This is our storyboard animatic, which shows a flow off all our scenes. When we were filming we did added/change some of the shots and the order in which they went in, but the story board was a brief plan.
We
have chosen these actors because they fit in with the theme of our
film. They 16-17 year olds and that fits in with our target audience.
The only female we used was Olivia, our protagonist. On one day we
filmed Olivia and on another day we filmed the boys and for our
re-shoot on the boys we did a different day.
Props
Moe-ped
Cigarettes
Fake weed
Lighter
Mobile phone
These are conventional stock props about crime films.
Costumes
Boys:
Hoodies
Caps
Trackies
Trainers (high-tops)
Bandannas
We asked our actors to wear a certain type of costume that fits in with the codes and conventions of our chosen genre.
Girl:
Heels
Leather jacket Black top
Jeans
Handbag
Mobile Phone
Locations
Golders green high street
Alley way
London - tower bridge
We
chose our locations because we knew they wouldn't be too busy and they
fit in with the genre. We chose London Bridge because they establishing
shots of London. We made sure there were streets lights in the location
we were choosing so we could use the available light. We used natural
light for the shots in London.
Camera Equipment
Camera
Charger
Tape
Tripod
Fish eye lens
Dolly
This
is the second draft of our script. We put 'Mugged' as our working
title, which we will then go on and change. To create the script we
used Celtx.
This is a screen shot from our script on Celtx. The different colours represent categories like 'actors', 'location' or 'props'. Putting stuff into groups, helped our organisation and also showed things to us in lists, which was helpful for props because we have many.
Distribution/exhibition (presenting it/trying to
get people to watch your film)
Audience.
Ways you can categorize your audience is by age, wealth, ethnicity, religion and gender. The audience our product is aimed at is 15-25 year olds. We feel our film appeals to this group because we have got young people in it, which straight away a young audience can identify with. The type of music which we have chosen is liked by our generation and will be recognisable to many young people. The type of font is very rough and graffiti like which is associated with youth culture. The story our film deals with is crime and drama which is sometimes what people of that age group have to go through. A film that we have studied, 'Attack The Block' and 'Kidulthood' , was popular with young people because of similar reasons.
Max and i have come up with a film idea that has a similar start to Attack the Block. We were thinking of shooting a teenage girl (will be most appealing to our target audience/of the same age), walking home from work (on the phone to her friend at the same time). Whilst we see her walking there will be cross cutting with a group/gang of boys in an alley being disruptive (taking drugs/causing trouble). The girl then turns into the alley not knowing and the boys walk towards her (suggesting they are going to do something to her by their walk and facial expressions). The girl walks down the alley, as a short cut to get to her boyfriends house, which we will make clear in the dialog between her and her friend on the other end of the phone. When we shoot the girl walking from work, this will be done in many different camera shot and angles to show variation and this will keep the audience interested, instead of watching a girl walk through streets all in one shot. The camera will cut out before we see what the boys actually do her because it will be a good place to stop and leave our audience thinking (also creates enigma). Some of our inspiration came from Kidulthood and Anuvahood, so we could get some more stereo types of 'hooded boys'.
Harry Brown is a crime drama. The opening sequence starts with simple, white titles quite small and slick, against a black background. It then cuts to an alley way full of graffiti and a group of boys with dark typical 'hood rat' clothes on including hats and hoods, you can hear cars outside driving. The dialog starts straight away and the camera is from one of the boys in the groups perspective. The quality of the filming is grainy and dark to make it feel like it is being filmed on a phone, this makes the audience feel like they are in the action.
Their is a suggestion of a main character, the boy leaning up against the wall. One of the other boys passes the main character drugs and lights it for him. Once the main character has inhaled there is a pause whilst the drugs are being let into his system, this also is a suggestion that what is being smoked is strong. His friends start laughing and lightly slapping his face in a jokey way as a congratulation suggestion, once he exhales the smoke.
The boy who gave him the drugs, then shows the boy in which the cameras perspective is, a gun whilst speaking and loading the gun which then gets handed to the main character. Once he has the gun the boys then attack him in a jokey way again, cheering him on and antagonizing him to do something with it.
