Ident Re-thought

After deciding that our initial ident name (Night Falls Fast) would be better suited to the title of out film, we decided to use 'EE Productions', where I will be looking to practice more possible ideas for out ident itself. I will be using cinema 4d again to try out simple indents, and see what ideas we come up with.

Location

For our locations, we are using an estate in New Cross Gate (south east London). This estate is undergoing maintenance and is covered in scaffolding, hopefully presenting a deserted estate within the film. There is this one light that stays on all the time, just above the stairways which we will use as Merry (the protagonist) is being chased. Below shows some of the pictures of the estate. We will be filming here when dark.

As well as this estate, Eliza and I will be filming at the south bank in the very opening of the film. We did a recce where the light was reflecting off the wet floor with the shadows of the trees contrasting to give a really interesting shot. This is shown as below:

Actors

Eliza and I had a vague idea of our actors as we were planning the film. We had several possibilities for the lead protagonist, but decided to use a friend name Merry, who has been involved in a series of school productions, and we feel she will suit the character. As for the antagonist, we will be using Eliza's dad, playing the mysterious character who is seen to be following the protagonist. There will be a short voice recording of the phone call, which will be done using my mum to record the short conversation.

Phone Call Draft: Mum

Mum:

''Hey darling''

''Hope you had a good day, how are you?''

''When will you be back?''

''Okay see you soon! Have fun!''

Recce shoot

This is our rede shoot, getting in some practice shots for our filming. We visited South bank, where the lighting and reflections were great given the dull light colouring. The shadows of the trees contrast the light reflecting off the wet surface, making for an interesting and exciting shot.

Unfortunately, despite our media teacher's warnings (and threats) Eliza and I were unable to film more than a recce shoot today. We had failed to charge al of the equipment to maximum capacity in preparation for our shoot.

However, we managed to get a shot of our Protagonist (Sara played by Meredith Mack)  in the location we wanted to use for our opening scene and possibly with the same sort of lighting that we aim to capture in our end product.

Eliza and I chose this location (the Southbank) because we felt it encapsulated the urban effect we were aiming to achieve, yet the reflection from water (of the river Thames) gave slightly eery, mysterious look in winter weather.

In actual fact, Eliza and I captured a shot where the sunlight was reflecting off the water left on the pavement, framed with large trees on either side. We thought this was quite beautiful, against the urban backdrop of London.

DISCLAIMER: we haven't quite yet mastered the act of uploading footage to youtube under the correct title......

Lighting: First Use

Eliza and I reminded ourselves how to use the filming equipment, including the use of the lights for the first time. We learnt how to create depth within the shot, using a back light and key light to create contrasting tones.  For one camera angle we had the camera facing into the light, creating a glowing edge around the actors, while the backlighting ensured the depth of the shot was kept.

We learnt that the lights power source lasts no longer than 25 minutes, some key information for when we begin filming. It was helpful to learn about the use of several lights to create the best depth, and creating angles to get the optimum brightness.

Lighting Practice

Here is a task we were set in practicing using lighting before we began filming. We experimented with making flat weather into interesting lighting through the composition of the shot. We also experimented with using filler lights and spotlights in an interior atmosphere. We learned a lot about where to position the lights and how long their battery packs last for, hopefully avoiding them running out during our night shoots!

Sound

Eliza and I decided that there won't be a lot of dialogue within our opening, but we want a tense and fast soundtrack, consisting of piano and maybe some brass to get the instrumental type of sound. We looked at several film trailers and soundtrack but found that Maze Runner and London to Brighton had soundtrack similar to what we wanted, but ones that are still reproducible at our level.

We want the soundtrack to build the tension, and we will be looking to use aspects of atmospheric and folly sound in our film opening.


