemail
• School studio
• A place in which we can safely record scenes of Tony A 'shooting' on a table
• Toton Sidings 
• Likely meeting spot for the gang

Character Profiles- The Antagonist(s)

This is taken directly from Ed's blog as he was responsible for the creation of the profiles.

Antagonists:

Names: Tony A and Tony B Character's Ages: Each between 20 and 30 Played By: At time of posting, I am still finalising who shall play the two Tonys Character Attributes: Each highly skilled in killing however they share few similarities, each acting as a mirror image for each other. Character Backgrounds: Not much is known about the history of the duo, however they are notorious among the criminal underworld for their skill in killing, despite their contasting methods.

Character Profiles- The Protagonist

This post should explain the character of our protagonist through a short animations I created through a website called 'PowToon' using Ed's original 'Character Profile' text, while inserting my own interpretation of it. The short video just illustrates the basic attributes of Ivan's character, therefore a more detailed explanation of how I interpret Ivan's character to be like can be found below the video.

Ed and I have decided that the most important aspect of Ivan's complicated character should be his portrayal of youth and how he should conform to or break typical thriller conventions using representations.

This is down to the character of the individual; the conformation to the idea that children usually appear naive at first glance (or the victims themselves) but often end up out-smarting the antagonist, is found in Ivan's character; as well as the tendency of being looked down on for the reasons being that the character is of a young age. 

On the other hand, Ivan breaks conventions by taking on a role which requires smart, suit attire and is put into a position of control or authority, something which children aren't notorious for performing typically in thriller films. This is especially shown through his costume and also camera techniques, a number of shots suggesting his power as a 'front man' and importance in the film through screen-time. Furthermore, our character breaks representations of youth often being careless and lacking motivation; Ivan is neither, sure, he is rather clumsy at the beginning of the narrative (an attribute which will perhaps be revealed in the opening sequence), but the audience should find that he is prepared to do anything to come to a conclusion over the mystery of his father's disappearance. 

Actors

We shared responsibility for the recruitment of actors, however, I've had little luck in successfully finding actors willing to play the roles which are offered. The actors' suitability were agreed on by both Ed and I. Below, I have provided a list of the cast and the reasons for their involvement, as well as the roles they will be playing (including costume, though (details are included in the 'Costumes' post). 

The protagonist

Ed- Potential
actor for Ivan

At the time of this post's publication, Ed is being cast as Ivan, the protagonist, or the mob boss's son. He agrees that whilst he has not been involved in GCSE or A level drama, he has accumulated  enough experience in acting during his lessons in years seven, to nine to produce a meaningful and convincing performance of Ivan, representative of his character. During our discussion, I myself have gained an understanding of how Ed would personally be comfortable in performing a character such as Ivan, therefore the role will reflect both of our opinions.

At this moment in time however, I am still finalising details in the search for an actor who could potentially replace Ed as this would demonstrate a variety of casting, potentially increasing our marks for our opening sequence, though casting of such persons is not yet confirmed by the actors in question.

Costume would include:

• Smart suit- trousers, shirt, blazer
• Worn trainers
• Bright socks

The antagonists

With regards to our antagonists, I am in the process of enlisting two other non-school friends to act as Tony A and Tony B. Hopefully, the actors can be cast and the variety will have an effect on the overall grade for our opening sequence.

Background characters

Gautam, Jacob and Archie

For our background gangsters (used as a visual aid for the audience to understand the physical presence of the gang, and represent their numbers), Ed will be casting some of his own school friends: Josh Langfield, Sam Bunting, Gautam Manjunath, Jacob Knox and Archie Watson have all agreed to play a minor role in our opening sequence. We've discussed together reasons as to why he recruited them and the conversation he contributed to included his reasoning that "they requested a minimal amount of   dialogue and influence within the scene, meaning these roles are ideal for their preferences". 

Sam and Josh

As suggested before in Ivan's section, it is vital for the actors to feel comfortable in the role which they are portraying due to the quality of the performance they are able to provide. The less they are out of the comfort zone, the easier it is going to be to draw from them a convincing performance of their character and their behaviour.

Props

For this section, credit should go to Ed as his was the responsibility of completing the planning for this area, though we had discussed the initial ideas on props as a team for reasons being that we had to agree on specifics so that our opening sequence represents a joint effort. I made a list of any other props I feel that may be important below the highlighted areas (which Ed had originally typed up in his own blog, allowing me to present the ideas in a fashion better suited to my own writing. Anything formatted in italics is quoted directly from him).

Here, I have provided the props and explanations as to why we need them for our opening sequence, which Ed and I had discussed. The overall purpose to include certain props is to create a verisimilitude of conventional gang locations in thrillers for our opening scene, enhancing the understanding of the narrative for the audience's benefit.

In the scene which the gang introduces the father's message to the son, Ed and I will require a cheap, sturdy mobile phone which will resemble a 'burner' phone so that the voicemail, significant to the reveal of the father's reasoning can be provided. The phone plays a large role in the plot of our opening sequence as it contains the final message of the leader of the Hungarian mob to his son, Ivan. After receiving the phone, Ivan listens to the voicemail, hoping to uncover what happened to his father, as well as how he should go about running the mob.

