I can't believe that I have almost finished filming for my two minute film opening! I'll be editing it shortly which will be...interesting.
Today I finished filming with my actresses and we had a great time. I was amazed at how difficult it was to keep control of them all - and that was only three teenage girls so I dread what it's like for directors with larger casts. The filming went according to plan however the storyboard was tweaked slightly - which I will talk about later.
For now, I wish to leave you with this silly video of just how filming 'Black Sands' was!
Thank you to all three of my wonderful actresses (Emily Thomas, Harriet Firth, Rosie Firth) and my parents for braving to lug us all down to the set's location.
Walt Disney Productions recently announced that a new film 'The Jungle Book' would be being released in 2016 and directed by Jon Favreau. It is is based on Rudyard Kipling's book and the 1967 Disney animated film of the same name. It tells the story of an orphaned boy named Mowgli living out in the jungle and evading Shere Khan, a tiger who wishes to kill him.
It was announced that a live action remake of 'The Jungle Book' was in development on 9 July 2013 with Jon Favreau later being confirmed as director. Fareau stressed the importance of nature and stated that "in Kipling's time, nature was something to overcome. Now nature is something to be protected".
The cast are as follows:
- Neel Sethi as Mowgli
- Bill Murray as Baloo
- Ben Kingsley as Bagheera
- Idris Elba as Shere Khan
- Giancarlo Esposito as Akela
- Lupita Nyong'o as Raksha
- Scarlett Johansson as Kaa
- Christopher Walken as King Louie
Favreau decided to cast Johansson to play Kaa - although originally a male character - as he felt the original film was "a little too male-orientated". Favreau also noticed the lack of female characters in the 1967 film version and wanted to reintroduce Raksha's character more prominently, as she was a key characters in Kipling's tales as well. Lupita Nyong'o was cast as Raksha with Favreau stating that "Lupita has tremendous depth of emotion in her performance. There's an emotional underpinning she brings, and a strength, and we wanted that for this surrogate mother. Much of that comes from her voice." King Louie was also changed from an orang-utan to a Gigantopithecus as orang-utans are not native to India. Favreau stated, "We created this looming figure that trying to extract the secret of fire from Mowgli. And also this gave Mowgli the idea the if he had fire, he could have power over Shere Khan, whether it was good or bad. So there was a Lord of the Rings aspect to that; the fire was almost like the ring that was going to give someone ultimate power, but corrupt them as well as create destruction".
The animal characters were created entirely in key frame computer animation, as well as footage of real animal movement, the actors recording their lines, and performance capture for reference. Nearly 70 separate species of native animals are features in the film, with several species portrayed as "150% larger" than their actual counterparts. Jim Henson's Creature Shop was brought in to provide animal puppet figures for Sethi to act against, although none appear in the finished film. Also, MPC developed new software for animating muscular structure in the animals. As well as this, at Favreau's request, the Walt Disney Pictures opening production logo was transformed into an Indian-style castle and panned across a lagoon towards the jungle.
As of 2 May 2016, the movie had grossed a worldwide total of $714.5 million. It had an IMAX worldwide opening of $20.4 million from 901 IMAX screens - which was a new record for PG rated film. By 24 April, it had grossed a total of $39 million in IMAX screens worldwide. It also made $133 million in ten days and is believed to make over $1 billion in ticket sales by box office analysts.
There were promotional images released - as seen below - with the voice actors and their animal characters.
Following the film's early financial and critical success, Disney have already begun working on a sequel. Favreau is reported to return as director and Neel Sethi is reported to reprise his role of Mowgli. It was announced on 25 April 2016 that Favreau and Marks will return to direct and write, and the sequel could potentially have a release date of sometime between 2017 and 2019.
Apocalypse was the first ever mutant and the most powerful, being both immortal, invincible and worshipped as a god. When Apocalypse wakes up in the modern world, he begins recruiting mutants to erase the human race and create a new world for mutants only. These 'horsemen' are: Pyslocke (a "very lethal, very powerful and very strong" mutant according to actress Olivia Munn), Magneto, Storm (a mutant who can control the weather), and Angel/Archangel (a winged mutant).
Xavier has now set up 'Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters' and started accepting students such as Jean Grey and Scott Summers. Scott Summers is Havok's (aka Alex Summers) little brother and Sheridan said that his character is "angry and a bit lost". On the other hand, Jean Grey is a mutant who fears her own telepathic and telekinetic powers. According to Fassbender, Magneto has been living out in Poland where he has fallen in love with a woman and is trying to live a normal life. Whilst Raven has gone solo and is rescuing mutants who are oppressed or enslaved, such as Nightcrawler - who is a mutant capable of teleportation that becomes one of Xavier's newest students. Once she hears about Magneto's situation, she decides to try and help. Magneto's son, Quicksilver will also be part of the X-Men and seemingly part of Xavier's school as well.
