Stage 2 Final Project

 Final Script

At the beginning of script writing we worked on it together in class while spit-balling ideas with each other. We wanted to get the ideas clear before we were able to write the final script for out film opening. Before the weekend while a member of our group was absent, another member and I wanted to try texts in some editing programs to see which will work best before we start filming. While searching for texts we also can up with some ideas to add on to the script later during the weekend. My group had decided that I would be the one to finish the script, since on was busy somewhere else and another had to be careful with her screen time on devices. 

At first I didn't really know what to put because I could remember some of the details of the ideas and I didn't want to mess up the script with whatever I can up with, so I wanted to hear every single detail of another member's ideas so I can type it in the script. When she explained it, again I couldn't remember some of the details and ended up using what she told me and adding a bit of what I can come up with into the script. After she explained it I went back to ask some questions about the script, but didn't want to ask too much to the point where I could end up bothering her. Of course, eventually I got the script done and I hope that it wouldn't make things difficult filming it. 

Stage 2 Final project

Case Study 

At first I was stumped on what film to choose for my case study due to the large variety of crime/mystery, but with a little assistance I've came to using M (1931) 

This film is about German police officers trying to catch a child abductor while the people of town including criminals try to take the case on their own. 

M (1931) history: supposedly M was based of an actually case of a serial killer named Peter Kürten he was also known as the Düsseldorf Vampire. He would also commit serial murder, sexual violence, and sadism. M was also Fritz Lang, the director's first film with sound. The movie was also known for it's outstanding use of lighting techniques and offscreen sound to really bring out the sense of horror

It's target audience can be older people who enjoy mystery films based of real cases. It's also for people who want to watch a classic film and who want to look back on what was considered high quality film techniques at the time. 

 

Their production company was Nero-Film AG, an independent German production company at the time who also help produce film films such as The Phantom of the Circus and Pandora's Box. 

M also has many distribution companies including HBO Max, and Paramount Pictures for the English dubbed versions.

With how was the movie promoted it of course had a trailer, but in 1934 the film was banned by the Nazis and the ban was eventually revoked. Right now the movie can be viewed on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, and I think It can also be viewed on YouTube as well.

Sources: https://www.britannica.com/topic/M-film-by-Lang

                 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/trivia

                 https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0036089&sort=release_date,asc

                 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/companycredits/

                 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/?ref_=ttmi_tt

distribution and modes of exhibition

 Stage 2 of Final project

Upon research it was difficult and couldn't really find information on distribution companies that specifically work with mystery movies.

I was thinking for the distribution company it should be Lionsgate, they distributed crime and mystery movies that have done amazing in the past. Examples can be American Psycho, Under Suspicion, Irreversible, and the whole Saw franchise.

For streaming we could also use Netflix, since almost everyone uses and owns a Netflix account. Netflix even recommends people who watch a movie another one with a similar plot that they think will like.

We can exhibit the film using DVDs, movie theaters, streaming services, and screenings. 

Source: 
IMBD of Lionsgate films

Production companies

 Stage 2 of final project

I think one company that would seem right for our film would be Endgame Entertainment since upon looking at some of the films they helped produced, most of them are crime and mystery films. Including movies such as Side Effects, Snowden, and Self/less. 

Perhaps maybe we'll prefer to produce with a large company. when working with a larger company we could have be given a big budget so the film can look better and give their employees bigger salaries.  

 

Picking an appropriate production company is important. For example if we have Happy Madison Productions be our producer people might associate our film with Adam Sandler due to them producing every movie he is in, such as Grown ups, Jack and Jill and The Click. No hate towards Adam Sandler but the movies he's in are mostly comedy and the type of films Happy Madison Productions creates doesn't fit out theme.

I'm sure we could try to convince them that our film is worth it we could explain the main focus on how the film is about officers trying to find a killer, but it turns out the killer is actually one of them. Then we could talk about how the movie will end and leave them on a cliffhanger, therefore making them question what happens next. We could make be everyone's money in ticket sales and try to include scenes that will get the audience to talk about the movie online, which will make others who haven't seen it interested in watching. We could sell the movie by having it played in theaters, available in streaming services and make money off the advertisements that play while viewers are watching on the streaming site.

Sources: Large production company perks

               Endgame Entertainment

               Pitching to investors

  

What does the script look like

Stage 2 of final project

The script for the opening scene they either start at the crime scene or start during the crime. An example of this can be the script for Blood Work where they start the script with the detectives already investigating the crime. The reason why I have chosen Blood work as an example is because it's also a crime/mystery movie. My group has been thinking of making out film also start at the crime scene. 

