Media Homework

Global and NZ 

   Digitization Trends 

1. 4.388 billion 
2. 4.484 billion
3. Facebook, Youtube, Whats App, FB messenger, WeChat, 
4. 18-24 and 25-34
5. Internet = 4.22 million, Active Social Media Users = 3.40 million
6.  Mobile Phone, any type (92%) Smart Phone (81%) Laptop or PC (84%)
7. 2HRS 42MINS
8. Watch Videos Online = (94%) Stream Content via the internet = (57%)
9.  Youtube, Facebook, FB messenger, Instagram, Pinterest 

Trends within NZ media Consumption

1.  The iGens are the generation of people born from about the mid1990s to the mid-2000s.
2.  iGens are the first generation to spend their entire lives growing up with iPads, iPods and iPhones etc. iGen spend all day connected online.
3.  iGens are concerned with social issues like climate change, social inequality and gender roles. Though they like to be entertained, they are also curious about the world and are eager to be confronted and educated about a wide range of serious social issues. They also want to see content that inspires them to enjoy the ‘little things in life’ and to be reminded to chill out and not to take life too seriously. 
4.  New Zealand films contribute to the iGeneration learning about our country and people. They feel it’s important to share our stories. iGens take pride in New Zealand’s cultural diversity and recognise the social, cultural and economic value of our film industry. New Zealand films can reflect their own lives or give them insights into the lives of others.
5. 
   

• Chilled: escaping for a couple of hours, relaxing and chilling out with no interruptions.

 

• Intimate: being intimate with others through social connection and shared experiences with partners, friends, colleagues and families.

• Hyped: experiencing heightened emotions including being hyped and excited (action movies), shocked and terrified (horror), sad (dramas), and laughing (comedy).

• In the know: feeling that by watching the latest movies you are a leader – that you are at the forefront of the culture and leading social media commentary and opinion.

• Creative: becoming a ‘film buff’ and being creative by following directors and other creative artists involved in filmmaking. 

• Socially conscious: thinking and being curious about the issues raised in the film and using the film to help shape discussion, opinions, views and beliefs

6. Although iGens say they like going to the cinema, watching films online and at home has very high appeal. In-home viewing is easy, convenient, safe, comfortable and costs very little. It can be sociable or equally enjoyable alone. 

7. The cost and ‘administration’ involved with the cinema experience is somewhat out of step with iGens. It is expensive, inflexible and inconvenient compared to watching a movie at home. The lack of flexibility, lining up for tickets and limited food and drink options can all add up to too much bother. iGens are used to accessing films at home, online and often for free. The cost of attending the cinema means that for many iGens, it is only seen as a special treat.

Audience Consumption 

Survey

• What is your age?:

• Out of these 3 movie genres, which is your favourite?

1. Action Films
2. Romantic Films
3. Comedy Films

•  Out of these 3 options, how many movies would you say you watch per year?

1. 10-20
2. 30-40
3. 50+

• Based on the last question, how many of those films would you watch at the cinema?

1. A quarter of them.
2. Half of them.
3. All of them.
4. Barely any of them.

• Name the top three most established cinemas in your area.

• What was the last film you watched?

• If you watch films at home, do you?

1. Watch the film from start to finish?
2. Watch the film with short breaks? (get water/snacks, answer the door, or go to the bathroom etc)
3. Watch film with longer breaks? (Please specify break length and reason here = 

• Out of these Streaming Services, which do you used the most?

1. Netflix
2. LightBox
3. Hulu
4. Other

Audience Trends Homework

Link 1 Notes:

Link 2 Notes:

• With a reach of 67 per cent, broadcast TV remains the media channel reaching the most people on a daily basis. However, based on the trend showing a decline from 83 per cent in 2014, this could well be the last time TV retains the spot on the top of the pile.

• When it came to individual channels, TVNZ 1, somewhat surprisingly, bucked the downward trend, growing its daily reach from 40 per cent in 2016 to 43 per cent in the latest figures (this is, however, down on the 48 per cent in 2014).

• Netflix is now bigger than two of New Zealand's major free-to-air channels – providing a strong indication of how much New Zealand's viewership habits are changing.

• New Zealanders continue to spend over two and a half hours watching linear TV each day, and over an hour and a half listening to radio each day.

• The time spent watching online video, via channels such as YouTube and Facebook, has increased to 49 minutes since 2016.

Link 3 Notes:

• Netflix: The Cost – Basic Plan $9.99 per month (no HD) / Standard Plan is $12.99 per month (HD) / Premium Plan $15.99 per month (Ultra HD)

• Neon: The Cost – $20.00 per month. Just like Netflix, Neon has not changed its plan, price, number of usable devices, or trial time limit. However, the Neon net has been cast wider to include different devices. “Having launched on iOS, Android and Web we subsequently have added X-box 360 and Chromecast,” a representative told us. “In terms of roadmap devices we plan to launch our first Smart TV App very shortly.”