 

Ident small practice

Here Eliza and I came up with a simple ident practice, I used cinema 4d to create it, and will be looking to add smaller text underneath using motion:

IDENT RESEARCH

Idents are an important part of the marketing towards a productions company and also can be used with a sound bridge to enhance and the atmosphere set up for the film that is about to happen.
Whilst researching ideas for our own ident concepts we came across a selection of 'Film 4' idents as shown above. Eliza and I liked the composition of these indents though we know it isn't possible for us to create our own ident in a similar way. We liked the concept of a dark graphic, cleanly cut ident that was simple. We liked the motion animation of the film 4 indents which worked to create a slick, professional and thrilling ident. We aim to achieve the same effect with our own ident; though it is graphic and simple we want to make it edgy. Here are some indents we liked and thought would influence our ident design well:

Audience Video response

Here is our uploaded video of our response to our audience research. We did this as we found it easier to film and get our point across than type it up.

Vox Pops

Eliza and I recorded some Vox Pops alongside the rest of our audience research. Here is the video.

Target Audience

After doing our audience research, Eliza and I decided to change our target audience from a lower age group to 20-30. This is because we discovered that younger ages where less keen on the idea of a social realistic thriller compared to a slightly older audience.

This gives us a better idea of what the audience wants and so will allow us to create a film specifically for that audience.

Graphics

For Graphics, Eliza and I were keen on using an idea similar to 'True Detective'. We love how the titles are simple, and the use of the text in the negative space, which makes the titles really effective and visual as the cuts are composed of layered video. However our only concern would be how to make it feel more like a film, rather than a tv series, which will be the biggest problem when producing the titles.

We thought this idea would fit well with a social realism thriller, as the narrative we have decided on consists of real teenage life, with a dark and edgy tone. This will be shown in the titles with the gurney backgrounds and layered photos/ videos to really get the idea of the dark life shown in the film.

In the opening few cuts of 'True Detective' there are some really nice still shots (or slightly moving) of people which is then over lapped with video of rural areas and the setting of the show. This will be interesting to try in photoshop, and then upload into motion to get the movement around screen.

Here are some screen grabs of the 'True Detective' opening titles:

Eliza and I then had a go at creating our own little still shot in the style of True Detective:

Camera shots - First plan

Eliza and I came up with a plan for the shots we want to use before starting the story board. These are just simple shots of the rough ideas we wanted to use, and this gave us a good idea to the overall plot, layout and shots needed for the story board and for when we shoot the shots. 

Our film opening consists of interspersed shots of past and present.

A rough plan, more shots of each point will be seen in the story board.

Italics = past

Normal = present

Fade from black

Cut to footsteps running 

Cut to protagonist present footsteps running (chase)  

Close up running away

Close up protagonist looking back (the chaser) 

Close up keys unlocking the door

Running to push open the door

Footsteps climbing stairs

Footsteps running up cement staircase (estate stairs)

Enter room, calm, dump bags

Enter room, frantic, lock door

Close up head against door

Profile in darkness looking up at estate

Shot of here running around

Shot of her moving to draws

Draw opening

Shot of moving around the room

Close up looking under / around her room

Cut to tilt upwards of antagonist entering estate

Bend down under bed and find package

Backing bag

Close up of zipping bag

Leaving room (door open)

Running through tunnel

Skyline ots of London

Hand on shoulder

Titles

Style / Tone

The overall style and tone of the opening that Eliza and I want to achieve is that of an edgy and urban environment, where for young people their atmosphere is a place of threat. The style will be similar to several films, especially Kidulthood, where there are a lot of urban shots, much more simple camerawork than other films and  an edgy feel with lots of close ups and point of view shots. This will present a feeling of personal connection between the audience and the character. This will also be achieved through the presentation of the protagonist in the past, as the audience (as discovered by audience research) finds a film more intriguing when they know elements about the character.

The setting will play a huge role towards tone, being dark and tense. The contrasting light between the past and present is what will really emphasis the present as being atmospheric and grungy. The buildings and locations we use are what will really present the realism feature of our film, and will set the edgy feel that we are working for.

