Papadopoulos & Sons- Director's Q & A

From the question and answer session with Marcus Markou, I learned various things about production and distribution of independent films.
Some of the most interesting facts I learned were:

• The locations used for filming the chip shop and kebab shop were two shops in Morden which Marcus took the lease on. Therefore, they could transform the shops exactly the way they liked them, and the crew didn't have to travel far for different set-ups.
• Marcus based the film on himself and his own life story in that he had become very British, ashamed of his Greek background, until he learned to appreciate this and be proud of it.
• Marcus first offered the part of Harry to Stephen Dillane however he was supposedly too busy filming Game of Thrones at the time. Despite this, when Marcus gave the part of James to Frank Dillane (Stephen's son), Stephen changed his schedule in order to take advantage of this one-off opportunity to act with his son.
• When writing the film, Marcus didn't have a specific audience in mind; he intended for the film to be enjoyed by many generations. However, when marketing and distributing the film, Marcus specifically targeted the Greek community.
• Marcus wanted to have a sense of equality and community between all of the cast and crew when filming Papadopoulos and Sons. Therefore, he created a friendly and positive atmosphere on set. For example, he would queue up for lunch with everyone else, rather than taking advantage of his role as Director.

Papadopoulos & Sons- Research

'Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.'

Synopsis
Papadopoulos & Sons tells the story of a wealthy Greek man, Harry, and his family in London. When they hit a financial crisis Harry is forced to re-open the chip shop his brothers and he once owned in order to regain his wealth; accompanied my his typically Greek brother Spiros. Through the journey of opening the chip shop, Harry is reminded of his background and the important things in life rather than wealth.

Information
Papadopoulos & Sons is an independently made full
length feature film by Double M Films written and directed by Marcus Markou.The budget for the film was £850,000. Although the film was only meant to run for one week in a limited number of screens across the UK, the run was extended and expanded to more venues due to unprecedented audience demand. The film received 82% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb.

Cast

Stephen Dillane as Harry Papadopoulos

Georges Corraface as Uncle Spiros

Georgia Groome as Katie Papadopoulos

Frank Dillane as James Papadopoulos

Ed Stoppard as Rob

Selina Cadell as Mrs Parrington

Marcus Markou as News Reporter

Richard Durden as Father Jimmy

George Savvides as Hassan Ali

Cesare Taurasi as Mehmet Ali

Alexander Hanson as Lars

Distribution
Papadopoulos & Sons was distributed independently by Marcus Markou himself. Rather than focusing on the wide audience of the film, Marcus targeted the Greek community in the UK and Greece. In order to do this, he used conventional methods such as social media, predominantly Twitter and Facebook, as well as making a Youtube trailer and a poster. In addition, Marcus took to less conventional methods for example handing out fliers at Cineworld and approaching well-known figures in the Greek community like Greek orthodox Priests. He also took the film to several film festivals in order to gain maximum exposure, which lead to the film being released in Germany earlier this year.

 Wikipedia
IMDb
Official Website

Sweded Project- Titanic

This is my Titanic Sweded blog post. Here are the links to my marketing strategies as well as the film to be released on Youtube... 

Instagram

Twitter

Teaser Trailer

Facebook

Film Link: http://youtu.be/mf3fJ9s0rjQ

Dexter Title Sequence re edit- Evaluation

Summarise the conventions of title sequences that were most important to this task
We had to ensure that we included sufficient information about the cast of the show and who was in it. As we were just adding in the titles, our main focuses were on the typography. The font we chose had to portray the genre while being visible on top of the sequence. In addition, we felt the red colour of the shadow had relevant connotations to the sequence for example, blood.Titles can be static or move with the action in the sequence. We chose to incorporate their movement into the sequence.

How did your group plan to edit the title sequence? (consider timings, industry requirements etc)

We decided to include a minimum of five titles in order to use our lack of time efficiently. Therefore, we could put more effort into each title rather than creating boring static titles. As with industry requirements, we included actor, producer and director names. Before adding the titles, we watched the sequence through in order to find ideal places to insert text for example space to the side of the character.