The plot seem to mainly revolve around Mystique and Charles forming the first X-Men and fighting to save humanity.
The cast will be as follows:
Alexandra Shipp - Storm
[superhero cast dancing at SDCC]
Ben Hardy - Warren Worthington III/Angel/Archangel
Evan Peters - Quicksilver
James McAvoy - Charles Xavier/ Professor X
Jennifer Lawrence - Mystique/Raven
Josh Helman - William Stryker
Kodi Smit-McPhee - Nightcrawler
Lana Condor - Jubilee
Lucas Till - Alex Summers/Havok
Michael Fassbender - Magneto
Nicholas Hoult - Beast
Olivia Munn - Pysylocke
Oscar Isaac - Apocalypse
Rose Byrne - Moira MacTaggert
Sophie Turner - Jean Grey
Tye Sheridan - Scott Summers/Cyclops
According to director Bryan Singer, the film will focus on the origin of the mutants, featuring the younger characters of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm. He also said that he was considering Gambit and a younger version of Nightcrawler to appear. Nightcrawler was later confirmed to be played by Kodi Smit-McPhee with his character being the main source of comic relief, however Gambit has not yet been confirmed. The film takes place in 1983 and will end the trilogy that started with X-Men: First Class and is set twenty years before the first X-Men movies which were made in the 2000s.
[superhero selfie at San Diego Comic-Con]
In July 2015 during the San Diego Comic-Con, director Bryan Singer and Stan Lee released the cast of the new X-Men movie along with it's first teaser poster - along with taking the famous superhero selfie. Footage was also released during this preview at Comic-Con however this was not posted on YouTube. The only footage that has currently been released is the official trailer which was released on 11 December 2015.
In October 2015, 20th Century Fox partnered with M&M chocolates to promote the new film. The promotion was made by special packaging, TV and cinema adverts, and social media posts showing the M&M characters as part of the X-Men. The first image tat M&M produced was one of the M&M characters wearing Storm and Magneto costumes.
The film release date for the United States is 27 May 2016.
After the cast and crew of the fifth film 'On Stranger Tides' were told to not take on any work due to the producers wanting to shoot a fifth and sixth film back-to-back, film fans have been eager to know what exactly Jack Sparrow will be up to next.
Whilst promoting The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Orlando Bloom indicated that the next Pirates of the Caribbean might serve as a reboot for the franchise, saying: "Basically they want to reboot the whole franchise, I think, and do something with me and the relationship with my son."
The film was initially planned by Disney to be released in 2015 but was delayed to 2016 and then further to 2017 due to issues with the script and the film's budget. Due to delay, the film is reportedly $70 million over the initial budget and is now set to enter cinemas around July 2017.
The plot supposedly is that Captain Jack is faced by his enemy the ghost pirate, Captain Salazar and his crew of ghost pirates who are determined to kill every pirate alive after escaping the Devil's Triangle. Jack Sparrow must now search for the Trident of Poseidon - which gives the owner control over the seas - to use against Captain Salazar and protect the pirates once more.
[a supposedly fan made poster]
The cast will be as follows:
Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow
Javier Bardem - Captain Salazar
Geoffrey Rush - Captain Hector Barbossa
Brenton Thwaites - Henry Turner
Lewis McGowan - young Henry
Kaya Scodelario - Carina Smyth
Orlando Bloom - Will Turner / Davy Jones
Kevin McNally - Joshamee Gibbs
Stephen Graham - Scrum
Martin Klebba - Marty
Giles New and Angus Barnett - Murtogg and Mullroy
The cast is said to also include Golshifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Adam Brown, Danny Kirrane and Delroy Atkinson.
Kaya Scodelario said that the film "will have much more of the feel of the first film, the producers want to take it back to the beginning again. They wanted it to have this epic journey, and for it to make sense, and for it to tie things up, and also lead to new storylines.". She explained her character's role saying, "she is an academic, she's fighting for the right to study at university, because women couldn't at that time. So she's on her own journey - looking for the trident of Poseidon - and she has a diary with clues.". She was keen to express the difference between Carina and Elizabeth Swann, believing that she was not just another interpretation of the character. In early drafts of the script Scodelario's character appeared as Barbossa's daughter and was a love interest of Sparrow's alongside being an astronomer accused of being a witch.
Also, as anticipated, the character of Will Turner turned Davy Jones will be returning since his disappearance at the end of the third film. Orlando Bloom stated that he would love to portray his character outside of his usual role types as a hero: "I’m of course Davy Jones now, so I’m down the bottom of the ocean. It might be kind of fun to do something where I’m rumbling round the bottom of the ocean, because I won’t look anything like me."