All the sound stops and it cuts to the white titles with the black background appears again. Then the camera cuts to an estate, you can hear boys shouting and the engine from the motorbike in which the boys are driving. The camera is from one of that boys on this bikes perspective. The bike drives of the estate and into a park where an innocent woman is pushing a pram on the pavement, the boys start swearing at her. The bike then stops and the perspective of the camera changes to a low shot, where we see the two boys on the bike grinning and holding a gun. When the bike starts moving again the camera goes back to the boy on the bikes perspective. The boys start shooting at the woman whilst circling her on the bike, laughing as if they are playing a game and a killing people is just a joke. This creates enigma and tension in the film already.
Once she has been shot, you see blood plat and she drops to the floor, the boys drive off quickly. Whilst coming out of the park and turning out onto the road in a rush, a van hits the bike and the camera falls as the boys do. You hear sounds of broken bones and flesh once they have been hit, you also hear the sound of tyre stopping sharply on the road. The scene ends with the camera on the floor facing the boys who have been hit.
Kidulthood is an action, drama and crime film made by independent grass roots (low budget group). The opening sequence starts with Non-Diegetic music and the title, 'Kidulthood' which is white modern, slick, smooth and related to youth culture font, on a black background. You can tell that this is immediately an action film by the font because it seems like it is moving. It then cuts to a boy kicking a football in slow motion, in a rough school playground. You can hear the sound of the football being kicked over the song.
As we are shown around the playground it alternates between fast editing and normal pace, this makes it feel like there is a busy environment and the audience unsure of what to focus on. From the play ground the camera cross cuts to the main character doing wood work, possibly making something. It is not made clear what he is doing, you are only shown parts at a time which creates enigma because the mystery is whilst everyone is in the playground, why is he the only one doing something, what and why is he doing it. The main character is shown at a low but close angle to emphasise who he is and his importance.
The camera cuts to a two shot where we are introduced to two of the characters. The main character is shown at a low but close angle to emphasise who he is and to make him seem more important than the other characters being intro. The two girls are standing in the playground and exchange dialog. When the camera is in the playground we are introduced to most of the characters, including the antagonist, Sam, who is a typical rough bully and looks like he is out to cause trouble, which creates enigma.
The camera then shows a girl in the playground who looks extremely uncomfortable and scared which makes her vulnerable, standing with her friend. You can hear Diegetic sounds of people talking in the playground all the time which makes is seem busy. This is Emphasizing the roughness of the school and that if you are not a strong person then you will not survive in this type of environment. Dialog is exchanged over the background song between more characters.
Attack
the Block starts by showing something falling from the dark, haunting
sky (pathetic fallacy) whilst non-diegetic dramatic, loud and quick
music plays. We then see (crane shot/establishing shot) and hear
fireworks going off (diegetic) all around London, which suggests its a
special day, possibly Guy Fawkes night, which then turns into an
establishing shot of London and we are shown an undeground station, can
also hear traffic sounds (diegetic).
Cuts
to a low medium shot of a middle aged, well dressed woman, walking out
of the station on her phone and we hear dialog (diegetic). People
walking infront of the camera and surrounding her, to show she is in a
busy environment.
It
then cuts to a medium shot of the woman walking, speaking on her phone.
The first lot of titles come up in white and capitals, against a black
background (very slick and neat). Creepy, dramatic, cold music also
starts at this point.
We
then see a side on, medium/wide shot of her walking past shops, where
it is busy with people again. With a cut transition, titles appear
against a black background, but this time some are white and some are
brown. The white titles are bigger that the brown, for emphasis on the
words.
The camera cuts to a worms eye view of her feet, walking down a different busy street, with people going home probably from a
fireworks event, mainly couples or families and houses surrounding. We
are shown two small children playing and hear them too (diegetic).
Camera pans as she crosses the road and becomes a crane shot, to show
her walking in the road and all the people going home.
Then
camera cuts to a behind, medium shot of her walking down an alley where
no one is, which contrasts with the previous scenes where it was busy.
Camera moves foward slowly as she walks, it seems like someone is
following her. The camera then at the same time as moving foward, pans
onto a brick wall where we see her shadow and writing in graffitti
(which we later in the film find out is the group of boys's names). A
sharp light is lit onto the wall where we see two shadows of hooded
boys, it then lights up in red and the music gets louders at this point
with a thud.
The
camera then shows us a close-up shot (to see her reaction) of her
turning around, whilst gasping because she is slightly scared, to see if
anyone is there. It then quickly cuts to a wide shot of her in the same
position, to show the audience what she sees, there is no one there,
then it cuts back to the close-up of her relieved face that no one is
there, but we then hear a boy shouting (diegetic) and she then carries
on walking (showing she is frightened), still talking on the phone in a
medium shot - camera pans as she walks.