Explain the creative decisions made by your group

We decided to use red text in a similar font in order to maintain synergy with the show title 'Dexter', however we ended up making the font predominantly white as this was more clearly visible within the sequence and using our chosen effects. To keep the titles interesting, we added various effects that blended well with the sequence while not distracting from the action.

How does your re-edit compare to the original?

There are some similarities between the two, for example the positioning and timing of the titles. However, the original was a lot more static compared to ours which used a lot of movement. In addition, we used a similar font to the original but chose to colour it white whereas the original was red. The original had 23 titles compared to our 5, which meant that there weren't any gaps left without titles.

Sweded Films (BLK)

A Sweded film is an unedited film that has been remade with one take per scene and on a very low budget
The tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times
The term "sweded" has been adopted as a slang term for a cheap spoof remake of any film or film trailer

Sweded Film requirements (from swededcinema.com)

• Must be based on an already produced film
• Range 2-8 minutes in length
• Must not contain computer generated graphics
• Based on films less than 35 years old
• Special effects must be limited to camera tricks
  and arts 'n crafts
• Sound effects created by human means
• Hilarious.

My favourite Sweded Films

In Jurassic Park, I like the various methods they have used to create different dinosaurs. Some have been made with cardboard, where the more animated are played by actors in full costume. I also like the use of voices to create sound affects.

In Edward Scissorhands, I like the the use of iconic scenes from the film to tell the narrative. These scenes have been done in a way that they are clearly recognisable and similar to the orgiginal movie but still sweded and funny. I also like the use of voices to create the music and the creativity in displaying the film title. 

Preliminary Task- Evaluation

Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

The task given was to film and edit a continuity sequence including a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. 

I worked with Georgie, Matt and Aidan. Georgie took the role of acting as she hadn't had much experience in directing before. In order to enhance her camera knowledge, she did film a few shots which she wasn't acting in, including one of our most successful shots; the finale. Aidan decided to act in our prelim as he has had much experience in directing. However, he still made a large contribution to the directing and framing of shots. Matt took the role of director, doing a lot of the camera work. This was because he has regularly acted in media studies and wanted to have more experience in directing and filming. I assisted Matt in directing and filming as this is the role I find most enjoyable. I helped with framing and composition, and filmed a fair proportion of the shots myself. In order to equally share the editing, we divided into two groups, mine being me and Matt. The group worked well divided into these roles, and I feel we all made an equal contribution towards the final result.

How did you plan your sequence? What processes did you use? What theories did you try to take into account?

As a group, we sat down and discussed our ideas for the sequence. We soon came to an agreement about the idea of an interrogation. Despite not having all of our shots clearly thought out, we did draw up a storyboard of a few of the main shots. We also wrote a brief script for the sequence. Luckily our improvisation paid off, but in hindsight it would've saved a lot of time to plan our shots more clearly. When planning our sequence, our main focus was ensuring that we would include everything in the brief. In addition, we wanted to portray some of the genre, but in doing so I feel we paid a little too much attention to the narrative. 

What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

To film the sequence we used one of the school's digital cameras (Canon HV30) with an attached shotgun microphone and tripod. We used the equipment in various ways to produce our shots. Ranging from extending the tripod to gain long shots and establishing shots, to hand held camera work for close up shots such as Georgie crying and the point-of-view of the gun.
In order to edit our sequence, we used Adobe Premier Pro. We went through our shots, selecting the appropriate ones and cutting them down using in and out points. We placed them in the timeline as we went along, using alternating tracks, and then rearranged them into the correct order. Finally, we cut each shot down so the sequence would flow seamlessly. In order to produce the shot-reverse-shots of the conversation, we used the razor tool to divide up the shots.