Another new character that has been introduced is Henry Turner - Will and Elizabeth's son - who is trying to search for his father, Davy Jones and struggles to break a curse that is preventing him from doing so.
Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa) implied that his character might, once again, be returning as a villain in the film. He believes that Barbossa 'could explode in horrific ways', referring to Barbossa's personality traits that are mainly made up of megalomania (power hunger). Geoffrey Rush also stated that his character and Captain Jack are 'the heart of it and there's a whole new set of story lines.' showing that the plot lines have returned to being based around the rivalry and friendship of the two pirate captains.
Filming supposedly started late September 2014 in Australia, which was further confirmed by Disney in October 2014 when they stated that the film would exclusively take place in Queensland, Australia. After a ninety-five day shoot, filming ended on 21 July 2015.
The film was first showcased at the Disney D23 Expo 2015 where Johnny Depp appeared in costume as Jack Sparrow and the film's logo was revealed.
"Everyone involved wants the script to be right and perfect. So we
have gone on to do other things. We are still going to do the film together.
I enjoy them immensely. They are super talented. They have a great sense
of humour. I think they have a really fun approach to what we are going to
do with the next 'Pirates.' Very happily and proudly, I have welcomed taking
part in the story and working directly with the screenwriter - he and I. It's
working out really well that way. So I have high hopes for that 'Pirates 5'
because if that's really the last one, which it probably is, I feel that we owe
it to the audience who went and saw the films so many times. We’ll do
Previously I posted my audition results for my film opening 'Black Sands' however there have been some minor adjustments. Due to issues with getting all three of my actresses together on the same day I have had to make sure that I have an extra for the role of the character Alys West.
Disney was founded in October 1923 in the United States and was found by Walt Disney and Roy Disney. Disney provides films worldwide and is one of the most famous film distribution companies.
Disney have five different media networks: ABC Television Network (1953), Disney|ABC Television Group (2004), ABC Family (2001), Disney Channels Worldwide (1983) and ESPN (1979).
Disney have also posted films that they are planning to make soon or have started scripting. These films include 'The Jungle Book', 'Alice Through The Looking Glass', 'The BFG', 'Beauty and the Beast', and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'. Currently, some of these have already been advertised through trailers. Using trailers is a way that Disney advertise their films, showing them at cinemas and also on YouTube. Posters have also been released but one of Disney's most famous source of advertisements is their resorts.
Disney World Resort was founded in October 1971. The property covers 27, 258 acres but sadly, Disney died on December 15 1966 - before construction began.
One of Roald Dahl's classic stories, 'The BFG' - directed by Steven Spielberg - is the story of a young girl who is kidnapped by the BFG - a 'Big Friendly Giant' - who takes her to Giant Country. Initially scared of her captor, ten year old Sophie begins to realise all is not as it seems and is bewildered by the BFG's temperament. The film portrays Sophie's encounters with the BFG such as the other giants: Bloodbottler and Fleshlumpeater, and Dream World.
Alice Through The Looking Glass
Based on Lewis Carroll's stories, 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' reunites the characters of 'Alice In Wonderland' in a new fantastical tale as Alice returns to save the Mad Hatter. New characters such as Time, a half-clock half-human, and the Mad Hatter's father himself!
Marvel's 'Captain America: Civil War'
Set after the events of 'Avengers: Age of Ultron', the Captain is searching for his long lost friend: Bucky Barnes - also known as the Winter Soldier. But a rift has formed between the elite team of Avengers, one lead by Iron Man and the other by Captain America. Now is the time for a new enemy to emerge and the divided force must reconcile to protect the world.
Marvel's 'Avengers: Infinity War'
Although it is not clear what the plot for this film will be, from the trailer fans can understand that Thanos as obtained he infinity stones: space stone (blue), mind stone (yellow), reality stone (red), power stone (purple), and the final stone (green) for his Infinity Gauntlet. This sequel to 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' is sure to leave fans wanting more.
Vertigo Films is a UK film and distribution company that was founded in 2002. The company creates and distributes commercially independent cinema and has produced 28 films and distributed another 35.
They have made films such as: The Football Factory (2004), Shrooms (2007), Valhalla Rising (2009), Monsters (2010) and The Sweeney (2012). 'The Football Factory' ended up being the biggest independent UK DVD of all time and 'Monsters' became a multi award winning film.
Vertigo Films also owns a successful post production company in Berlin called: The Post Republic
Today our school hosted a media assembly for years seven all the way up to sixth form. The media team quickly put together a video for the assembly to portray what we do around the school to do with media. It was tremendous fun to make having filmed a minute portion of the footage the day before and using our previous productions as examples. Overall it turned out amazingly!
Well done to everyone who helped us give the assembly and thank you to Katriona and Mrs Williams for helping Harriet and myself put this video together!
