Communication between the Group

 This first screenshot was after Josh had driven to the location the first time with his family and he sent us pictures of the Bir Zekreet Pillars. We were discussing as a group whether we believe they are suitable to use.

 This was after the first time we shot out in the desert and Diego couldn't make it. We were filling him in on the progress we had made and showed him the rover shots later that night via 'Google Drive.'

Editing Process

In the following video, you can see Josh using Adobe Premier to add in planets to the back of one of our establishing shots. He adds in the images from the internet and fades them slightly, pushing the smaller one to the back of the frame. He also adds more of a purple hue in to the back of the shot. This inevitably became one of my favourite shots and I was so excited to see how it would come out when put together with the rest of the film. Josh did a really good and high quality job with all the editing he did. Whilst editing Josh recorded his screen using Quick Time Player and sped up the process just to give an example of the editing. In reality this took about an hour and a half to edit.

Draft Film Evaluation & Targets

Our Title Analysis

We used a website called 'cool text.com' to create our title. I think the font of the title definitely reveals the Sci-Fi genre as it looks robotic and strong. 

 The word "Andromeda" is very vague and doesn't give anything about the story away (unless you are very well informed about the universe and understand that it is the name of a nearby Galaxy.) Much like the title "Interstellar," it sounds very futuristic and other worldly, and fits in with the conventions of the sci-fi genre. Not only did we want the name of the film to sound like it could fit in the genre, we wanted it to look like it too. So, the font features a an unnatural and futuristic looking blue glow that surrounds all of the letters. There is a also a light coming from an unknown source in the distance that highlights the text. This lens flare could be anything from the dying sun to an exploding star and is all up to interpretation and will hopefully encourage the viewer to go out and watch/ buy the film.

Costume Planning

We only have one human character is our film opening. She is an injured explorer/ archeologist/ astronaut. The vision that I had for her costume was similar to Lara Croft. Although something I would like to avoid from the Lara Croft/ female Sci-Fi character stereotype is how they are sexualised.

For our character we wanted something along the lines of cargo pants and a shirt similar to the picture on the top right. We think using walking boots would be good so some small ankle timberlands should work. Having her hair out of her face but with strands that have come loose to suggest some conflict or exercise.

Plot Summary

Sci-Fi Opening
Andromeda  - Plot Summary


We are in a green, desert wasteland environment. A NASA Rover has been sent out to investigate a distress signal on a foreign planet "ACIDALIA PLANITIA." The Rover comes across various objects such as skulls and bones. The whole placed has been demolished into nothing but sand and these large, black, indestructible alien-like structures. Suddenly we see a bloodied, bruised arm on a rock. A woman then struggles and crawls out. She is trying to escape something but eventually gets captured. The screen goes black very suddenly and we hear a scream as she gets caught. The name 'ANDROMEDA' pops up in bold letters, similarly to Star Trek.

Shot List

This is a list of each of the shots we plan to use:

BBFC Ratings

Andromeda BBFC Rating

We are going to rate our film a 12A in alignment with the British Board of Film Classification, or the BBFC. We decided this for our movie due to the rules and restrictions set by the BBFC. 12A, or 12 Accompanied/ Advisory, means it is suitable for those aged 12 and above if accompanied by an adult.

In terms of discrimination, language and behaviour must not be current throughout. Overly aggressive language and behaviour is not acceptable unless clearly condemned.

Misuse of drugs must be infrequent and cannot and should not be glamorised.

Potentially dangerous behaviour should not be promoted if children are likely to copy it. Glamorising realistic weapons, like knives, must be avoided. Anti-social behaviour cannot be endorsed.

Strong language is permitted, depending on; the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency, and any contextual justification.

Nudity and sex is permitted, however it must be brief and discreet.  Moderate sexual references are permitted, but frequent crude references are not likely to be acceptable.

Moderate physical and psychological threat/ hour scenes. The overall tone should not be threatening.

There may be violence but it should not be overly threatening. No emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory content if justifiable.

Props List

Make-Up

Location Planning

Location Planning

We are planning to work in Bir Zekreet in Qatar because it is desolate and has traces of human existence which is the image we need to get across to the audience.

We decided to use this location due to the 'Zekreet Pillars' and their eerily barren surroundings. These four metal structures are over 50ft tall and look quite alien in comparison to the sand dunes. This represents this alien planet we want to replicate.

Production Company Logo Design

'JDM Pictures'

We called the production company 'JDM Pictures' because it represents all members of our group via our initials (Josh, Diego and Megan.) We followed in the footsteps of major film companies by calling it JDM 'Pictures' such as Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Brightlight Pictures etc.  

We searched for a logo designer online and we tried making a logo from different symbols. The seagull in the logo is just an inspiration we got from companies that use animals in their logo's, such as MGM and the lion in the middle of their logo. 