Here is a scene from Kidulthood that represents the urban and natural environment we will being aiming for to create the style and tone:

Narrative. Decided

After discussing together, Ewan and I decided to edge our narratives together to form the plot of our opening sequence.
We decided upon following the life of a girl (our protagonist) and the change that has taken place in her life ( like a before and after). Her life used to be simple and normal but it now seems obvious that a person has come into her life who has put her life at threat.
We wanted to set up a a parallel between two moments in time; matching and cross cutting between different locations and shots.
It seemed that we wanted to leave the ending to our story undecided, a cliff hanger: where will she take her life after this moment? Whilst still we found from our Audience research that it was crucial we established an emotional attachment between our protagonist and our audience.
We came up with the idea of a package being involved, shots of our protagonist searching for the package unable to find it, interspersed with shots of our antagonist figure searching for her.
We hope this will create a sense of pace, rush and an awareness of time; just as time has lapsed and changed our protagonists life completely.

Audience Research - online survey - results

From our Online Survey, we've found that most people were more likely to watch films at home and were more inclined for those films to be blockbusters. However,100% answered that they do go to the cinema and more over, almost 45% go once a month and almost 17% go every week.

In terms of thrillers, 89% answered that they often watch them and 34% said that they have seen over 30 thrillers.

However, 100% of our audience that answered our survey was in the age category of 13-17 and only 3 persons out of 18 that answered said that they prefer social realism or psychological thrillers; the , majority (50%) said they preferred Action thrillers.

From this we can conclude that our target audience of 16-24 years old is perhaps too young. Meaning our social realism, psychological, urban thriller should be targeted at an older audience ( maybe 24-35 year olds).

Though our film would be certified a 15 and we are keen for it to appeal to young ages above 15 as well, we think that perhaps we should continue with our other Audience research to target our audience at an older age.

However, we will also interview some younger people to get their point of view and understanding on the concept of thrillers, especially social realism ones.

Audience Research

Yesterday Eliza and I created Facebook page for our film. We named it 'To Be Decided' as the film's name is yet to be decided! We hope that by creating a Facebook page we will be able to target our film at our target audience easier (16-25). We are posting photos and updates of our film's progress but also uploading links to our Online Surveys in hope that everyone will fill it out and give us the information we need to find out about our Audience's Likes and Dislikes.

We've already reached 90 likes!

We are also in the progress of compiling Vox pops, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups.

Here are some screenshots of our page:

Audience

My target audience is late teenager to late twenty year old, simply because of the idea of violence and meaning behind the character 'supposedly' committing suicide, though the audience never finds out. I wouldn't target  much younger as BBFC suggest that any use of the idea of teenagers self harming should be a 15 if there is only minimal, and for this reason I am also unsure on what exact rating it would be, as I am unsure to what extent the self harm will be shown, and whether or not the idea of suicide is darker than seeing it happen.

Sound

I want there to be dialogue between the two parents, but minimal so that the main sound is the tense music. The only things they should mention are the fact that their son / daughter is missing. i.e. 'She's late'.


For the teenager scene, I want there to be no dialogue, but only a soundtrack of some sort of pulsing beat, and distorted buzzing as if being unable to think when a short period of slow motion might be used. There will also be a lot of sound effects, to emphasis the opening of doors and running footsteps, as well as the stepping up onto the ledge.


I want to use lots of folly sounds with lots of noise to emphasis the chaos. I will open with a sound bridge of the soundtrack and running footsteps which will immediately get the audience concentrating on whats happening.

Graphics

Titles:

I want actors names to come up in the opening, followed by a short title flashing across the screen, which each new name scattered somewhere else on the screen in the negative space that the clip has. I want the text to fade in and out, with the main colours probably being white and black, or maybe streaks of dark red. Hopefully these quite natural colors will add a sense of tension. 

The fonts I have looked at are shown below, all quite similar in that I want to use some sort of distortion and broken letters to emphasis the cautiousness of the seen, with maybe a change of font for when the screen cuts to the family household. I want the font to be positioned so that it looks like it is part of the scene, as if printed on the wall and is made to blend in a little. 

The opening title sequences for True Detective are what have influenced me most, as I like the use of the titles positioned in negative space, and the use of slightly rough and disordered text.

