Possible location: warehouse
One possible location for the warehouse is the gym at our school. It has the exact look that we are looking for, the brick and pipes along with having a large area so we can move around we ease. It also would be great to film here due to the convenience of it being at the school therefore it would be far easier to sort out our actors getting to school rather than some obscure location. If we do decide to use this location the radiators would be slightly annoying along with making sure nothing else is in shot, chairs etc but these are both problems which can be easily overcome.
The only major problem is that the gym is used for the mock exams, which means that we can't use it after the Christmas holidays as it would be all set up for exams. This means that we would have to film during the early part of the Christmas holidays or before we break up for the holidays, this may not be a problem but we have to be quick to make sure we can film there as currently it's our only option for our warehouse setting
AF
The only major problem is that the gym is used for the mock exams, which means that we can't use it after the Christmas holidays as it would be all set up for exams. This means that we would have to film during the early part of the Christmas holidays or before we break up for the holidays, this may not be a problem but we have to be quick to make sure we can film there as currently it's our only option for our warehouse setting
AF
Character: the girl who is kidnapped
Our trailer will contain one female main character, who resides in the house when the robbery takes place, who then later tries to escape and is finally captured with an uncertain ending. We want her character to be a combination of the stereotypical 'weak' female that is often portrayed in the media to make her appear vulnerable; yet also courageous in the scenes she is trying to escape. For this type of female character, inspiration can be taken from Amanda Seyfried's character in 'Gone'. Her appearance is exactly what we would be looking for in our own trailer, as i would estimate her to be around 18-25 years of age and has an innocent appearance.
Inspiration can also be drawn from the character of Alice Creed, played by Gemma Artenton. Compared to Seyfried's, she appears much more masculine and looks like she has been treated with more brutality, implied from element of her form being in a tracksuit and with make up that has run down her face. Furthermore, minimal feminine features are visually seen in the clothing and the action of dying Arteton's hair darker, makes her appear with greater strength. The character of Alice Creed is not meant to be like your typical good girl, she represents a British girl who is trying everything in her power to escape the men that have captured her.
For our trailer, we would most likely be asking someone of our age group to play the female role and so we would be able to apply conventions of the two characters above.
EJ
Character: the police detective
Jon Hamm plays the detective / police officer in the Tow, a film that has been a major influence into our own product. The character himself is a middle aged, rough detective, who's driven to send the crew that commit the heist to prison. He is ruthless, yet charming, being aggressive and forceful when it comes down to the dirty work itself. He takes on the macho role, being tough and fearless. We want our character to be similar, wearing smart clothes consisting of a suit, while having a deep husky voice. He should be well built, and command the scene when present. His visual presence should be short hair, with defined features, but nothing more than what seems like an average man. The clip below reveals a little about his personality, and his driven mind set to send the villains to prison.
James McAvoy plays the detective in welcome to the punch, who takes on a similar role to Jon Hamm, in that he is courages to pursue the villain, in this case played by Mark Strong. His clothing (at times) is similar, as scene in the second and third picture, he often wears smart clothes including a shirt and tie. This is something we will want our character to be wearing. James McAvoy is younger than Jon Hamm, though we want to find a middle ground between the two ages, so that the detective is of similar ages to some of the men who committed the heist. His character is calm and collected, but throughout the film is seen to, at moments, lose control in his eager attempts to capture Mark Strong.
Location: the woods
Taking inspiration from the trailer of The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009), we want to include a location in the woods for part of our trailer.
Using Woods for a location would allow for a diverse range of shots to be taken in a primarily earthy tone, contrasting from the stark and dull colours of the city shots. Furthermore, a strong sense of isolation could be conveyed, giving a eerie and threatening feeling to the shots.
I particularly like this shot looking up at the character as it makes the viewer feel as if they are inside a hole, being in a confined space emphasised by the closed frame. It also gives the visible character a sense of empowerment, which can reflect their role in the film. We could try to use this style of shot in our own trailer as it would emphasise the threatening characters roles.
This shot is unusual as it is a mid shot of two characters legs. As a spade can be seen, a sense of horror is conveyed as it implies that they are either hiding or digging something up. When combined with the location of the woods the effect is quite terrifying. In our own trailer it would be nice for them to be dragging the 'tool' along the floor, and including a soundbite of the disconcerting sound.
