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HARVEY GILLETT

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 1225

CLAREMONT FAN COURT SCHOOL: 64680

I worked with Frederick Howe 1230, Tamara Rudd 1258 and Oliver Macnaughton 1243. 

I hope you enjoy my blog, which contains my work on my G324 Advanced Portfolio. 

I chose brief 2: construction of a film trailer for Welcome To Eden including two ancillary products promoting the film: a film magazine front cover and a film poster. 

My evaluation questions are above.

My research, planning and construction process for my two ancillaries is above in MY MAGAZINE COVER and MY FILM POSTER. 

The research, planning and construction for my film trailer is below. 

FINAL FILM TRAILER - 'WELCOME TO EDEN'

Magazine Cover

When deciding the font for my magazine cover, I found it difficult deciding which one I liked most. Therefore, I decided to get some feedback from my peers and where it says 'yes' is one of the options my friends chose and where it says 'hi' is another one another friends choosing which one they like most. This made it easier for me to eliminate certain fonts. 

As a result, I chose to font type: Wawati SC Regular where it says 'yes hi' as both my peers liked that one, and so did I so it felt like the right choice. 






The image below shows my peer looking through the different fonts and having her input. 

The concept and aim of my magazine cover will be to portray Ular Kadir as a puppet master, holding and controlling the lives of Adam and Eve. I feel like it is an effective way to convey the manipulative character and his sinister personality. 

Furthermore, I will capture Ular Kadir holding the puppet frames in each hand, whilst Adam and Eve will be tied to the strings and will be under his control and power. 

Magazine Cover

Evaluation: Facebook

Construction: Lampost Scene

For this scene, my group and I shot the scene in which Adam and Eve find the flyer advertising the room for a bedroom within Ular's house. We didn't use a tripod for this scene as we decided to use a handheld camera instead. This was to get a sense of movement, as though the audience are moving alongside the characters. We reshot the scene on a few occasions as we didn't get the sense of excitement from the main characters, however it was only a quick shot that is crucial in our trailer.

We managed our time well, and fortunately had enough time to spare to squeeze in extra filming. There was a graveyard nearby that we utilised with consent. These shots were filler shots but allowed us to express the religious connotations that have become such a fundamental part of our trailer.

Furthermore, whilst travelling back from filming. After carrying out safety precautions, we did extra filming. Whilst Eve was depicted as the driver, Adam filmed her in a mesmerizing manner displaying how much he adores her. This will be used as a point-of-view shot.

BRICK LANE

In today's lesson we watched a screening of Brick Lane, directed by Sarah Gavron.

• Nazneen appears uncomfortable in her new home that is Brick flats located in Brick Lane. This is juxtaposed with the opening scene of rural Bangladesh life amid flowing rivers and green fields, accompanied by haunting lyrical music. 
• Nazneen refuses to accept her adopted country and she isolates herself until she takes on sewing, which happens to be her first step in her development as an independent woman. 
• The identities located in Brick Lane are represented as being inward-looking as there is a closed Bangladeshi community that protects itself from the outside British world. 
• The film crunch comes into place in Brick Lane post attacks on the World Trade Centre. This results in the backlash against Britain's Muslim community as they are all generalised as terrorists. 
• Karim's involvement in anti-racism and local protest meetings triggers Nazneen's political awareness, which strengthens her personal development and voice. 
• In the film, identity is hybrid and dynamic, shaped by outside influences. 

Research: Magazine Cover

Construction: Woodlands Scene

In this scene, my group and I shot what we call a 'Happy Scene' in the woods, showing the good and loving periods in Adam and Eve relationship. We found a variety of areas in the local woodlands to use for this particular scene and portrayed them looking in love, holding hands and laughing. An example of a scene we captured: we used the leaves on the ground and had Adam and Eve play with them and mess around in order to create the romanticised atmosphere in the trailer. As a result, we are able to use this scene to contrast with the darker elements that will appear at a later stage in the trailer showing destruction. 

 I feel we were very fortunate with the mise-en-scene. The weather was stunning and we managed to capture the sunlight in our shots to connote the positive and warm atmosphere in this scene. However, the conditions were still cold so our characters were dressed appropriately. Whereas, a previous romantic scene we captured before the characters are wearing less layers as the weather was warmer. The contrast in the two romantic scenes will display ellipsis in time in our trailer.

Movie Poster

Feedback: Movie Poster

The screenshots below show the stages of my poster where I had to get feedback and opinions of others in order to achieve the best and most ideal poster for my trailer. I had massive difficulty with choosing the correct poster credits so that it is clear to read and stands out. 

