Filming, 9th November 2008

This was on the same weekend as our first attempt, but luckily we were able to get a tape and so could still do this part of filming. It went quite well overall, at first we thought there would be a problem with the lighting however we were able to use artificial light effectively and in the end we were able to make it look good. We also plan to change the darkness of the shots in post film editing which should hopefully improve it further. During this editing, we are also going to have a look at changing the colour filtering because the indoor lighting we used made a lot of the shots look very pinky which doesn't suite the genre of the film. We were quite happy with the filming we got done in this session, and liked the camera work in a lot of the shots we did, for example this scenes using handicam worked well and helped to create tension in the scene. Although the filming went well, we found it much harder than we first anticipated, and in the end, very few of the shots were actually the same as the ones we planned in our storyboard.

Filming, 7th November 2008

We went out to film the latter part of our sequence on this day. We took out all the equipment and arrived at location at the arranged time. However, when we were setting up the equipment, we realised that we had forgotten the tape, and were unable to film on this day. This was our first real shooting experience and although it seemed like it had gone badly, we were able to obtain another tape, and we now know that we need to make sure we check everything before we go filming, which will help in the next few sessions of filming.

CF feedback background research

Excellent work. You have met all deadlines and this blog demonstrates that your research is clearly informing your creative process and that you are using ICT to collaborate as a group. I am particularly impressed by how your reccie has informed and improved your concept. The pitch was excellent – entertaining, well planned, informed by research into target audience, possible locations and generic conventions through film analysis. Your treatment was very convincing. Your storyboarding, scripting and location reccies show that you are carefully planning your work in advance of shooting.

Your planning mark currently stands at a level 4 - well done. There will be a slight variation in score due to differences in standard of film analysis, however this is the only area. As a group, you are working extremely well.

To achieve this overall, ensure that your time management and shoots are well organized and that all deadlines are met.

I’m looking forward to seeing how you carefully use location to establish the right “urban” tone!

Mrs Fernandez

Filming

After discussions in our group we have decided to try and get the majority of our filming done the first weekend. Due to work commitments and private commitments we have to try and get all the filming done friday after school and sunday evening. This could pose problems relating to light. But we are trying to link the filming on friday and sunday so we film at roughly the same time. If the light does cause us a large problem then we will have to resort to just filming the interior shots and doing the exterior shots at a later date. By trying to complete all the filming this weekend it enables us to spend a lot of time sorting out editing, soundtrack and title screens. We believe allowing ourselves to spend a lot of time on these three things will help improve our final opening sequence a great deal.

Pitch

Location

Our opening sequence is going to be taking place in a number of different locations. However the main two, are Jake's house and the surrounding area, and an abandoned factory near my house. Here are some pictures of Jakes house and the surrounding area which will be filmed:




These were the sites that we initially planned to shoot both the breaking in and running away scenes in, however we decided that there was too much greenery in the locations so instead, we have decided to shoot the running away scene in this factory near my house:


We chose this new location because it is near a large industrial site and will allow us to obtain the urban look we are going for.

Disscussion

After a small disscussion we have realised the light outside when shooting at our two seperate locations could be a big problem. Due to the fact that we are shooting on two seperat locations with shots outside we will have to be very carfeful when we shoot. We do not want one shot in the day light and one at night so we are going to shoot both shots as close to the same light as possible and we will try to use the editing techniques to cover up any differences.

a quiet word

You can keep the bruce lee tips - but can we please lose the frog at least?

annoying when marking!

cf

Evaluation of Audience Research

Considering our genre was British urban gangster we thought it would be suitable to direct our questionnaire to young males. As this was our target audience it was very easy to gain access to this audience as we could use fellow students in our year. To gain access to this audience we went to the library in a free period and handed it out to sixth formers in this area. By doing this we were able to receive the questionnaires back within minutes. In the end we were able to receive 16 questionnaires back and we believed this was enough to gain the information we needed. The first three questions in our questionnaire were used to find a bit about the person filling in the questionnaire, finding out their names, ages and gender. By doing this we were able to see how opinions differed depending on age and gender. We then listed six films and asked the respondant to rate the films out of ten, by doing this we were able to see what films our target audience liked the most and we could maybe take elements from this film and use it in our own opening sequence. We then asked questions relating to what people thought and expected of the genre British urban gangster. We asked what images people expected of this genre, what the characters should be like, what elements should feature in this genre and if they like films which comformed to their expectations. By doing this we could see what people expected of a typical film of this genre and then use these elements in our opening sequence. The last question of our questionnaire was to find out what the target audience thought of our 4 possible titles for the film. From our results we were able to find out a lot of usefull information which could help us in creating our opening sequence. We found out that the target audiences favourite film out of the list we offered was Snatch. This film is a gangster film with an element of humour. From our results we found that the target audience liked a film which comformed to their expectations and it had to have an urban location and had to include crime, drugs and violence. The target audience believed the anti hero should be tough, violent and fearless. We can take this into account and use this to create our characters. People believed that the best title was 'The Come Up' with 'Lad Land' just behind. So therefore we have chosen to call our film 'The Come Up' and our one liner be 'Welcome to Lad Land'. We thought that all our questions were useful to us but a few of them could of been improved. For the question in which was asked the respondent to rate the films, we found that some of the respondants hadn't seen some of the films so therefore we could not gain a true representation of what film was the favourite. Also we had two questions which were very similar based on what images and what props they expected from our genre, these two questions gave very similar results so we could of replaced one of these questions with another, more useful question.

