Friday 28 November 2008
Editing so far
So far our editing has gone well however we did have some problems due to errors in filming, we had to get our continuity editing just right, we filmed in 2 different locations, which were both car park, which meant we had cut from car park to car park. We had to cut a lot of shots which we had originally out of the sequence as there was obvious lighting issues and it just did not look right. Also time was an issue, we had to go to every single shot and cut it even the slightest bit as it all amounted in the end to quite a substantial time taken off the end, also the clips which we wanted, but were to long we jump cut and this looked very effective.
Thursday 27 November 2008
Filming 26/11/08
We managed to finish filming today. We have no more shots to do just the voice over and finish editing and we will be done. We had one major issue with filming today and that was that the car park was quite full, so we had to wait until the car park had emptied to get the majority of out shots. Even then we still had some shots with cars in the background which we will have to crop out.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Filming 23/11/08
Me and Nick went and filmed all of Nick's shots today. Unfortunately Joe was unable to make the shoot. We still have a little bit to shoot so we will do that on wednesday. We had a good days filming today and got alot done. The car park was empty so we did not have to adjust our shots to get rid of any modern lookin cars. After the shoot on wednesday all our filming will be done so we can just get on with the editing. There were no problems that we hadn't encounterd before, so we knew how to overcome them.
Monday 17 November 2008
Filming 14/11/08
Our filming this day was very brief as we had other commitments to do but we did get some vital footage, we did the staircase footage which was an improvement from last time as we did not get locked in one! The staircase footage was very useful as we decided we can jump cut to shorten the time as the stairs are square and I am visible all the way down the stairs which will make that very effective. Also we used a mirror which looks round corners to film at, this caused problems as I kept getting my head in the way of the view of the mirror so i had to do a sharp turn round the corner, which meant i walked into the wall.
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Filming - 12/11/08
In many ways filming today went smoothly and in many ways it didn't. We have discovered that filming is a very time consuming process. However we got a lot of our shots done in the two hours we were filming after school. When filming we sometimes pressed the record button to start filming, but we stopped filming instead, so a couple of times we have filmed ourselves setting up for the next shot, instead of shooting the actual shot. Another problem we came across is that we watched some of our footage back but forgot to fast forward the tape to the end of what we had shot so far, so we have recorded some shots over our previous shots.
We also learnt an important lesson in life. We got ourselves trapped in a stairwell on Royal Victoria Place Car park. We were looking to see if we could find a better set of stairs within our location for filming. We came across a staircase and we all entered. We then found out that there was no was way of leaving the stairs from the inside as it was a fire exit door. We had to phone Nick Reilly (Group 4) who luckily lives nearby to come and let us out.
We also learnt an important lesson in life. We got ourselves trapped in a stairwell on Royal Victoria Place Car park. We were looking to see if we could find a better set of stairs within our location for filming. We came across a staircase and we all entered. We then found out that there was no was way of leaving the stairs from the inside as it was a fire exit door. We had to phone Nick Reilly (Group 4) who luckily lives nearby to come and let us out.
Filming- Voiceover.
We included a voiceover in our filming, this was done on a totally seperate time and place to filming as it would not be very suitable to do it on site of shooting as the car park will echo and will have a lot of background noise. Also it was done seperately because if we did it on site there would be less time to shoot therefore the light or weather may change which will not be good for continuity editing so we did when we had a lot of time to do takes of the voiceover.
We had a few problems which we encountered during it, firstly it was the voice we want to use for the character, we needed to have a very rough, cockney accent and it was difficult to do and this took up the majority of the takes, also we had to have a change of location as well, we found where we were recording the sound that it was echoing and causing reverb, this was because it was a large room with bad acoustics, so we changed to a smaller room with objects which could absorb sound and it sounded much better.
We had a few problems which we encountered during it, firstly it was the voice we want to use for the character, we needed to have a very rough, cockney accent and it was difficult to do and this took up the majority of the takes, also we had to have a change of location as well, we found where we were recording the sound that it was echoing and causing reverb, this was because it was a large room with bad acoustics, so we changed to a smaller room with objects which could absorb sound and it sounded much better.
Sunday 9 November 2008
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. The pitch was outstanding - well planned, informed by research into target audience, possible locations and generic conventions through film analysis. Your treatment was very convincing. All group members are making excellent contributions to the research and you are clearly working well as a team. 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. Nick, you would score slightly higher due to the outstanding textual analysis research.
To achieve this overall, ensure that your time management and shoots are well organised.
Keep it up!
Mrs Fernandez
Your planning mark currently stands at a level 4 - well done. Nick, you would score slightly higher due to the outstanding textual analysis research.
To achieve this overall, ensure that your time management and shoots are well organised.
Keep it up!
Mrs Fernandez
Thursday 6 November 2008
Script
Ricky
(pause) Hello?
Boss
Ricky, your still with us then.
Ricky
Yeah, why wouldn't I be?
Boss
(Pause) I need you to listen...
Ricky
I thought i was picking up the package for you here, where is it?