The shot above was a tracking shot at walking pace, in which a tree a one point blocked the view. This style of shot appears very visually beautiful on camera as you follow the characters rather than remaining still with the landscape. This makes the audience feel as if they are involved in the scene, creating a furthermore immersive feel. Great depth is also created in this scene as perspective is captured in the layers of trees, both in front and behind the mobile characters.
We were looking for a wood location that was similar to that of Alice Creed, that would therefor allow us to film scenes such as a chase within a strong backdrop.
Sydenham Hill woods seems like an ideal location. It very near and so transportation would be easy, and from photos I have found of the location it would be perfect for our trailer.
The aerial view of the woods shows how densely packed it is, making it an interesting and complex filming location. The next step would be for us to conduct a recce to the site and search for sites of interest within it to film. Below are some photos of the wood:
EJ
Main Film influences
The films above are our main influences for our own media product. Though they are not all directly influencing us in our plot, the characters and style of the trailers are what we are incorporating as well. The first trailer: The Town, as been a massive influence in our plot and locations, using the urban environment of London that we are surrounded by. In the trailer, there is also the Investigator, with the interview at the start of the trailer, which is what we will be incorporating into ours.
In the Disappearance of Alice Creed, the trailer gives us multiple influences, those including locations. The use of small dark rooms and the wood, about half way through the trailer are styles of locations we will include in out trailer. The wood is suggestive of disposal of bodies, and so will be what we will incorporate for this exact reason. The plot is also similar, as we too will include scenes of a kidnapping of a female character, so we will look to use similar shots and scenes.
From 7 Minutes, we will also be using part of the plot, as well as the main character (Sam) played by Luke Mitchel. The idea of 'never go in with someone who has more to lose than you do' will be incorporated into our film, and the idea of the young guy, who has the family, being the vulnerable one in the group. As for Luke Mitchel himself, we will use his youth, and hesitant character to develop our own, as well as being incorporated from other similar characters from other films.
From Reservoir Dogs, we will use the basic style, which seems natural in the sense that there is no over the top pyro technics, camera shots, chase scenes or shootouts. We like the idea of characters with names, dressed in suits, and so this is something we will use. The location in the warehouse, that where the torture scene commences inspired us to use a similar location, that which we are currently in search of. Mr Pink is inspiration for our middle aged psychotic character, while Mr white is the basis for our wiser and older character.
We like the postmodern film noir style of Nightcrawler, and so we are looking to incorporate the same style and tone as this. Along side this, the extensive use of night time will be what we will copy, allowing for huge sections of chiaroscuro to be present.
Although the Dark Knight clip is not a trailer, we really enjoyed the opening, with its fast pace soundtrack, and mix between sections of comedy and violence. The masks are appropriate, and the camera work is what we liked most. The overall feel of the heist is something we want to recreate in the form of a house robbery.
EL
Location: The house that's robbed
Here is a possible location, a modern house located on a private road, with an overlooking garden to one side. Surrounding the house is a path, allowing for easy access, and in front of the house lies a small roundabout road, containing trees that might make for a good look out point. The private road itself could come in useful, allowing us to use different angles and specific shots, as the road itself will not be particularly busy.
EL
Character: Middle aged psychopath
Every film of this genre has a character who is the 'crazy' one ie the one that goes off the script and does something insane/stupid. Our character would be the one who would be supporting the idea of killing the girl. We should aim to have the actor be quite rough and look slightly strange however this may prove to be quite challenging.
As Reservoir Dogs is a primary source of influence for us the character in this scenario is Mr Blond, played by Michael Madson. Mr Blond is the crazy character who starts shooting people in the shop and kidnaps a police officer. He is also the one who tortures him, as we are aiming to have our film a 15 we wouldn't quite go to the extent of torture and instead would just have the girl tied up. You don't quite get a distinctive psychopathic feel when you immediately see Mr Blond however when you actually see how he acts you certainly get the feeling that he's crazy. This shows us that it's not essential to have the crazy character look crazy its more how he acts.
As Reservoir Dogs is a primary source of influence for us the character in this scenario is Mr Blond, played by Michael Madson. Mr Blond is the crazy character who starts shooting people in the shop and kidnaps a police officer. He is also the one who tortures him, as we are aiming to have our film a 15 we wouldn't quite go to the extent of torture and instead would just have the girl tied up. You don't quite get a distinctive psychopathic feel when you immediately see Mr Blond however when you actually see how he acts you certainly get the feeling that he's crazy. This shows us that it's not essential to have the crazy character look crazy its more how he acts.