We will likely purchase one of these phones as they are relatively cheap and can be bought without additional payments or contracts. However, ideally, we would need the phone to be able to receive calls, as the sequence ends with my character listening to a voicemail, though it is likely that Ed actually owns one of these phones which would mean that we will not have to purchase one. In the case that the phone cannot receive calls or messages, the solution may be that we use a separate audio recording.

Also in the same scene, our characters Tony A and Tony B will be sat on disposable chairs such as the one on the left, in a large, empty space only surrounded by some additional gang members. This is important for us to achieve because Ed and I had discussed that we should try and differentiate the two Tonys as much as possible. The solution for this is, having them sitting as this would contrast with the standing gang members. Ed luckily owns some chairs similar to what is pictured on the right.

Any additional props we should need, according to our storyboard is:

• Table
• Used for Tony A to stand on in the scene in which he is shooting.
• Toy gun (we can spray paint black)
• Used for the scene in which Tony A is shooting carelessly on top of the table.
• Rope or chain
• Used for the scene in which Tony B stretches it between his gloved hands as a form of threat.

Costume

Below I included a 'Slide Share' version of my 'Google Slides' document focusing on each character's costume who will appear during the opening sequence. Ed was responsible for typing the original up while we discussed what aspects they should definitely have and I uploaded my own version and interpretation of their costumes.

Costumes from CsengeNemeti

As it may be difficult to view due to the sizing of the font, I have included the transcript of the text below:

The Protagonist- Son of the Hungarian Mob Leader

Ed and I decided that it would be suitable for the protagonist of our film to feature the most complicated costume which would allow the audience to interpret this character in an individual way as they wish. Using the idea that he is, in fact, the son of a mob boss, it seems fitting to put him in smarter clothing than what perhaps other gang members would be wearing, especially since his own father would've been slick and smart, a stereotype seen in most thrillers. The black suit we decided to be appropriate therefore reflects his villainous background due to the connotation the colour black tends to have. An example is on the right.

However, we plan to distinguish our character by interpreting different features which give the audience a better understanding of the form of this character themselves. A way in which we decided to do this is add small details such as the ‘playful’ or ‘childish’ way he dresses which can only lead the audience to assume that he still possesses some form of youthfulness, unlike other mob members would. We plan to do this through including bright ‘childlike’ socks and simple trainers. An example of this is on the right.

As a side note, we are aware that the decision to put our character in this costume will likely prompt the interpretation that this character is villainous, however, we’d like to create an anti-hero-like character

The Antagonists- Tony A and Tony B

Ed and I have also made decisions on the subject of the antagonist’s costume. We each agreed that our main antagonists, Tony A and Tony B, should each wear dark, dull costumes which is reflective of their villainous intentions. The dark costume helps the audience identify them as antagonists since once again, they are characteristics of a stereotypical antagonist in a thriller film. We also suggested the idea that their characters could be confused with our protagonist since he’s also wearing a similar costume, however, the antagonists’ roles should enhanced by their stance and general presence.

We are using Tony A as a symbol for the anarchic nature of this group of people, therefore it is appropriate to place him in shambolic clothing in order to reflect his (and most of the group’s) chaotic personality. An example of what he’d wear is on the right.

Whereas Tony B, we have chosen to use him as a direct way of juxtaposing Tony A (hence the irony in calling them both Tony) and plan on achieving this by dressing him in trim, fitted clothing, likely a suit, to demonstrate his calm and slick persona. An example of this is on the right.

Background characters

We have also decided to dress the background characters (so other mob members, who perhaps aren’t as important for our narrative) in more casual style clothing but still with an element of dress sense. The characters should be dressed this way due to the importance of maintaining the ideology of hierarchy within a group and is often an element found in most Thrillers containing such groups; it would be a disgrace to see a third party mob member dressed smarter than say, the mob leader’s ‘right-hand man’. Therefore, examples of the costumes are included on the right.

Risk Assessment

Here I included the risk assessment which Ed was responsible for. It outlines the tasks which could involve certain risks due to the equipment used, the location and certain conditions as well as ways to avoid them.

 

Order of Credits

Story Board for Title Sequence

In the same way which I have presented our narrative, Ed and I worked to produce a storyboard for out titles as we think that this will aid our understanding of the rough order they will appear in during the opening sequence. At this moment in time, the majority of the respondents for our survey (a full research analysis can be viewed in a later post once we collect the final remaining responses on Saturday afternoon) expect the credits to appear throughout the sequence rather than before or after, like other Thrillers may do such as Pulp Fiction (1994), rolling the credits after the opening sequence has played.

Below, you may find the opening sequence storyboard and in the upcoming posts, you may find the different font and graphic trials, finalising the aesthetics of the credits. As you can see, we have included the shot number in a circle, which corresponds with the narrative storyboard. We have also included the type of editing one may find such as fade in and flash in not forgetting the colour of the text and the background.