Script for Opening Sequence

Scene 1: Outside House
Speaker 1
Tommy (Jake Tomkins)
Its all clear boi. Come down now.

Speaker 2
Tyrone (Nick Reilly)
Safe.

Scene 2: Inside House
Speaker 1
Tommy (Jake Tomkins)
You check that room I'll look in here. (Forecefully)

Speaker 2
Tyrone (Nick Reilly)
It's not here, what shall we do. (Panicked)

Synopsis of Opening Sequence

The first shots of our opening sequence are of character #1 checking out the house to make sure the house is empty and checking the exits. This character then calls the character #2 who is waiting in an alley at the top of the road using a mobile phone. There is then a shot of a blank black screen revealing the time. This then cuts to character #1 and character #2 then go down the side of the house and break in through the side door. These two characters then rummage around the house looking for an unkown something, during this there are shots of someone in a car pulling up to the house and is clearly the owner of the house. These two link up so the two characters run out the house, not having found the thing they were looking for, as the owner of the house returns. Character #1 and character #2 are then shown running away down a hill and then hiding beneath a bridge catching their breath. This then cuts to a title screen revealing the title of the film 'The Come Up' and the one liner 'Welcome to Lad Land'. All through this opening sequence music is playing, starting slow and repitive and then breaking in as the characters are running away.

Pitch Evaluation

On Friday 31st of October, we presented our pitch to the rest of the class. Within this, we included details on both the concept of the opening sequence, but also a background of the basic idea of the story of the whole film, including thoughts on iconography, costumes and locations. We chose to use a flash forward in our opening sequence and have the whole film then building up to the events shown. We decided to do this to create an enigma. We found some locations that we thought would be suitable for this film, however after presenting this idea to the class, we found that the majority thought that there was too much greenery around some of the locations we had found, especially in relation to the genre of the film we were making. In response to these criticisms, we have found a new location, based in a large industrial area, and we feel this will be far more suitable. We also presented to the class our idea of titles and one liner and based these on our audience research. The class agreed with the people who filled out questionnaires and said that they liked our title, which was 'The Come Up' and also the one liner, which was 'Welcome to Lad Land'. So far we have had good feedback and also feel ourselves that our idea will work well.

Group Roles

After a discussion in our group we have sorted out the group roles. We have two main characters who are robbing the house and then one other character in a car approaching the house. We have taken the appearance of Jack Clark into account and realised he does not fit in with the stock characters image of our genre. Therefore Jack Clark will be the character in the car as the shots used for this character do not reveal a lot of the appearance. Jake Tomkins and Nick Reilly will be the two characters who are robbing the house and then running away at the end of the sequence. One character at the start of the sequence checks out the house which will be Jake Tomkins and then another character waiting in an alley at the top of the road which will be Nick Reilly.

Treatment

Here is our treament for our film 'The Come Up':

Imagine a young lad called Tommy, growing up in Lad Land. The streets are full of revenge and hate. Where everyone has to fend for themselves, and you can trust no one. Tommy has a good upbringing in a wealthy area until his dad is found out for fraud and sent to prison. They are forced into moving to a poor deprived area. Tommy is alone with his mum, no friends, no father. What hope does Tommy have? Tommy falls in with the wrong group of people. Starts to lead the life of robbery, drugs and violence. Tommy and his gang start to work their way up through the ranks and gain more status on the streets through fights and heists. They rise to the top of Lad Land but for it to only lead to the gang and Tommy’s downfall. They set out on the biggest job they’ve ever done, full of risk and uncertainty. But little did they know it would change all of their lives forever.

Technical Analysis of Snatch

XCU- of back of unknown characters head PEDS UP TO
MS- of character #1 and character #2- voice over CUTS TO
CU- of character #1’s face- his voice over CUTS TO
CU- of character #2’s face- making weird facial expressions- voice over CUTS BACK TO
CU- of character #1’s face- looking around- still his voice over CUTS TO
MS- of character #1 playing with ear and character #2 looking around CUTS TO
CU- of character #2’s face- still looking around- still voice over CUTS TO
CU- of character #1- looking around- still voice over, but sighs over the top

From doing a technical analysis of the opening of the film ‘Snatch’ I have found out that there does not need to be a large amount of shots, and also not a wide range of different shots. Within this opening sequence only 3 different shots are used with two being used on a number of occasions. Overall there are only 8 shots in this opening sequence of ‘Snatch’. There is no actual dialogue between characters but a voice over of character #1 is running over the top of the shots all the way through this opening sequence. By using the XCU and just showing the back of an unknown characters head it creates mystery and an enigma as the viewer does not know who this character is. By using MS it enables the viewer to see the whole upper body of the characters and then the viewer can use this to create an image of these characters by looking at them and their clothes. CU shots are used in this opening sequence to show the characters facial expressions which also help the viewer to create this image of the characters.