The screenshot on the right shows the red version, where I trialled the red coloured writing. However, through feedback, I learnt that the red writing clashed with the red coat worn by the character, Ular Kadir.

The screenshot on the left shows the white, red, white version. This worked better and was clearer to read, however, through feedback I was told it doesn't looking very appealing and looks unprofessional. Therefore, I accepted their advice and continued to play around with the colour.

The screenshot on the right shows the blue version. This was successful in terms of reading capability. But, through feedback I was informed it is very dark and takes the attention away from the rest of the poster.

The screenshot on the left shows the white version. The colour worked well alongside poster and was not as eye-catching as the blue. But, through feedback I was told that you cannot read the white on top the white shirt worn by the character, Adam.

Metropolitan Museum Of Art

On February 14th (yesterday) I visited the Metropolitan Museum Of Art located on 5th Avenue in the heart of New York City. The purpose of my visit was to look at the exhibition that was 'Reconstructions: Recent Photographs and Video from the Met Collection' as a hobby of mine is photography. However, I take a huge interest in all kinds of art and took my time strolling around the various galleries that offer such a diverse heritage of global art. 

Nonetheless, one of the paintings that enticed me most was the Albrecht Durer interpretation of Adam and Eve produced in 1504. Durer was a German artist who was heavily under the influence of Italian theories. He became drawn to the idea that the perfect human form corresponded to a system of proportion and measurements. Furthermore, Durer had a fascination with ideal form is manifest in Adam and Eve. 

Furthermore, in search for the ideal nude, and obsessed with creating a perfect human form based on mathematical proportions, Durer engraved Adam and Eve, "God's own personally made patterns of beauty". The first man and woman are represented in nearly symmetrical idealised poses: each with the weight on one leg, and the other leg bent, and each with one arm angled slightly upward from the elbow. The branch that Adam holds is of the mountain ash, the Tree of Life, while the fig, of which Eve has broken off a branch, is the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. 

The famous Durer engraving is his own representation of what he defines to be the perfect human. For my film trailer, Welcome To Eden it entails the life of 'perfect humans', Adam and Eve in a not so perfect modern-day world. Ular is the character who possesses the perfect attributes in modern-day life with a spoilt and luxurious lifestyle who attempts to lure Eve into his surreal world of wealth and arrogance, resulting in the jealousy of Adam. 

Rockefeller NBC Tour Media Studies

Construction: Social Media

Social media is a distribution tool

Film makers should use social media to help distribute their movies. This is because 74% of people in the 18-16+ age group are on social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Moviemakers everywhere should be using social media because of the access to a wide age range. 

I’ve used Instragam in two different ways: in a more traditional platform as a way of linking audiences to our film but also in a more imaginative way we have created the persona in our people who post as though they are real people, to be specific, the characters of Eve and Ular. I understand how vitally important it is to create synergy across our different platforms to build our audiences. 

A vital benefit of using social media is the fact that it is interactive, that it is a two way street of communication. With allure of going viral. 

I have researched case studies such as Lion Gate’s, clever marketing of the popular song “The Hanging Tree” to spread the word about The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. This resulted in 20 million views on Vevo’s Youtube page. A second case study involves the low budget indie film It’s a Disaster. It was decided to release this entire movie via the app Vine, in six second segments, according to the jokey press release. This stunt got everyone talking. A third ingenious way of connecting with audiences is the marketing strategy os using Alternative Reality Games, creating a fictional world that users in the real world interact with. 42 Entertainment have created several popular ARG’s for films such as, The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo. 

Our choice was to use Instagram as well as Facebook and Twitter. 

(Source: Movies and Social Media Marketing Films with a new media By Caitlin Neely 03.06.15)

Construction: Ular Interrogation

Construction: Eve Interrogation

Construction: Adam Interrogation

From my research into professional filmmakers practices I came across the film website, FilmEscape. In his book, Riding The Alligator, Pen Densham provides a checklist of questions every writer and director should ask themselves when they are developing their characters. It allows you to open up your own understanding of who or what your character might be. It motivates your characters choices, reactions and dialogue through the story.

I was really impressed with

Construction: Washing Up & Dropping Bag Scene

Earlier today, my group & I filmed two scenes for our trailer, Welcome To Eden. Unfortunately, we began with poor time management and organisation as we only had an hour and a half to try film as much as possible because members of the group had made commitments in the evening. 

However, although we weren't able to film much, the scenes we did manage to capture we filmed in great quality and detail. We began with a washing up scene between Adam & Eve where they were shown laughing and being flippant