Story Board

Below I have included the storyboard plan which Ed and I created together. We made sure to include every aspect in our storyboard from editing to dialogue, however, a separate storyboard was created for the title sequences.

As you can see, we have included a key to help us annotate the different transitions and camera work involved. This is located in the middle of the sheet under the title. We planned on creating an initial storyboard and once ideas are broadened due to research analysis, we can create another, developed copy, hence the 'Storyboard 1' name.

As well as this, Ed and I plan on doing further research into shot types and ways of achieving them depending on lighting and other circumstances.

The presentation which I have produced below was done using 'Prezi' which is just below the YouTube video.

Basic Plot (Thriller Opening Sequence)

Below I uncluded the 'Emaze' presentation I used to create the 'basic plot' post.

Analysing students' Thriller Blogs Pt.2

Emma Snow 2016

Blog Analysis

Immediately when I look at this blog, I am drawn into it by the graphics which I see. For an example, the first post I see is not a block of text. It does not look dawning, instead I was actually compelled to flick throught the presentation myself because it looked intriguing. The background itself also contributes to the fact that this person obviously put a lot of effort into producing a blog which looked both interesting and thus likely filled with significant information.

As I scrolled through this blog, I also realised that she has a variety of dynamic presentations which make the experience for the viewer much more enjoyable than just reading plain text which often looks daunting. 

Furthermore, her titles are very clear which make it easy to find certain posts, especially if you're looking for a specific answer to a specific question. For an example, in the picture on the left, she includes the question which her presentation is about, so if one is looking for the answer for that question in section six of the evalutation task, the reader can easily find it.  

So far, my only criticism of this blog is to do with the format (which can be very unpredictable due to the html coding); The right side of this document pokes out of the actual body of the blog. This however, is only a very minor problem which irritates my personal taste and preference in keeping everythign neat and tidy. In fact, I myself will likely make this mistake without realising so I will be sure to carefully check the final look of my blog posts.

Yet another positive point about this blog is to do with uploading information in different media formats; This post being in the format of a YouTube video. I personally find it very helpful to listen to information, especially conducted by a person rather than a series of slides or pictures as it helps to engage my attention. I personally find this specific video difficult to watch and concentrate on due to the images which pop up over the subject. She also misses eye contact, however, I do understand that this video conveys information, bluntly put, much better than my own do due to my own personal dislike of speaking while being recorded.

My last point will be about the fact that Snow included images of herself (and partner) while they filmed to use as evidence of the filming taking place.

In the screenshot on the left, there is an image of the participating filmers who are shown with the camera set up in the filming location. The image is also labelled with a clear explanation on the left, however, looking at the post title, this image appears to be rather out of place as I personally would have inserted an image of myself and Ed editing (as the title implies) rather than an image of us filming.

Lastly, I wish to include evidence images such as Snow's to show the set up we used and to make it easy to evaluate any difficulties we may have and how Ed and I could possibly overcome them.

In conlusion, this blog is very beautiful, with elements that make it interesting, engaging and interractive to read through. The information seems overwhelming, however, relevant and thus I prefer this blog to Jonathan Hawes's.

Perhaps the only downfall is certain points on the format which is up to personal taste and areas where separate paragraphs would have been useful to make the text seem more organised (as in the picture above) and minor misplacement of images (as in the above). 

 

Analysing students' Thriller Blogs Pt.1

Jonathan Hawes 2011

Blog Analysis

As someone who prefers bright colours and interesting design, the first thing I noticed about this blog when I opened it, is the absense of these aspects, frankly it looked boring, however, judging the content by this would be rather unfair and it is rather my personal opinion, and not something the blog's standard should be measured against. I also dislike that formatting of the text as it's alligned to the left, rather than justified, however, this is also up to my own personal taste and I simple prefer my own text to be 'justified' and spread across the page.

The layout of the actual blog is rather organised, and how I would personally organise my own blog myself. For an example, the 'final edit' video is put into a separate post all together called 'Final Edit' which makes it very easy to a. find the video and b. differentiate it from anything else by clearly labelling it.

Another aspect of this blog that I like is the fact that they've provided screenshots of certain tasks they performed to complete their edits etc. For an example, in the above screenshot, Hawes provided a screenshot of how he created the transition between the audio clips so that it runs smoothly. I myself plan to provide screenshots of such methods to use as evidence that Ed and I have used such and such method for the editing of certain aspects of our opening sequence.

Another thing that I noticed while scrolling through this blog, is that a lot of it is text based. There isn't any sort of shift in media or more exciting forms of presentational devices which he could've used. Although the information is concise and accurate such as the example above, it is rather overwhelming and information such as this, I personally would've put into a presentation similar to 'Power Point'.

  Overall response

Overall, this blog is made rather uninteresting, especially due to the absense of a variety of media, however, the information contained is very specific and concise without excess information which may distract the reader from the subject. 

If I were to improve specific posts or include posts in this blog, I would make sure to contain pictures and evidence of filming and editing on specific dates. As well as this, I would ensure to put my information into different presentation formats to make the overall experience of the reader more enjoyable.