Cuts
to a wide shot of her walking down a street where we can't see the
group of boys yet clearly, but we know there is something further on. On
a close-up shot we are shown the woman get off the phone, the
non-diagetic background music dies down at the point and becomes a soft
sharp sound until it eventually stops. Once the woman gets off the phone
she looks up and her face drops with horror. The camera then quickly
flashes a wide shot of what she is looking at and it is a group of boys
in dark, hooded clothes, some with bikes and bandanas, reinforcing the
stereo type of teenage boys.
The genre i have chosen to study is a hybrid genre, it
is a mix of drama, action and crime. The mis-en-scene in this will include violent
weapons such as knives, knuckle dusters, bats and i want to the actors to play show the typical
stereo type of a 'hoodrat' or 'gangster'. I will be experimental with the camera shots i use for example a worm shot to film footsteps, a low angle to show someone vulnerable or a high angle to show someone of high status. I think i definitely will use depth of field in my film because by having everything blurred except one thing that is in focus looks quite edgy and mysterious.
A girl is listening to music, a guy comes along and takes the headphones next to her. A lot of close-up shots to see her eyeing him up (showing her interest in him) and him returning the looks (also showing his interest in her). There is an aerial shot, where you see just the two characters listening to music in the middle of a busy store where everyone else is walking around.
They are the only two that are stationary which contrasts with the busy environment, makes us focus more on the characters. From an above shot they seem like a couple, the connection between them is that they are both in the same place, doing the same thing, at the same time. Then there is shot reverse shot to see both of their reactions. The girl is on the left hand side of the frame and he is in soft focus behind her, then the camera moves to the same level as her eyes, which are on an extreme close-up, do a double take (looks at him twice quickly).
We also notice she is wearing a wedding ring. She glances at him/tries to see what music he is listening to. We get the feeling that she is thinking to herself ‘does he like me’. They catch each others eyes and with that the music gets louder for a dramtic effect. The camera tracks in on her face to show she is deep in thought. He did a subtle small flick with his eye that looked her up quickly. Then it went to a low angle tracking shot, going round on her showing she is strongly admiring him. From her point of view we see him walking away. The camera tracks behind her, to then see her run after him.
Titles come up at the beginning during the archive footage/war footage which is seen through night vision and has an american voice over, establishing that they have come to the end of the army and how they are sad to see the character go after fighting for his country. This voice over is then followed by proud military music which makes the character seem heroic, the Mis-en-scene in this shot is us seeing explosions, bombs and guns. The camera then cuts to a parade where we first see flags which makes the audience think heroic and patriotic. Then the camera gets lower and swoops round to introduce the character in full focus to make him stand out against the shallow focused background, clean suit and very proud for finishing the army (Nicolas Cage). The Soldiers are filmed from a low angle to make them seem heroic, important and high of status.
The scene then cuts to a different location of a port with the sunset and an orange filter used to create a warm feel, this contrasts with the army. The music switches to a slow, calming love song which contrasts with the military song. When the camera cuts to the bar we are introduced to the pregnant wife of Nicolas Cage and drunk men sitting at the bar with looks on their faces suggesting trouble. These drunk men create the enigma because they look quite rough as well as aggressive and people do bad thing when they are drunk like start fights. The couple are dancing whilst the background is in soft focus to show they are in love and happy with how life is at the moment.
One of the drunk men come over trying to start a fight, Nicolas Cage reacts in a threatening which also creates enigma because someone who has just come out of the army where he has been fighting, can do a lot of harm if they wanted too, but he decided to leave it and not let this drunk low life get the better of him. The wife then says "For a second you were that guy again", hinting he was violent before and that one of the reasons he went to the army could have been to change his aggressive ways.
For my Preliminary task i was in a group with Sam and Max. This is the edited final version of our preliminary task. We tried to use as much match on action as possible so the clip flows smoothly. When we were editing, we cut the sound out of all the parts apart from the dialog. In most films where there is dialog, the voices are recorded and played over the scene because the sound is better quality. As well as adding the locations at the beginning for extra effect, we made sure that we did what the task was asking, making sure we were not breaking the 180 Degree Rule. We filmed many different clips and then chose the best ones to edit and go into our final. We did not stick to the story board for the order of our scenes.