• QuickFlix: The Cost – six-month term of $9.99 then moved to $12.99, Premium Pass $6.00 a month (free with subscription)Out of all the big SVOD services available in New Zealand, Quickflix has changed the most by adding some alternatives to their standard $12.99 plan. The no-brainer option is the six-month term of $9.99 per month that switches to the $12.99 regular after that half-year is up. The second alternate option, for those who are reluctant to subscribe, is the Premium Pass for $6.00 a month which allows you to watch any of their PPV movies once a month. Even sweeter, this Premium Pass comes free with the standard subscription.

• LightBox: The Cost – $12.99 per 30 days, Lightbox is still a TV-dominated domain “focused on bringing the best new and exclusive TV shows to Kiwi households” says Lightbox CEO Kym Niblock. These include recent hits like The Path, Mr. Robot and Better Call Saul, and the service is “constantly adding to our catalogue throughout each month… there are literally thousands of hours of TV to watch.”

Link 4 notes:

• The rise in popularity of on-demand video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime is increasingly seen as a threat to the 113-year-old ritual of going to a cinema to see a movie. James Robins spoke to Dr Karina Aveyard, Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, author of “Lure of the Big Screen: Cinema in Rural Australia and the United Kingdom” and co-editor of “Watching Films: New Perspectives on Movie-going, Exhibition and Reception,” about whether Netflix might kill the cinema.

• Prominent filmmakers have joined the chorus against Netflix and its ilk to defend the cinematic experience, including director Steven Spielberg, who doesn’t believe “films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theatres for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.” Christopher Nolan stated that “Netflix has a bizarre aversion to supporting theatrical films. They have this mindless policy of everything having to be simultaneously streamed and released, which is obviously an untenable model for theatrical presentation.”

• Earlier this year, the organisers of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival drew a line in the dirt: only movies released into French cinemas could be considered in competition. Any film released solely on Netflix or other streaming services were barred from vying for the coveted Palm D’Or prize.

• At last count, Netflix alone has more than 125 million subscribers worldwide, with 1.2 million of them in New Zealand, while cinema attendance in the United States last year dropped to its lowest level since 1995.

CONCEPT FOR PT2

The Soldier

Target Audience = Our target audience is anyone who would enjoy a thriller based action film. The use of the soldiers can relate to some audience members that may have family who serve in the army or anyone who enjoys seeing soldiers in battle and how they operate. 

Genre Conventions

• Blood
• Guns
• Explosions
• Death
• Soldiers
• Terrorists
• Knives

Characters:

1. Sully
2. Ben
3. Jack
4. Nathan
5. Terrorist 1
6. Terrorist 2
7. Target

Setting/time: Is in Russia in a large forest with some open plains, present day. 

plot: The plot for our short film contains a group of soldiers trying to hunt down a terrorist leader and make sure that their group stays alive while doing so. 

Props/ costumes:

• Guns
• Knives
• Army Uniform
• Fake Blood and wounds
• Medical equipment 

Sound and music: Music will be very intense and will cut in and out of the film. Some sound effects will be used in order to tell the audience what is going on. 

Camera Shots/Editing: We are gonna use a lot of close ups in this film so that we can hide a lot of things and almost trick the audience into think we are on a very large set. For some of our scenes we are gonna use darker lighting to give a suspenseful tone. We will be putting in some vfx to set the scene and also tell the audience what is going on, other than advanced cgi the only editing we will be using is basic cuts on premiere pro.

Plot Synopsis: 

First shots of sequence:

1. Run down room that the soldiers are staying in or a campfire at night time. 
2. The next day marching in a line
3. On top of a hill spotted the main target
4. Shot of target and one soldier on the ground.

The action and pace of the film will start slow and the suddenly get very intense and then drop again and then build up to the final scene.

Camera will mainly be focused on the character of BEN as he is our main character and what he experiences in battle.

We will include one explosion and we will have to make sure that on set it looks as best as we can make it before post production. 

Character Names:

• Sully - captain very serious, is the leader of the group and we see that through how he delivers his lines. 
• Ben - is the medic of the group and we see that through his costume and what he is carrying. He is our main character.
• Jack - is the joker of the group and we see him not really taking anything seriously, he provides comedic relief in serious situations. 
• Nathan - is the kind one and no one knows why he became and soldier because it is like he will never hurt a fly, he is the oddball in the group but very nice and relate-able to the group.

Practicalities of filming:

• Our film is very realistic if we can organize our costumes. The location is set and we have changed the setting to match our location.
• The only health and safety issues is the explosion and our characters falling to the ground, there will be no explosion itself as it will be added in post. However we will need to make sure our actors aren't hurt when falling to the ground.
• We do not need location permits as one of our crew members is allowing us to use their property.
• Timing will need to be a Saturday and a night after school.
• Weather will need to be clear so we will need to make sure we plan to shoot on a day that has good weather. 
• Equipment will be all school gear besides the camera as I am going to film on my own camera.  

