Thank You Uncle Norman

The finished film.

Thank you Uncle Norman Evaluation

Media Evaluation

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?

In our film we tried to incorporate generic conventions of a comedy film such as pineapple express and step brothers so called ‘bro-mances’, in our film the main character is a typical lazy slob who party’s all the time, the first shot he is seen waking up with beer bottles around him, in most comedy film there is atleast one shot of a guy waking up after a party surrounded by last nights events.

In the opening scene we tried to get as much natural light into the room as comedy film lighting is generally natural due to the happy connotations to good weather while Jim is turning over trying to get back to sleep after partying all night but decides to get up for the toilet.

To get a comparison between the older and younger brother the younger brother is seen getting ready for college while the older brother Jim is only just getting out of bed, in my opinion this is the only idea that conflicts against generic conventions, although Craig is a stereotypical geeky younger brother, normally the brother would be more fun and as light hearted as the main character but in this case he’s quite the opposite.

Jim is seen walking down the stairs lazily and still half asleep, as he walks past the camera pans to follow him as he is scratching his bum. Characters in comedy films are often filmed doing disgusting things that we all do but just not in public such as scratching or picking their nose, this realism adds little bits of humour to show the film rest of the film is going to be light hearted comedy.

The shot after Jim shuts the door of the toilet, is water pouring, this shot is supposed to make the audience think, wait? Is that what I think it is? But as the camera zooms out it shows it is only a kettle. This kind of shot is fairly common in comedy’s to add to the light hearted feel.

The shot of Jim sat on the sofa watching TV and playing playstation was inspired by one of our main influences ‘Step Brothers’ where one of the main characters is seen doing the same. The low height camera shot brings you into almost more personal level with the character.

The next 4 shots are to show the passing of time, until the phone call. This shows that Jim has nothing better to do with his day than sit around and do nothing.

When Jim answers the phone he pretends to be his brother, this sort of plot happens in older comedy films such as ‘The Secret to my Success’ starring Michael Jay Fox (1987) where by pretending to be someone else something good happens to the main character. In our case a lot of money, most comedy films are based on uncommon things happening to normal people, which is exactly what we wanted to do, the social realism gives a basis on which the audience can also relate to.

The shot of the solicitor reading the adult magazine was influenced by the film ‘Superbad’ where the main character walks into a shop and starts reading one of the shelf and the camera zooms in. This shows the solicitor isn’t professional and that he is probably going to fall for Jim’s trick of pretending to be his brother.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 Jim is a white teenage male and is shown to be lazy and to like a drink, this plays on the stereotype that teenagers don’t do anything and men like to drink. Jim is also a male but contrastingly is seen to actually care about his future by attending college, this represents the male gender in too different ways, showing you how different the brothers are. The film would mainly attract young males and there are no female characters for females to relate to, but our target audience is of both genders aged 15-30 years old.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our film wouldn't suit a major Hollywood production, promotion or distribution as it's not completely original or doesn't have a large enough target audience, I believe a really small production company should release it such as Warp Films as they have realised similar social realism comedies such as ‘Four Lions’ and ‘Le Donk and Scor Zay-Zee’. As for cinema releasing, I think this should be released early summer, as the film is set in early summer the nice weather has happy connotations and will suite the film. The film could also be released on rental sevices both in-shop and on TV/internet, if the demand was high enough. The opportunity for merchandising would be harder than that of a Hollywood family film, but t-shirts, posters and other memorabilia could be sold as there is a high interest in merchandise and memorabilia for comedy films as they remind people of the film and make them laugh.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our film would be watched by most comedy film fans, but specifically the target audience would be 15-30 year olds, mainly male. This is because all the characters are young males. However, the light hearted comedy and social realism/unrealism may attract a middle age audience. Films such as Step Brothers and Superbad appeal mainly to an audience of 15 and upwards due to the immature humour of the film. The age certificate would be 15 years old, this is because the plot line is unsuitable for anyone under 15, but not explicit enough to have a certificate of 18 years old. We chose to make our film as a 15 certificate and not 18, as making it an 18 would lose us 15-17 year olds and they’re mainly the ones that are going to relate to the characters.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted a young male audience in several ways. Firstly, the cast for our film are all young male characters that the audience can relate to. Secondly, the younger brother Craig is a 17 year old student, adding a sense of realism to the film and showing the everyday life. Also the use of camera angles makes it easy for the viewer to feel drawn in at a personal level and understand the characters position so they could imagine themselves as Jim with all this money, making it more enjoyable to watch.

6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?
We learnt how to use the camera in terms of filming and playing back, how to white balance when in a new environment or lighting also how to set up the tripod. We found that when filming inside its most important to white balance the camera as the colours can look off, also natural lighting is best if as it gives the film a more realistic and warm feel as one problem we did encounter was that one of the shots we had filmed, the sun had gone in a little and it wasn’t as lit as before and the shot ruined the film so we had to re film it although we could have used final cut to adjust the colour we preferred to do it again to get the best result. Take spare batteries as the battery life on the camera we were using was quite short. However, it was easy to use and easy to take to wherever we needed to film. Not many problems were faced when filming and it was easy to overcome any problems we did encounter, such as lack on continuity between two shots. We used Final Cut Pro to edit our footage, and found it quite simple and easy to use. We were able to add sound and use effects to make the film flow. We faced a few problems with our titles, as we couldn’t figure out how to overlay titles onto the film without a background but overcame them with the use of a different effect. Our main problem was making the film fit 2 minutes as we had a lot less time than first planned, so we had to cut out a few shots, which was simple but I think it would have been better if we would have had longer.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We have learnt quite a lot from this task. First, we research the comedy genre and found out all the conventions of the genre, and incorporated them into our own film. This includes setting, mise en scene, plotlines, sound, camera work and loads more. For example, comedy films generally have a bright settings with happy 70’s music and tend to down at the main character as he is seen as an idiot. We noticed this and used high angle and eye level shot shots on Jim. We also used lots of creative shots such as the first shot zooming out of a poster a panning down to the main character shots and complex editing like match on action edits to add a professional side to the film. I have also learnt how to use the equipment confidently and wouldn't have to worry about being told how to next time. The same goes for the editing software, and can now use Final Cut Pro to put footage together and edit it, without the help of a tutor.