Characters - Costumes - Porps

The characters that will appear in the opening of my film will be a teenage boy or girl, aged 17-18. There will also be two parents, a father and mother aged mid 40's. The contrast in Characters will be helped by the setting and colours, as the teenager will be wearing rough and dark clothes, while being surrounded by raw buildings, and the parents will be wearing classic patently clothes while surround by a well lit and colourful house.

Teenager:

I want the teenager to be a girl, though if this is not possible a boy will do fine. Him/her should have dark black or brown hair, with brown eyes and a rough edgy feel about them. This will add to all the darkness of the scene. 

He/she will wear a hoodie, with a dark jacket over the top and long baggy trousers. This will then represent a dodgy looking teenager, those which would mug someone or look like they would get onto some rough situations.

I was mainly influenced for the clothing once again by Kidulthood here, as shown by the picture below, which shows the kind of clothing I want to use.

Parents:

I want the parents to come across as being really open and stereotypical posh well raised parents. I want them to wear brighter clothes such as cardigans and jeans to stand out and contrast the darker colours of the grungy estate.

My inspiration for this is 'We're the Miller', where the mini van family are shown in their bright and pristine clothing. The parents are the two in the middle.

Style / Tone

The overall tone of my introduction will be dark and moody, with a real sense of threat to the teenager. In the estate staircase I want there to be flickering and dim lighting (Low Key) and the walls to be worn and possibly have some graffiti which will allow the tension and danger to be increased. The atmosphere for the teenager will be tense and chaotic which will also be helped by the use of music and emphasising panting, and a pulse. This will be largely contrasted by the cross cutting scene of the ,other sat around the dinner table, with little atmospheric sound or music, but still the idea that something bad is about to happen - such as the absence of a seat and the parents or mother worrying.

Staircase ideas:

• Dark and grungy, scary looking with limited light and dirty slitted lighting.
• This continues up onto the building roof which still feels dirty and as if it is in a rough area

       

Lighting:

• Low key lighting with lots of chiaroscuro to create more tension and add a sense of drama and as if something bad is going to happen in the near present.
• Try some flickering lights in the staircase? 
• When on the roof, a slight under lighting from the light from the street below
• lights all around to show the city, emphasising how high up it is as the teenager steps up onto the ledge.
• The lighting in the contrasting scene is well lit with key lighting and little shadow.
• This emphasises the contrast between the two scenes so that the teenager is emphasised to be in danger.

Camera Shots:

• I want to use a series of POV shots from the eyes of the teenager so that the chaotic feel is really shown strong which may be achieved by slight shaking. 
• Maybe some over the shoulder shots to get an idea of the height of the ledge.
• In the house hold environment I want to use some close ups with a low angle to show the lack of power that the parents have.
• For the phone call I want to use an extreme close up on the mothers face as the expression changes on the phone call. 

I have been influenced By Kidulthood opening, as I like the use of the POV shots with slight tilting and shaking which allows for the sense of a chaotic feel. I also have been influenced by the estate and shifty feel of the buildings which add tension. 

I was also influenced by several of the Batman films, where the key lighting creates a lot of chiaroscuro in the darker lit rooms and areas. The grungy feel of the buildings also inspired me to create the idea for this pre production. 

Outline - Pitch

My genre will be dark and moody thriller, with some sense of a physiological twisting plot. My opening will be constructed through the use of several cross cutting between two separate scenes, one of a high speed cut running scene of a shady looking character on a roof top, and the other a civilised household of a or several characters (maybe a mother) having dinner.

Detailed opening:

- Fade in from black
- Night time, dim lighting and flickering lights in the stairway
- Man or woman running up graffiti stained stair case in an estate
- Use of POV shots (to make it seen hectic and chaotic)
- Straight cut, short, to mother or several people at a dinner table
- Straight cut back to runner
- Opens fire escape door
- Runs up to edge of building and stands over the edge
- Cuts back to dinner table as mother shows concern
- A POV pan across London from the view of the runner on the ledge
- Close up of runners expresions (panting and in distress)
- Cuts back to dinner table, phone rings
- Mother answers phone (END)

Narrative / plot:

The Son or Daughter commits suicide in a frantic state when s/he jumps of their estate block. Police find markings on the body, signs of abuse and torture. The mother is called as she finds out the fait of her son/daughter. The police hunt down who caused the suicide  of the teenager, with the suspect doing anything to get away.