Media Homework

Case Studies

Hollywood Film - Star Wars Rise of the Skywalker

Title: Star Wars Rise of the Skywalker.
Date of Release: 16 December 2019
Director: J. J. Abrams
A-list Cast:Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega
Budget: 275 million USD
Opening weekend Box Office Numbers: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker earned $176 million opening weekend.
What Platforms is it on: DVD - $20, Cinema, Disney +
Reviews: 52% Rotten tomatoes, 6.7/10 IMDB, 53% Metacritic

NZ Film - Hunt For the Wilderpeople 

Title: Hunt For the Wilderpeople 
Date of Release: 31 March 2016
Director: Taika Waititi
A-list Cast:Julian Dennison, Sam Neill, Rima Te Wiata, Rhys Darby
Budget: 2.5 million USD
Opening weekend Box Office Numbers: Taika Waititi's new film Hunt for the Wilderpeople has set a new box office record. has blitzed the Kiwi box office in its opening weekend taking in a record $1.3 million. 
What Platforms is it on: Amazon Prime, DVD, Netflix
Reviews: 96% Rotten Tomatoes, 5/5 Empire, 7.9/10 IMDB

An Independent Film - The Big Sick

Title: The Big Sick
Date of Release: 20 January 2017
Director: Michael Showalter
A-list Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff
Budget: 5 Million USD 
Opening weekend Box Office Numbers: 5 million USD
What Platforms is it on: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime
Reviews: 98% Rotten Tomato, 7.5/10 IMDB, 4/5 Empire

A Film That didn't do very well - The Interview

Title: The Interview
Date of Release: February 6, 2015.
Director: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg 
A-list Cast: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park
Budget: 44 million USD
Opening weekend Box Office Numbers: It went on to earn over $1.8 million in its opening weekend, and by the end of its run on January 25, 2015, had grossed $6.1 million at the box office.
What Platforms is it on: Youtube RED, Netflix, Google Play Movies
Reviews: 52% Rotten Tomato's, 6.5/10 IMDB, 3/4 Rolling Stone

A 

TREATMENT FOR

THE SOLDIER

Made by DSLProductions

20/04/2020

Our film will be from 0-2 minutes in length and will be film on the North Shore and in the country side of New Zealand. We have chosen these locations because we need an inside shot and many outside shots to tell this story. Another reason being that when we are shooting outside we will have lots of space to work with. 

Our film will include these conventions:

• Guns
• Knives
• Blood
• Army Costumes
• Explosions using vfx
• Documents
• Rough Terrain 
• Chase scene
• Low lighting
• Wounds

Two examples that fit well with our idea of this film is the two films "American Sniper" and "Brothers."

Character Names:

1. Ben 
2. Sully
3. Nathan
4. Jack

Ideology: Our film is showing the audience what life is like for the soldiers that fight overseas for our safety.

Mood and Tone: Mood is high intensity and is very realistic. We want the audience to feel like they are in the film with our characters. We also want the relationship between our characters to be strong so that if one dies then the audience feels upset about this. 

Camera Shots: We are gonna use a lot of close ups in this film so that we can hide a lot of things and almost trick the audience into think we are on a very large set. For some of our scenes we are gonna use darker lighting to give a suspenseful tone.

Themes: Will be everything to do with the military and we will also play on the stereotype of terrorist and what they do to Americans.

Mise en scene: Will be large fields for the majority of the film with some shots being indoors at the start and possibly the end. 

Symbolism: 

• Photos
• Guns
• Blood
• Document

Sound and music: Music will be very intense and will cut in and out of the film. Some sound effects will be used in order to tell the audience what is going on. 

Credits and logos: We will be making a logo and credits can role at the end for everyone who was involved however credits at the start will be for key actors. 

Editing: We will be putting in some vfx to set the scene and also tell the audience what is going on, other than advanced cgi the only editing we will be using is basic cuts on premiere pro.

Creating suspense Homework assignment 

First Video Points:

• Give information at the start of the scene to let the audience know what is going on.
• Develop the character and make the audience relate to the character so that they feel more emotion when something bad happens to that character. 
• Also develop a backstory to the danger so that the audience knows of the scale of the said danger. 

Second Video Points:

• Ask yourself what would the audience want to see
• Crowd pleasing
• Empathizing with the audience which will create suspense
• Watch hands
• Dark lighting
• Make small objects large when wanting to build suspense

Third Video Points:

• Give information to the audience to create suspense
• prolong suspense 

My 5 examples of thriller movie openings:

1. Joker

1. Split

1. Shutter Island

1. Knives Out

1. Bird Box

Many themes are shown throughout these thriller opening scene such as showing the audience the immediate threat and telling them that what the actors have to face, also make the characters more believable by relating them to the audience so the audience can show empathy towards the characters. Having backstory and flashbacks to a characters previous life or previous day can help the audience understand what is going on as they know the beginnings. Films focus on the hands, use dark lighting and make small objects big to emphasize the importance of that object. I am going to try and replicate these techniques used in the industry to make my next short film more suspenseful.