The Research Blog

Historical Elements of a Film The Scene: The scene is a take of a completed action. Historically it is typified in films where the actors will act out a whole scene and then walk out and fade into the next scene. A scene would be one shot, one take. For example: A trip to the Moon (1902) - George Mélies George Mélies was a magician that owned the theater where he showed his own films. Between 1900's and 1910 he would make 10 to 12 minutes science fiction films. He made hundreds of these short films. As special effects (fx) he would use: -In-camera edits -Dissolves -Superimpositions -Animation (with live action) -Stop-motion photo -Match shots His 1902 film "A trip to the moon" was: 1. Very profitable 2. It was a narrative film, it told a story and thus was... 3. a drive towards longer films (10 to 30 minutes) 4. Editing appears. His films would be composed of scenes of completed actions connected by dissolves but with overlapping action and also prosc...

Beginnings of Cinema The Reel - Approximately 1890's to 1902 In the beginning there were reels of film. On reel would equal one film and there would be no editing, it would all be just one continuous shot.  The films would last 20 to 30 seconds. There was no illusion of continuity. Proscenium Arch Style (Theatrical view). Approximately the first ten years of the industry. This style of cinema was characterized by: - Long shots from around 12 to 15 feet away. - Long takes, takes would last a very long time. - Eye level. The camera would be at eye level with the action. - Stationary camera. The camera would not move at all during the shot. So called "firsts" films. The above films were typified in the so called "first" films which were: - Edison kinetoscopes (before 1896) and films - Lumiere brother "actualites" Edison kinetoscopes and films: -W.K.L. Dickson and the "invention" of motion pictures. - Kinetograph which was a ...

The Classical Hollywood Narrative Style Conventions for contriving believable images and sounds in film narratives. Conventions has a shared meaning: Development: Conventional style in the U.S. for film and TV. There is a dominance of U.S. culture which expands and globalizes. It is mostly single camera. Classical: Also known as conventional style, it is the accepted model. Conventions are things we don't usually have to think about. For example the conventions of editing are determined by continuity editing, we do no think about the cut because the cut tends to be invisible. Style for contriving believable images and sounds. We believe in the possibility of what we see in film narratives associated with american films but the conventions for narrative cinema are worldwide. Hollywood is just the word that represents the american style. There are competitive advantages in the industry. "Willing suspension of disbelief" This is the phrase used to describe t...

Documents that accompany a film When a film gets delivered to a distributor or to a sales house there are a series of documents that must come along with the film. The most basic documents are: - Original Dialogue List - Copy of E&O Certificate (Errors and Omissions) - Music Cue Sheets - Chain of Title - Chain of Title Summary - Dolby Licenses - Music Licenses

STREET TEAM Street teams are a great marketing tool to utilize fan bases. Popularized by bands decades ago, the street team allows you to communicate with your core audience and expand your reach towards their network.  Objective: To support and strengthen our fan events around the world and to amplify our notoriety outwards from the core circle of fans to wider circles and to create hype and word of mouth in order to support the release of a film or album. Proposal: All Fan events will be organized between the organization and a local distributor. In order to play all our cards and to utilize all our available resources we want to involve the core fan base. With the excuse of the Fan premieres that we will organize around the world we can begin creating excitement among our fans. An event can be a physical event but may also mean the release of an album or a film.  In relation to PR / Marketing we will then have the local distributor promoting through t...

Sample Theatrical Release Marketing Plan 1.      Poster 2.      Release: a.      Release Date b.      Copies c.      Core Target and opportunities 3.      Framing: We need to decide how we frame and sell this film. Is it Action-Adventure, Political satire, Female empowerment etc.   We need to make sure that we have an unified message. Everybody communicates the same. 4.      Competition: What similar films will be releasing around our dates. We need to decide what type of release strategy we want.   5.      Tie-Ins: Try and find strategic partners in order to have tie-ins that will allow to create branding around the release of the film. For instance, the popcorn containers in theaters. Maybe they could be done with a sponsor or two. Please turn off your cellphones clip in screens. Fast Food children'...

SAMPLE WORKFLOW FOR ASSETS: These are only examples to illustrate the path or workflow a file follows. Video Assets: 1.       Video is recorded on the camera into an SD Card for example. 2.       The SD files are exported from the card on a computer internal Hard Drive. 3.       The files are relabeled according to the naming convention (See previous post). 4.       A copy of these files is then archived in the Film’s Raw Video folder. 5.       A copy of the files should remain in the computer’s hard Drive if these files are used for editing. 6.       After editing, video files are then exported according to the naming convention. 7.       Files are then stored in the film’s edited video folder for access and use. Photographic Assets: Same as for video. It is very important that t...

PRODUCT PLACEMENT ALBANIA Allowed (see general restrictions above¬) AUSTRIA Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment programmes BOSNIA Allowed (see general restrictions above¬) BULGARIA Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment programmes CROATIA Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment programmes CZECH REPUBLIC Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment programmes DENMARK Prohibited ESTONIA Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment programmes FRANCE Prohibited FINLAND Allowed in cinematographic works, TV-series, sports programmes and light entertainment program...

THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION IN HONG KONG The standard minimum guarantee ranges in Hong Kong are: For independent films: $5.000 to $20.000 For films with a-list actors: $20.000 to $50.000 Deals with the film theaters are usually structured like this: Week 1: Distributor 45% - Theater 55%, except for special shows which are day shows which will range between 40% to 45% for the distributor. Week 2: Distributor 40% - Theater 60% Week 3: Distributor 35% - Theater 65% Week 4: Distributor 30% - Theater 70% Independent films will get stuck in the 2 to 3 shows per day which means the P&A expenditure has to be higher and the chances of making money are less. Studios get deals that range to the 6, 7 or 8 daily shows and get 50% to 60% of the ticket sales. An average independent film that does well will pull in about $750.000 in the box office.