Casino Royale Opening

Camera shots:

The initial shot is an establishing shot, with the low angle shot of the building as the car pulls up. This sets the scene for where the next few shots are shown. A close up then shows the man from another low angle which makes him look powerful and also suspicious. The next few shots are all low angles, especially the shot of the elevator climbing the building, which leads to the next shot, but also portrays the power of the man. However this is then changes by the high angle looking down on the man as a close up to show the slightly worried expression on his face. Thus far all the shots have been stills, mainly to just establish the setting and what might happen. A point of view shot is then used to show the elevator floor reader in a close up, as the elevator climbs higher up the building. The camera then dollies with a mid-shot of the man walking across the hall which then cuts to him entering the room. Another dolly along with a pan is used to show the man sitting down. Next there is a close up of the man’s face, followed by a point of view into the mirror, and then an over the shoulder mid-shot of James bond sitting in the chair in the dark corner of the room. There is then an extreme close up of the gun in the draw, and then a close up of the man sat at the desk talking to James bond with several shot reverse shots. The scene then cuts to the fight in the bathroom, where there are a series of close ups as the two characters punch each other, then a few mid-shots as the move position. All throughout this scene there are lots of different camera angles, but very few movements.  

Editing:

The use of a fade-in introduces the opening shot of the building, as the man pulls up in the car. There are some slow cuts to set the scene before an eye-line match is used in the lift. There are sounds bridges used between each cut just to show how each cut is linked, such as the footsteps continuing up until the door is opened. A shot reverse shot is then use between Bond and the man, with another eye-line match used when the man looks at the reflection in the mirror. Parallel editing is then used, as the cross cutting shows the fight scene in the bathroom. Here high-speed editing is used, with lots of different camera angles and shots to show the tension and danger of the scene. This then quickly cuts back to the office scene when the man pulls out the gun.

Sound:

Generally the sound is non-diegetic, as most of it seems to be Foley sounds added after filming. This includes the car at the start using synchronised sound, and the footsteps when the man is walking along the corridor. Foley sound is also used when the door opens again with synchronisation, and generally throughout the rest of the opening scene. The dialogue is the only diegetic sounds (I Assume), with no real voiceovers or sounds mixing. However, a lot of sounds bridges are used as the cut to the next shot occur.

Mise-en-scene:

The colour of the opening is all in black and white (noir) which adds a sense of darkness, but also past tense sort of feel. The location is said to be in Prague (Czech Republic) however it could be filmed anywhere as there is nothing special about the building. The entire opening is shot in very bright and reflective areas, so that lots of chiaroscuro is made. The contrast between the toilet fight scene and the office is to emphasis the past tense that the fight happened. There are few props, only two guns, and the costumes are simples clothing, though we are unaware of what James Bond is wearing in the office, as the lighting is set up to show only his face.   

My Prezi presentation

http://prezi.com/e5gotevgvmce/edit/#4_95982358

Group work first task - The package

This is the first short film I made with three other people. Our plot was simple... a boy and girl madly in love, as a mafia gang mix up the parcels and deliver the package to the wrong person leaving the plot in an awful twist.

We worked using and trying different camera angles like that which we have studied from other films and clips. We tried pans, tilts, and even a little bit of hand held dollying which was a little shaky, but gave us a great idea of the types of shots available to our simple films. The shots were all interesting, getting some interesting shots, though what wasn't so good was the length of the shots. An example of this was the stairs shot, where I (Ewan Leslie) was seen walking up the stairs, where what we should have done was shot the start of me walking up the stairs and the end, which keeps the cutting short and interesting.

The editing was good, and my favorite camera angles and editing was the match on action of the opening door, which seemed clean and professional. However, my favorite scene of the over all short film was the opening, where the hostage gets his finger chopped off, as the low key lighting created chiaroscuro, and the extreme close up camera work on the hands and knife, along with the off putting music made the scene intense and exciting.