Sci-Fi Mood Board

Film Title Analysis

This film title immediately is associated with the idea of space and Science Fiction. Although the film title seems, almost mismatched, due to the lack of gravity in space. The font in which the word is written is plain and bold, giving a weight to each letter. The contrasting white on the black background also makes them stand out. The light emerging behind the letters looks as though it is appearing from behind a spherical shape, potentially a planet if you are keeping the idea of space. The letters are widely spaced, suggesting there is an abundance of space and area, hinting at the 'gravity' of the events in the movie. 

Similarly with the movie title for 'The Martian', the Science Fiction genre is instantly hinted to purely due to what connotes with Martians (space, aliens, planets etc.) The writing is again bold and widely spaced, suggesting this abundance of space. The light clearly emerges over a planet in this screenshot. 

Audience Research Analysis

The audience research analysis task gave us a clear insight into our target demographic, meaning we can cater to preference.

54% of the people we asked were male. The majority of the people that said they liked Sci-Fi movies were male, with the occasional female. Disaster Films, Alien Films and Monster Films had the highest amount of interest, leading us to do a disaster type film. The information also suggests that remakes are not nearly as popular as original ideas, therefore creating a new idea instead of recycling an old idea would be better. We also found out that the CGI and editing techniques used are important to the audience, suggesting we should use a program such as After Effects to create some high quality edits.

Focus Group Analysis

Why was the focus group useful?

It was useful having a focus group because we then get couple opinions on what is and is not liked about the opening scene of terminator genesis. We found out that they liked the narration over the top of the scene and the title, 'TERMINATOR GENYSIS', appearing on a black screen. In order to get more from this, we should have asked them to explain slightly more. We found that cliches are liked and disliked by different people. One participant said that the film opening itself was more cliche and and therefore would not watch it. Therefore in our film we need to try and avoid the large cliche's like seeing a male hero immediately established.  The opening scene to Terminator elicits feeling of excitement and intrigue, similarly to what we are trying to achieve. Like I said earlier, we should have asked the participants how this feeling is brought about, but that is our own fault for not considering how we could use these answers to establish our own film opening. Both students said that they found that the CGI and editing helped the opening flow smoothly, which is definitely an aspect that we want to incorporate into our shots, utilizing Adobe Premier. We asked about the concept of a flashback which we have on our storyboard. Zack said that he didn't like having a flashback in the beginning as that is typical of a lot of different genre's. In contrast, the other participant said that this is a good concept as it gives the scene context. Taking this into consideration we decided to have only a few quick, flashy shots of me in a flashback, giving it some context but also hiding any huge giveaways. Although they both agreed that the title appearing on a black background, we decided that our film was going to do this. We discussed with them off screen and explained why we think we should do this, showing them a different film as an example. They both said that this does achieve a bold effect and that it would look good in our film opening.

It was nice to work with these two boys as they had very conflicting opinions. Seeing the two of them explaining a few of their answers was fun because it gave us a wide range of options for our film. It also showed us what to avoid, for example, the cliches that I mentioned earlier.

Graphical Representation of the Questionnaire

I expected more males to be interested in answering a questionnaire on Science Fiction because it is typically a man-based genre.

This is not surprising since Marvel and DC have released a lot more superhero TV shows such as Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Flash for instance. Other than that I expected Movies to be the most frequently consumed type of Sci Fi. Books and Graphic Novels got the recognition I expected.

I didn't quite know what to expect with these results. I personally would have voted for Aliens & Monsters too. I liked the variety of the answers.

The Diversity Gap in Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films

I found this post whilst researching Gender stereotypes in Science Fiction Media. I found it extremely interesting to find out that, alongside gender differences, there is a lack of black protagonists depicted. 

Secondary Audience Profile's

Name: Sasha Coban

Age: 19

Sasha lives in Brighton with her parents and her younger sister. She subverts the stereotypical 'girly-girl' ideals as she doesn't like the typical female activities. Although she does like to go out with her friends a lot, she also likes to sit at home with her parents and watch movies. Growing up, her father used to make her watch films like the Star Wars franchise, and other Sci-Fi based movies. This has created a positive view of Sci-Fi movies that not many of her friends have.

We think she would like this movie as we see, in the opening scene, a female character. This is not typical of a Sci-Fi movie, which would grab Sasha's attention. In terms of mise-en-scene, the character starts crawling along the floor and then the flash of normality shows her with a glass of water, bubbles, flowers - all things that seemingly represent normal life. The camera work does not give away exactly what is happening, leaving some of the context up to the imagination. 

Audience Profile

Audience Profile: Jared Profitt


Age: 17
Gender: Boy
Hobbies: Watching Luke Cage and Scorpion on Netflix, Watching and actively supporting Marvel movies, Playing PC games such as; World of Warcraft, DayZ and League of Legends, Playing PS4 games such as; Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Battlefield. Cosplaying his favourite characters from video games at Science Fiction Conventions.

Our movie appeals to Jared because he enjoys looking at the dystopian future and life on other planets. The disaster on Mars appeals to him in the opening scene because it makes him use his imagination and forces him to ask questions about the scene. He would be questioning how and why the distress signal was sent out, and why they were on Mars in the first place, why are there dead bodies and what creature destroys the Rover.

Similar things Jared would be interested in are: Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Intersteller etc.