Welcome To London Zoo

In class on 8th October 09, we had a lesson based film making. We were given the chance to randomly pick our Production company, Budget and Scenario. As a group, we got Hollywood Flix (production company), a £20 Million budget and the scenario of 'A fantasy film about a boy who discovers London zoo is filled with magical animals'.

Synopsis

The synopsis of the story that we came up with was kept conventional to make it less risky, just as a Hollywood film company would conventionally do to make sure they receive views from a big target audience.

A Boy called Nicky has a day trip to London Zoo with his parents, when he gets there he is amazed by the Zoo, he loves it and wants to enjoy every moment he has in there. Nicky goes to the toilet just before leaving the Zoo, being such a clumsy child Nicky falls over in the toilet. When he comes out he notices everyones gone, and the Zoo is closed up for the night leaving him very confused and frightened without his parents. In this Zoo there are magical animals, both good and bad. The first group of animals to meet Nicky are the bad ones, the plan of the bad animals is to make them think that the animals are his friends so that he trusts them, and then they will attempt to trap him and eat him. Whilst this is going on the good animals are reviewing this and secretly protecting Nicky from the bad animals evil plans. Eventually Nicky is told that the animals are trying to hurt him, he gets close with Leon the Lion who eventually become best friends. Now that Nicky is with the good animals, the group of bad ones are planning to take him away.

As the ending approaches, the whole Zoo is forced to divide into good and bad to protect or eat the innocent child. As a conventional Hollywood children's movie, the good side wins, but at a cost. Leon the Lion dies to protect Nicky, as the heartbroken child cries away into Leon's chest, the whole surrounding fades away and he wakes up in the same place that he initially fell over in the toilet. He gets up and leaves the toilet, to see that everyones is actually there and his parents are waiting for him ready to leave. On the way out, Leon the Lion winks at Nicky, bringing a big smile to his face as the story ends.

Locations/ Sets

We had £20 Million to spend on this movie. We had 5 locations to film at.

1. London Zoo, costing £1 Million, this is for the main location of the movie.
2. Regents Park Station, £1000 to film the way to London Zoo via Transport for London.
3. A Friends home was another location, this wouldn't cost anything as its a friends property. This is to film the family's home when they're getting ready to go to the Zoo.
4. The toilet is another location, to do this we will use a public toilet which won't be a set location. This is where the kid will have his dream.
5. The last locations is the Bus stop which is free which shows the way to the train station at the start of the journey, this is also advertisement for TFL (transport for london).

The Total Cost for Sets and Locations came to £1,001,000.

Characters & Actors

Nicky is the Main character of the movie. He's a cute little 5 year old boy who is seen to be innocent and vulnerable. He will be played by Ellis Hollins, who has had experience of playing the role of 'Tom Cunningham' for the British Soap: Hollyoaks.

George the Giraffe is another character from the movie who is a Dumb, clumsy yet funny giraffe. The character is the main funny character of this children's movie, voice played by Ricky Gervais costing us £1 Million.

Leon the Lion is a Brave, courageous but reckless lion. He is the closest friend to Nicky and would do anything for him and to protect him. His voice is played by Zac Efron, the well known upcoming star from the teenage movie High School Musical. This actors cost us £5 Million.

Maya the Monkey is the wise older character, seen to be matriarch. Voice Played by £2 Million actress Julie Andrews.

Chaud the Cheetah is the final main character of this film. He is an evil and manipulative Cheetah that leads the Bad animals. His voice is played by Alan Rickman for £1 Million.

Total Cost for actors/actresses is £9,001,000.

Music

We wanted music in our movie aswell, so with our left over budget we were payed for 5 different tracks of music during the film.

A full orchestra score the the main battle of the film costing £500,000.

For the introduction of Maya the Monkey we got Miley cyrus, an International Artist costing £100,000.

The radio in the background at the security office of the Zoo will play Vanessa Hudgens which will cost £100,000.

To introduce Leon the Lion we will have Zac Efron as he already plays the character of Leon. This will cost £100,000.

To introduce the Main character: Nicky, we will use Justin Timberlake because children know of JT from a young age. This will also cost £100,000.

The Total Cost of Music is £900,000.

The Budget Review

Initial Budget: £20 Million

Total Cost for Sets and Location: £1,001,000.

Total Cost for actors/actresses is £9,001,000.

Total Cost of Music is £900,000.

Remaining Budget: Total Cost of Music is £9,098,000.

Film Audience

As this film is a hollywood movie, it will target a wide range audience to gain an appeal to all audiences. This movie is targeted at Young children and their families as the characters include a family with a young child. It would have an Age Range of 4 - 35, this is because it would appeal to a family which could have a young child in it, therefore the age range includes parents and young kids. The movie is supposed to appeal to both males and females as it has both male and female characters, also it has both male and female appealing music throughout the movie, e.g. Vanessa Hudgens for females and Justin Timberlake for the males. 'Welcome To The Zoo' should appeal to all cultures and doesn't have a specific culture or ethnicity to appeal to but instead all as its a hollywood film company therefore tries to gain as much appeal as possible by all viewers. A family from london would mainly be appealed towards as the movie is based in london in their area. Also as this movie is within britain mostly british audiences would be appealed to this as its a movie which represents british backgrounds and society. Audiences that would watch this would other hollywood family films, mainly animated e.g. Bolt. Also this movie is similar to 'Night At The Museum'.

Representation Of Britishness

My film will represent Britishness by having scenes of way to London Zoo via Train. This is a representation of British transport in london which is well known around the world. It will also use other locations like London Zoo itself, which will give an in-site into british family tour attractions. It may also show how a british family would have a day out compared to a american family. Also the use of many British actors/actresses for example, Ricky Gervais and Ellis Hollins represents this movie to be british. Ellin Hollins would not be known outside of british soil therefore this is an appeal towards british audiences more than others like american audiences.