In my opinion, our project was a success as by the end we had produced what we wanted to, in the right style with the right type of shots and acting. Obviously improvements could have been made if we had have had more time and experience such as more back-up shots as some of the shots don't flow into each other as good as possible, but other than that I'm happy with what we've done.

Titles for Title Sequence (over film)

Titles for part of the title sequence that overlap on top of the film.

15 minute analysis of a film- Superbad

Story Board Draft

Initial Title Sequence Idea

This is the first draft of our title sequence, the basics of this one will stay the same in the finish piece but there most likely will be minor changes.

Audience Research

Production Company Logo-

When designing the company logo, I looked at existing logos and came up with this idea. the clouds in the back ground refer to the idea of "wonderland" or "dreamland" which is in our company name.

Comedy Research

There are many different types of comedy films that differ from film to film to satisfy all types of humor;

A comedy of manners film ridicules the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters. The plot of the comedy is often concerned with an illicit love affair or some other scandal. However, the plot is generally less important than its witty dialogue.
In a "fish out of water"-style comedy, the main character or character finds himself in an unusual environment, which drives most of the humor. Situations can be swapping gender roles (Tootsie; 1982); an age changing role (Big; 1988); a freedom-loving individual fitting into a structured environment (Police Academy; 1984), and so forth.
A spoof film is a comedy that satirizes other film genres or classic films. Such films employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes from other films, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions. Examples of this form include Blazing Saddles (1974) and Scary Movie (2000)
The anarchic comedy film uses nonsensical, stream-of-consciousness humor which often lampoons a form of authority. Films of this nature stem from a theatrical history of anarchic comedy on the stage.
The black comedy film deals with normally taboo subjects, including, death, murder, sexual relations, suicide and war, in a satirical manner.
Gross-out films are a relatively recent development, and rely heavily on vulgar, sexual or "toilet" humor. Examples include Dumb and Dumber (1994) and American Pie (1999).
The romantic comedy sub-genre typically involves the development of a relationship between a man and a woman. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. Generally light-hearted comedy lies in the social interactions and sexual tensions between the pair. Examples include When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).

• Action comedy films blend comic antics and action where the film stars combine wit and one-liners with a thrilling plot and daring stunts.

• Comedy horror is a type of horror film in which the usual dark themes are treated with a humorous approach.

• Fantasy comedy films are types of films that uses magic, supernatural and or mythological figures for comic purposes. 

• Sci-fi comedy films, like most hybrid genre of comedy use the elements of science fiction films to over the top extremes and exaggerated science fiction stereotypical characters.

• Military comedy films, involve comic situations in a military setting. 

Actor Research- Popular comedy actors

There are many different styles of actors out there, especially in the comedy world, so finding one to fit your film is crucial.

In my opinion Seth Rogen ( also a writer and producer) is one of the best actors around for our style of film, he has played many great roles from his main parts in Pineapple Express, Knocked up, Zack and Miri make a porno and Superbad to his minimal parts in for example Step Brothers. His writing is as good as his acting, he co wrote both Superbad and Pineapple Express with Evan Goldberg.

Will Ferrel is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and The Other Guys.


Both these actors would be perfect in our style of light hearted and social comedy

Opening Title Research- Superbad

During research in to title sequences I decided to analyse the titles from Superbad as the film is around the same style as ours, light hearted and social realism comedy;
The opening sequence is very 70's and has  "too hot to stop" by The Bar Keys playing in the back ground, the soundtrack is very "feel good" and has happy connotations. The sequences is rather physicadelic, It is based around the two main characters (Seth and Evan) dancing obsecurely to the music, from the beginning you can tell that the film is going to be funny, light hearted and gives you a basic idea of the characters personalities. It was shot against a green screen, so the 2d cutout effect could be added, the bold bright colours give it a kind of pop art style.

These colours change as the sequence goes on and add to the 70's feel, as the pop art culture was at its biggest then. They make the colour transitions using bold shapes such as stars.

Behind the scenes of the opening sequence shoot;


The titles open with the distrubution company (Sony Pictures)

Then move onto the productions companys ( Columbia Pictures and Apatow pictures)

Followed by the film title ( Superbad)







The main actors ( Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Bill Hader and Seth Rogen)

Then they introduce a new actor ( Christopher Mintz-Plasse)

and run through the rest of the production crew then finally the exclusive producers and writers ( Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg).

Here is the full sequence;

Although we couldn't really do anything like this as we do not have access to a green screen, something light hearted like this would be a good opening sequence for us as it sets of the mood and gives you a feel for the film straight away.

15 Certificate

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely  to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.