Ezra Miller is an actor who has played a psychopathic character in 'We need to Talk About Kevin' in this film he plays an unhinged teenager who has been sent to prison after committing a massacre at his school. Our character most likely wouldn't be quite that psychopathic and instead be more like Mr Blonde who has his moments of madness. Ezra Millar is a good actor to look it however as ideally this character will have to be slightly older, mid 20s but that may not be possible and therefore we would need an actor who would be our age but look slightly older, therefore this film could be used as inspiration for an actor. The actor most likely wouldn't have to brilliant as he wouldn't have that dialogue and instead would have a lot of shots during the montage as he would be at the centre of the conflict.
De Niro in Taxi Driver is another unhinged character who we should definitely take influence from. Being an war veteran he is proficient with weapons, which our character should have. De Niro in this film is also a similar age to the character which we are looking for and has a similar look to the one that I am imagining, a strong and tough looking male.
AF
Character: Older guy
In our film we would have three main actors who would be the ones to pull off the robbery. The older actor would be the leader of the group and the one in control. He should be a calm authoritative figure who the other members of the robbery listen to and take orders from. He should be shown to be all business and professional, however we should see a dark side of him which is shown when he decides that they need to kill the girl.
One major influence is Mr White from Reservoir Dogs as we feel that he holds the kind of gravitas that is needed from this character. We feel this is the kind of character that is needed as you can clearly see his calm nature and you care for his survival far more than any of the other characters. Another Harvey Keitel character, Mr Wolf from Pulp Fiction also follows the same outline for our character. In this film he again plays the older character who has done this kind of thing before and is a source of guidance for the other characters.However Keitel is probably slightly older than we would want for our character, though we can still use his characters for influences.
Another influence would be Liam Neesons' character from Taken. From this character we can take influences such as his calm nature which would be useful in the later parts of our film. Liam Neeson also has the older tough look that we would want.to be aiming for. As this character will most likely be played one someone's parent, Liam Neeson looks around the right age.
One major influence is Mr White from Reservoir Dogs as we feel that he holds the kind of gravitas that is needed from this character. We feel this is the kind of character that is needed as you can clearly see his calm nature and you care for his survival far more than any of the other characters. Another Harvey Keitel character, Mr Wolf from Pulp Fiction also follows the same outline for our character. In this film he again plays the older character who has done this kind of thing before and is a source of guidance for the other characters.However Keitel is probably slightly older than we would want for our character, though we can still use his characters for influences.
Another influence would be Liam Neesons' character from Taken. From this character we can take influences such as his calm nature which would be useful in the later parts of our film. Liam Neeson also has the older tough look that we would want.to be aiming for. As this character will most likely be played one someone's parent, Liam Neeson looks around the right age.
De Niro's character in heat plays a similar character to the one we are imagining. An extremely suave, who dresses well, something we should be thinking of. De Niro in this film looks around the right age that we are imagining, around 40 and therefore this is an excellent character to be influenced by. This character also is calm and composed which would be important for our character to do as he would be the leader of the group.
AF
Character: Young guy 'with everything to lose'
He plays a young, nervous man who is desperate for the money. Though it is not initially clear, later the rest of the heist members learn that he is a father with a recently born young child - desperate for expensive medications that will save his daughters life. His character should take on several roles, being yet slightly younger than the rest of the cast, and slightly more unsure of himself. He needs to be dressed more casually and speak in a hesitant voice. However along with these faults, when he is pressured he need to be aggressive and violent, and be able to step up to the play.
Taron Egerton is the first main influence for the role of this character. As previously mentioned, the character should be young, skilful, but not entirely sure of himself, something that this actor is seen to do in the opening to his career opening film 'Kingsman'. His young, attractive style, with a twist of modern urban culture along with him growing up with a rough situation is what we want to incorporate into our film.
That being said, young Matt Damon in the Ocean series is a similar sort of character. He is intelligent, wears smart clothes and is incredibly good when it comes to the heist. He too plays the young, incompetent character, who develops into a key role, with his looks, clothes and hesitance at first, our character will take this role on strongly.
Luke Mitchel is the actor who plays Sam in 7 Minutes, a heist film where he plays a leading role. Though we are not focusing so much on his character and looks, we want to use his plot involvement, as he is the man with the newly born baby and wife that he must supply for. This will be a huge part of our film, creating all sorts of tensions along the way. As you can see in the third picture (from the trailer itself) we want to include shots of him with his wife to make it clear about his given situation.
EL
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