Technical analysis of Kill Bill: Volume 2

My technical analysis turned out to be quite short as the opening sequence of the film was a small number of quite long lasting shots. The sequence as a whole contained a wide range of shots, including both XLS and BCU shots. It also contained different types of movements such shots that track in from XLS, and this gives the audience and overview of the specific scenes. There are also shots both in black and white and in colour which allows the viewer to differentiate between the shots as a lot of them are isolated and it is not a continuous narrative. There is both diagetic and non-diagetic sound used in the opening sequence, the diagetic sound is used to give the viewer a background into the story, and the non-diagetic sound is used to create tension and suspense. Within the first two minutes there is also a set of three titles which gives background information on the making of the film, and also puts the follwing scene into context. The music in this sequence is quite important because of the way it builds up in a shot and then the shot change at the climax of the music, when the tension has peaked.

Buisness of Film

Every film starts off with an idea. This involves sources of inspiration which will help you come up with the idea of the film, the producer who decides weather they want to make the idea into reality, the director who puts the idea onto the screen with the help from actors and cameramen etc, the writer who defines the story and clarifies it, the treatment which is a brief synopsis of the film and a pitch which covers all aspects of the film for a producer to try and sell the idea to financers and commission a script.
The development finance contains the pitch, production companies who give money to the film for development, sales, distribution, broadcast where the producer offers future rights to the film in exchange for money. It also includes public investment which means that the producer can go to things like the UK film council and apply for a development grant. It also has private financers who may invest money into the film.
The script development contains a synopsis of the film, a step outline which is used to plan their script, revisions where the script will be sent to the financers, the final draft when everyone is happy with the script. Then the writer gets paid. Then the creation of the sales treatment.
The packaging is when the producer and director then package the script into a full commercial proposition ready for financing. The cast, when they select actors to play the roles in the film. The heads of department, (hods) who carry considerable clout with financers. Detailed budget and production schedule because the producer must know how much the film will cost so he can then keep to the budget. A finance plan and recoupmerment schedule so that the producer can inform the investors their plans on raising the money and how they will pay them back. The complete package is when every thing is put into a commercial proposition.
There are a number of ways that finances can be raised in order to have the funds to make the film. For instance, you can sell the rights of the film before it has been made and this allows you to use the money for the making of the film. However to find investments such as these, the producer has to travel around the world and speak to different potential investors. It is also possible to borrow money and receive investments from banks as there are individual departments within banks that are designed for this purpose. Before any of this is possible you need to make sure you have completion bonds as an insurance policy for investors.
Once this has all been done, the shooting script is circulated and pre-production begins. The casting director, producer and director then go about selecting and casting the actors. You then make a storyboard which is like a blueprint of the film setting out the scenes and shots. The production designer then plans and hires people to build the sets for each scene. The special effects shots are always the hardest to do and can often take months.
After shooting begins the camera department are responsible for getting all the footage the director and editor need to tell the story. After all elements, such as lighting, sound and makeup have been sorted; the shooting of a scene can begin. The actors must make sure they do there job well by creating emotion and suspense to draw the viewer in. Whenever a special effect is used, it is always thought out and constructed carefully and at minimum risk to the actor. Film making has to be extremely organised otherwise managers can be forced to step in and make tough decisions.As each scene comes in the editor changes and arranges the order turning it into a full narrative. Once the visual pictures have been decided the audio technicians then get to work editing and adding sound to every scene. Digital effects and title credits are then all added once this has been done. You then have to adjust the colour and fine aesthetics of the film to get a well-rounded piece. Once the picture is locked, the rough sound mix goes to a dubbing theatre where it is finalised. The film has now reached full lock and is ready for duplication.

Technical Analysis on the Goodfellas

The first two minutes of the film contains many camera angles and movements. However most of them are the same shots. Most of them are medium long shots to medium shots. And the camera movement was mostly panning. This was very effective though because it makes the viewer feel like they are in the sequence with the characters. It also uses some quick flash shots of characters which is used to show their reaction of the gunshots and stabbing. The camera makes the film seem more realistic. They do not use music in the sequence. The only use diegetic sounds like talking and animals outside. Only at the end of the sequence there is joyful music to add emphasis and some humour to what the person is saying. The opening also uses a quick information title screen to set the time of the film.