Anything i would do differently is manage the time better, so we have more time for editing because that is when the whole film is brought together. The organization was quite poor in my group but now i have learnt how important it is to plan the shots and the dates as well as times of when you are actually filming. Shot lists are vital, so you know what has and hasn't been done. Max did the filming, i did the directing and we all helped sam with the editing because that was the most difficult part, being short of time did not help this process.
Another mistake we made was not reminding our actor to wear the same clothes so it all looks like it has been filmed in one day and as a result to this, we had to change the plot, so he had to enter the class room, looking down at his clothes in shock that they have changed and act like it was part of the plan. Overall we got the task done on time and i feel more confident about filming and editing my final film.
Filming the Preliminary task has made me realize how important it is to be organized. Before you start filming you should have done a story board, showing what sort of shots and angles that are going to be used, what is going to be in the scene, what dialog is going to be used and where the shot will be taken (what environment). I have also learnt that you have to leave time for editing so you can add sound, cut and add the necessary bits, add text if needed and put the film together so it flows properly. If you have actors, they need a time table of when you want to film and if they need to wear the same clothes or not because my group had an actor who was always ready to film but was not wearing the same clothes as the last shot. It also helps to have a shot list of shots that need to be done and as they are completed, cross them of, so you are fully clear of what hasn't been done yet. I feel this task has prepared me in organization for when i film the main task because i am now aware of how important it is.
This is an animation to show the flow of the film. It cuts through the scenes to give us a brief idea on how our film will look. The pace isn't clear through this Animation because the speed in which the scenes are changing is extremely fast but it gives us a rough idea of the film flow.
Story Board.
This is my story board that helped me order my scenes and work out my camera shots. I drew each shot that i plan to use in the order that i want them in. I am not very good at drawing but as long as i understood what the pictures are it should be fine. Labeling certain words helped add the details in the pictures for example 'cigarette'. I also wrote the shot size, 'WS' (wide shot), 'MS' (medium shot), 'CS' (close shot). I don't know how long each shot will last but i estimated an amount of seconds on some of the shots.
This action film is about illegal trading. A Non-Diegetic, calm, country song kicks in as soon as we are shown our first shot of an Eastern Europe factory with men at work, this song is the backing track throughout the whole opening two minutes. You can hear Diegetic sounds coming from the work men and drills, over the song. 20 seconds into the shot, the first title comes up in white capital letters, 'Nicolas Cage', this is the only name mentioned before the actual title itself for introducing and emphasizing the main character. The font has been made to look quite hard and icy, by that i mean the audience do not feel relaxed once the title appears, which obviously reflects on the atmosphere in the factory. In the factory scenes a blue filter has been used to create a cold and unwelcoming mood.
The camera then films forward into one of the machines, in the factory and the cameras perspective then changes to one of the bullets being made, inside the machine. As soon as the camera enters the machine you can hear all the sounds of the bullet being made for example the clamps that compress the bullet together. A few seconds being inside the machine, the title comes up, 'LORD of WAR' and in the background is a bullet. The words 'lord' and 'war' are in capital letters, to emphasize the two together and remind the audience that a lord is someone quite high status and important and war is dangerous where many innocent people die. The rest of the titles follow after, spread out during the journey of the bullet.
The bullet is then taken to a different part of the factory where all the bullets get checked and then thrown if they are bad by a few workers. As the bullet is picked up and put back the camera goes with it. The bullet is poured into a box with many others, we are then taken to another part of the factory where a soldier/guard is standing with a gun and uniform looking very serious and work men hammering lids onto wooden boxes full of bullets. The box in front has a label with foreign writing and a date of '1588' on.
Once a lid is put onto the box that the bullet is in, it goes black and the shot changes to (still in a blue filter) three Russian soldiers in smart uniform, two in the background talking and one that opens the lid to the box that the bullet is in, outside the factory, at a dock in Russia, with a stack of boxes being lifted by a crane onto a black boat. You can hear clinks from the bullets being knocked against each other and a man shouting from around the dock, but it is not loud enough to work out what is being said, you get the idea that it would be something like 'load the next lot on'. The Russian soldier shuts the lid again and it goes back to black.