What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

When planning our shots, we had to think about how difficult it would be to film our sequence in a limited time. Therefore, we tried to keep it simple. In addition, we had to ensure that we had permission from the media teachers to film in PA11, and organise to share the corridor with other groups. We also had to organise props and costumes. When planning, we hadn't taken into consideration the chairs we would have to move out of PA11. Therefore, we had to do this while shooting which did slow us down by quite a bit. During the shoot, we had to control lighting and sound as well as keep within our time constraint and following the continuity rules. When editing, we had to ensure that our continuity was correct by correctly editing techniques like match-on-action and shot-reverse-shot. We were given a time constraint for editing too, so we didn't have time to add effects or music to our sequence.

How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I feel our sequence was successful in that we didn't break the following continuity rules:

• shot-reverse-shot
• match-on-action
• 180° rule
• 30° rule

We also followed the brief by including Aidan opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down opposite Georgie with whom he exchanged some dialogue. I feel this was all done successfully, however if we included less dialogue it would've been much quicker to film and edit.
In addition, if we had planned our shots better then we wouldn't have had to improvise as much. This would've also prevented us from getting carried away with the narrative during the shoot, making editing a much simpler and faster process. Having more time to shoot would've enabled us to film more takes and eliminate mistakes such as the camera jog in the scene of Georgie standing up.

Editing was smooth and the sequence came together successfully. The division of the roles worked well and I feel we were extremely successful as a group.
 

What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?
 

From completing this task, I have learned the importance of pre-production, especially when under a time constraint. I will take this knowledge with me when planning the rest of my foundation coursework. In addition, I have learned how to abide by continuity rules including 30°, 180° and match-on-action. These techniques are incredibly important in ensuring that narrative flow is not interrupted and the sequence is easy for the audience to watch.

Art of the Title Grid Activity- Evaluation (DYM)

Storyboard for Followed

Summarise your film idea. Provide a brief synopsis and outline what happens in your film opening.

'Followed' is a thriller movie about an innocent girl being followed by a villainous character. In the opening, she is on her way to meet a friend while the man follows behind her, getting closer and closer. He is seen placing a gun in his pocket and eventually catching up the girl. The screen goes black and the audience is left to make their own conclusion about what happens to the girl.

What kind of information has been included in your film opening?

In the opening we have introduced the two main characters. A strong representation of character is given for the girl as being innocent and vulnerable. The villain's face is not clearly revealed in the opening, leading to some ambiguity . Nonetheless, this builds up the evil connotations of the character and leads to suspense.
In addition, we have provided two actor names, the director's name and the film title.

How do the titles link to the main film idea?

The font connotes the thriller genre as it is scrawly and scratched creating an eery feeling as well as a sense of panic and rush. The pure white font contrasts the black background to create a sudden impact of horror and fear.

Summarise the expected audience reaction. What should the audience be thinking by the end of your opening? Is your opening clear or ambiguous?

The audience should be wondering:

• why the girl is being followed
• where the girl is going
• who the follower is
• what happens next? ie. does the girl get shot?

I think our opening shows a clear representation of characters but deliberately leaves the ending ambiguous, open for audience predictions.

Identify three things that you included in your grid that are important in the construction of an opening sequence and explain their role in understanding the film.

• We used a close up of the girl's face to provide a strong character representation in order to emphasise her innocence and vulnerability. This enables the audience to instantly establish an opinion on the character. Since the opening is mainly focused on her, the audience gets the impression that she is a main character in the film.
• We used a range of shots and angles in order to keep the narrative clear and interesting. Using longer shots enabled us to give a sense of perspective and setting while the close ups enhanced emotion and character representation.
• We created a mysterious character by not showing too much of the villain, abiding by typical connotations of the thriller genre.

How effective is your project as a film opening? Explain your answer.

Overall, I think our sequence is successful as a film opening. There is a clear establishment of genre and character representation and it is easy for the audience to get a clear idea of the story. The ending creates our desired effect of suspicion and ambiguity.
However, I feel we needed more of an idea of setting. This could've been done through an establishing shot at the beginning. In addition, the ability to control lighting would've enabled us to create a much better sense of genre and allowed for a more interesting film opening.