Title for the film - Having decided upon our plot line, our group sat down and threw some ideas around as to what the title of the film should be. As there was the 2010 film 'The Expendibles' which starred heavy-weight, established actors in physical roles, we thought something along those lines, mocking the fact that our cast is 4 average teenagers. It was then that I threw out the idea of 'The Kickables' - signifying that we are easily beaten - which would reflect the plot of the film, which is about having a poor superhero status. The others liked the name so it stuck.
Setting/Location - As a key aspect of our story is that we are sixthformers who attend school and lead 'normal' lives as well, we thought that it was necessary to start the film close to the school itself. That is why we chose to film on Pomphry Hill, directly behind Mangotsfield School, so that we could be standing in front of school buildings and yet not be still on school property. Another key aspect of our plot is that The Kickables are protecting Bristol - the local area, from crime and this is highlighted from the line "I felt the urge to bring justice to the World... well, Bristol, at least.".
Costumes/Props - As the characters are all average teenagers trying to be unidentified superheroes, we created our own individual costumes and props, with the view that they would be sub-standard and unprofessional-looking for the effect that it would have on the audience - for comedic effect at the laughable nature of the characters and what they are doing.
Camerawork/Editing - The camera was operated by Joe Westlake, yet we all pitched in to direct where and what shot type we were going for. At times when we weren't on camera, we were behind it - ensuring that we got the best possible result. After every shot we took, we watched it back, to check that it was good enough, and reshot it if we needed to. We used a variety of camera shots and movement including close-ups, long shot, a pan (which was cut from the final edit), a tracking-point-of-view shot amongst others. We tried to use low-angle shots to signify that we have the power, but ultimately, that is just to help secure the idea that we try to be powerful, but we end up getting beaten up by the two youths (cut from the final cut due to timing issues - trying to get the opening as close to the two minute target as possible). We edited two shots to try to speed them up - by upping the tempo on the the first production credits (Universal Studios) which we did to cut some time off, but in doing so, we discovered that it sounded very humorous, and worked well as a variation to the classic credit - much like the variation at the beginning of Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (http://nerdymatt.blogspot.com/2010/12/additional-textual-analysis.html) where a retro variation is used.
Title Font/Style - The font that we used for The Kickables, is called Comicbook and, having browsed through a lot of fonts, we concluded that this one was the best, as it gives a comicbook effect - which we wanted to achieve to mirror the effect that Scott Pilgrim has on the audience. We decided that it should follow us across the screen, right in the middle, so that the characters would be still very visible, but also the title would be read at the same time.
Story and How the Opening is Set Up - As a group, we felt that it would be necessary to have a slightly relatable story to appeal to the audience, whether it would be directly appeal to the nerdier teenagers, or also the young audience that will know people that would attempt something like this. The opening is out of chronological order of the film - as after this short opening section we would go back in time to before they became heroes, and the film would develop the characters into what they are at the beginning, and then further to the end.
Genre and How the Opening Suggests it - Right from the beginning, from the production credit for Universal being funily sped up, we establish our comedy genre. From our introduction of our characters and our naive and youthful characteristics, we try to establish the teen comedy aspect of our audience. By staring teenage/young actors, it is easier for a production to attract the target audience because they can then relate to them, and situations they may encounter.
How the Characters are represented - Each character is represented similarly socially - as teenage nerds, yet individually they have their own qualities. Firstly, as Captain Awesome (me) is the first character we are introduced to, it signifies that, on some level, he is the leader of the Kickables. Captain Awesome's choice of weapon is the lightsaber, identifying him as the Star Wars one. Mysterious Man is up next and is stylishly dressed, identifying him as perhaps the coolest one of the group. Then Mega Boy is introduced - we chose to even have a line of his to be "I'm called Mega Boy because I'm unusually tall for a sidekick" - which immediately shows him to be one of the opening two character's right-hand-man. For Protector, the fact that he has no mask shielding his face, is a parody on traditional superheroes that barely change their facial area and yet can still remain anonymous, such as Superman. He is primarily represented as the gamer who swears, a convention stereotypically held by teenagers in general.
Special Effects - For one clip in particular, the point-of-view shot that shows the zoom to the cigarette packet. To that, we sped up the shot, to put more comedic emphasis on this 'power' and making red to signify the danger and urgency of the situation, and then adding in an alarm sound effect - blowing the situation out of proportion for humour.
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