The lid gets taken off the box and the bullets are now in a tribal part of Africa, in a dock, with soldiers in the background and welcomed by a dangerous looking soldier, half dressed, with a red hat and gun, looking at the box on the back of the boat whilst it gets knocked by a metal crane. The bullet then falls out of the box onto the floor and as it rolls towards the water, the camera rolls with it. An orange filter is used for all the shots in africa to give it a warm, relaxed atmosphere even though the environment looks dangerous and the soldiers look like they are up to something illegal and dodgy. The blue filter and white soldiers contrast with the orange filter and black soldiers.
The bullet gets picked up off the ground and put back into the box. The box then gets carried to the back of a truck, the camera goes with the footsteps of the person holding the box. When the box gets put onto the truck, the bullet faces the other bullets in the box so we can't see what is going on outside. When the truck starts moving the bullet is then moved inside the box and faces outside where we can see a forest, loads of other boxes full of bullets and two soldiers sitting at the back of the truck with bullets strapped around them, and weapons, which suggests the truck is entering somewhere possibly dangerous. The camera is not steady and jolts as the truck moves.
Once the car stops, the bullets get poured onto the floored. From the floor the bullet gets loaded into a gun with a few other bullets. When the other bullets get fired you see people fighting through the end of the gun and then eventually the bullet gets fired and the camera follows it through the air into the middle of a young, innocent boy's head. A blood splat and sound ends the opening sequence and one last title.
A transition is used in media as something that
connects scene to scene. They can be used to signal changes in a story, time,
location, point of view of character, mood, tone, emotion and pace. They make the
narrative flow as a story. There are many transitions but the most popular ones used are cut (from shot to shot), wipe, flashbacks or scene (black scene to picture). Here are a few more common transitions:
Costume can consist of both makeup or wardrobe choices used to conduct a character’s personality or status, and to show these differences between characters. Costume is an important part of expressing the era in which the film is set and to show off that era’s fashions.
Construction. Construction is building/making things and everything you see in television, magazines and films has been constructed. Characters are constructed in films by their clothes, friends, personality, jobs, family, what they eat, their dialog (including accents) and anything that is a personal choice of theirs or something to do with the life they live.
Setting creates a sense of place and a
mood, sometimes filters will be put over the scene to help create the right atmosphere like an orange filter would give the shot a warm feel or a blue filter would give it a cold, icy feel. It may also reflect a character’s emotional state of mind. Setting
can be entirely built within a studio, either as an authentic re-construction
of reality or as a whimsical fiction. The setting may also be found and filmed
on a location. Filters are usually put over scenes to
Sound.
In film there are certain names for different types of sound. When sounds are Diegetic, they are within the environment of the film, this include dialog unless it is a voice over (where a voice is recorded and played over the scene) and Non-Diegetic is added sound. Incidental music backs up the action on the screen which is used to add emphasis to the action. Background/surrounding sounds like traffic noise is called Ambient sounds. Sound can be used to emphasize a characters emotions (a slow song to imply they are upset) or to help set a certain type of atmosphere. Some films have Theme music which is when the audience identify a piece of memorable music or tune linked with that film straight away. Sounds can be created from almost anything for example broken celery can be used for broken bones or if you pierce a knife through a cabbage, it will hear like stabbing.
Mise-En-Scene describes everything in
the frame and the way it is shown and arranged. It is the most common aspect of
film. It includes the setting, actors, costumes, make-up, props and all the
other natural and artificial details that outline the spaces filmed. The term ‘Mise-En-Scene’
is French and in English means ‘put into the scene’.
A plot is a sequence of events that happen in the story, whereas a Narrative is the way a story is told and a Narrative Context is the environment that the story is told in. Restrictive Narrative is where we only know the same, about what is going on, as the character and an Unrestrictive Narrative is where we know more than the character does, like outside the scene information.
Genre.
Genre is there so we can categorize a film, mainly for audience purposes if they want a certain type of film genre and look up 'drama' or 'action' then your film could be listed. Genre is also a formula which is a story line that is expected (typical story) and varies but usually stays the same for that certain type of genre. For example a typical romance would be girl and boy meet, fall in love, have an argument or parents disapprove (some sort of problem), they solve it and end up together with a happily ever after. This formula may change by killing off one of the characters at the end but they remain in love, it gives it an edge to it. A Hybrid Genre is a film with more than one genre, so it becomes a mixed genre (Hybrid Genre). The thing that makes the films different types is the plot/story/narrative.
Useful website to use if you don't know the film genre