Source: Link to the script of Bloodwork

Similar films

 Stage 2 of Final Project

Since the plot of the film has changed after I typed my first project process blog, its sort of harder to find films with a similar plot to ours with the killer working with the police to throw them of the killer trail. Since the killer first stalks then kills their victims after texting them "I see you" its pretty specific on finding the right one as well. 

So far the only movie I could think of that has a similar plot is Death Note (2006), mainly the part where the killer is part of the police. It's even a mystery/crime. The budget for this specific film was estimated to be around $20,000,000, according to IMBD. Of course the budget of our film wont nearly me around that amount. I even remember when brainstorming the idea for out film a member of our group complained how the idea kept getting compared to Death Note when they haven't seen it.

It's target audience are adults and teens who loved reading the manga and for new comers who love a mystery film that isn't afraid to go dark. Our target audience are people who are into mystery and would enjoy a good twist that the killer was part of the police that were searching for them.

From what I could find they never specified on how the movie was financed, but what I could find was how films get financed. Movies can get financed by either the studio that agreed to help with the film or the film's producers working on a budget and secure financing for the film, when it's an independent film. When the film is an indie film the filmmakers use their tax credits, grants, and personal networks to fund the film. 

Sources: IMBD of Death Note 

               How movies get financed

Final Project process Stage 1

 

Stage 1 of Final Project

*After the creation of this blog post the idea for the film was changed to a story about a stalker who kills people after texting them "I see you"

When it comes to what type of movie we were going for is group has chosen mystery, and the plot is about a person who was found murdered after taking part of a tense argument online.  The plot is about a girl who vents about her problems at school to her online friends of whom she doesn't know personally, but still see them as her friends. Suddenly the girl is murdered by one of the online friends after a heated argument, but no one in the group knows who killed her. It's similar to Unfriended, but with a hint of mystery in it.  I think it might be part psychological thriller since it kind of focuses on bullying, cyberbullying, and it contains a person getting doxed online (something that many people fear about having it happen to them).

The theme of the movie could be be careful of who you trust online? or be careful of what you share online? Honestly I'm not really sure about the theme yet, but the style it could be like in some scenes we could screen-record the conversation between the group in some scenes and some scenes it could be real life. The characters? Maybe we could try to make the friend group have very diverse personalities. Since their faces and names wont be shown we might have to try to make their online profiles and avatars coordinate to their personality, so when the viewer sees them they could see what they might be like based off of their profile.  Mainly got inspired by Unfriended with the profile thing.

 

After watching the film openings of Get Out and Antebellum, both are psychological thriller and mystery. Both film openings seem to tell a bit of the plot without giving away too much. In Get Out the opening mainly show the couple's mourning routine, even cutting to show how both separately. 

Even while  watching the opening scene for Unfriended (or at least the scene that first plays in the film) it mostly shows the main characters or some characters doing what they would normally do.

 In the first shot of the intro for Get Out it shows someone stuffing what seems to be another person into the back of their car before driving off.  Then it cuts to the title card with a forest in the background, but its made to look like you're passing by a forest in a moving vehicle. 

Later, it shows black and white photographs of different things on the wall and people, such as white pit-bull and a pregnant woman's bump. It then cuts multiple time to show the main character's home, judging by the decoration and the place's appearance we can assume that the main character is a photographer. 

 Later on it shows the male character doing his mourning routine and the female character getting breakfast for them, it continues to cut back and forth to them doing this until the female character returns home with the breakfast and kissing male partner. Based off this information it seems that the two are in a relationship together. 

There isn't really a setting since we were planning for the film to mainly show like a group chat between a group of people online. If a scene requires to see a person I was thinking it could show it from a view of a camera like in Unfriended: Dark Web.

The intended audience for the film I feel would be teenagers, the plot of the film seems like something teens maybe interested in. Yet, the mystery part may draw in older audiences, I may say that the intended audience would be teens and adults who are into mystery.  

They would normally the font looks clean and kind of plan, my guess it's to make it seem serious. Most of the time the font wont take too much space in the poster and in most posters such as The Woman In The Window they mainly show a person's face looking at the camera or from a 3/4 angle. 

The stereotypes in mystery films kind of bother me in a way, like the detective's partner whos there for comedic breaks so the audience can take a break from the seriousness of the plot. There's also the detective who extremely serious about their job and the pretty lady who's mainly there for, I want to say fan service, but I feel like that's not the right word, so I'll just say that for now.