Boss
I said listen (pause)
Ricky
OK
Boss
Are you deaf!? Didn't I just say listen? (slightly raised voice)
Ricky
Yeah
Boss
(grumbles) The package isn't there, alright? Now just listen. Last week Brighton, what...
Ricky
Boss I...
Boss
Shut up you mug. Reggie got nicked, 2 kilos of charlie went off the pier and two policemen ended up in hospital. Now that is not exactly what i call in and out. But oh no! Is this the beginning of your many screw ups? Hastings, London, Edinburgh... I tell you one thing... and you go do the bloody opposite ya muppet (annoyed/angry/frustrated)
Ricky
Look, you know I...
Boss
Ricky. You know I like ya, your a loyal man to are cause, but I can't afford having the old bill on my bottle (cockney sang for arse) 24/7 because of you incompetence.
Ricky
Wait, I can... (desperation in voice)
Boss
It's too late (pause) I've given the order. (pause) I'm sorry kid.
Discussion - Soundtrack
We have been thinking long and hard about the soundtrack for our opening sequence. We narrowed the songs down to three. The soundtracts we have are 'Pinball Wizard' by the Who, 'My Generation' by the Who and 'Green Onions' by Booker T and the MG's. We will decide which is more appropriate for our opening when it comes to editing. These are the songs that we are thinking about:
Wednesday 5 November 2008
Institutional research - Mark
Financing
Attracting and investor can be the hardest part of the film making process. This is a very competitive business and the producer is up against a huge number of other producers with similar ideas to theirs. This is where the producers powers of persuasion become really important. The director may be able to help especially if he is already well known in the industry. The film financing market is international and to maximise chances of getting the funds they need producers need to be prepared to travel.
Private individuals, production companies and public bodies all invest in films. The producers lawyers draw up contracts to seal the deal.
The producer can also raise money from 'pre-sales,' selling the rights to the film before it is even made. Contracts between the producers and pre-sales financiers are very complex legal documents that determine how much everyone will get and in what order. In return for finance, the sales company will want the right to sell the film to distribution companies in some or all territories, and to take a percentage of the resulting revenue. In return for finance, a broadcaster will ask for the right to play the film on certain television channels.
There are departments of banks that specialise in film finance they invest in commercial projects and also offer loans. They regard film as an investment and invest in lots of different films with different risk levels to try and even out returns.
Most financiers insist that a completion bond is in place before they agree to invest. This is insurance for the production. Completion bonds are guarantees that if the production runs out of money, the person who supplied the bonds will fund the rest of the film.
Once all essential funding and insurance is secured the film gets the 'green light'
Script Development
Once all the heads of department are hired, the shooting script is circulated and pre-production begins in earnest. The heads of department are:
*The casting director - who will need to start a shortlist of actors for all the roles required by the script.
*The Editor - The editor will be required to choose the people needed when the film moves into post production. During pre-production the editor works with the director to ensure that transitions described in the shooting script will work on screen.
*Head of Sound - they are responsible for hiring a team of sound recorders and boom operators
*Director of photography - He has to work with the director and the production designer to ensure everyone knows what style of film they are going to shoot
*The production designer - they need to hire a whole team to that all the sets are designed and the construction team builds them to the correct specification. They also oversee props and all objects that are going to be used in a film.
* The 1st AD - They are responsible for keeping the production on schedule and will be present in pre-production to help the producer, line producer and the production manager to plan the shoot
* The line producer - is responsible for handling every person and issue during the making of the film.
The casting director, with the director and the producer begins the long process of identifying and casting the actors. Storyboards are the blueprints for the film where every shot is planned out by the director and the director of photography. The production designer will plan every aspect of how the film will look and hires people to design and build each part. Effects are planned in much more detail to normal shots and can take months to design and build. The 1st AD, the line producer and the production manager make up the key logistics triangle of the production.
Packaging
A large film production can involve hundreds of people and it is a constant struggle to keep it on schedule and budget. The 1st day of principal photography is a key moment in film production, shooting begins and funding is released. The camera department is responsible for getting all the footage that the director and editor need to tell the story. Once lighting and sound have been set up and hair and make-up have been checked, shooting can begin. In the mist of all the commotion the actors must create an emotional world and draw the audience into it. Every special effect is carefully constructed and must be filmed with minimum risk to cast a crew. Film productions are run with military precision and if they fall behind schedule the financiers and insurers may step in.
Post Production
As the processed footage comes in the editor assembles it into scenes and creates a narrative sequence for the film. Once the picture is locked the sound department works on the audio track laying, creating and editing every sound. Digital effects are added by specialist effects compositors. Titles and credits are added in a compositing suite. The final stage of the picture edit is to adjust the colour and establish the fine aesthetic of the film. After a picture lock, the rough sound mix goes to a dubbing theatre where the sound mixers set the final levels. After the final cut the film reaches full lock it is now finished and ready for duplication.
Attracting and investor can be the hardest part of the film making process. This is a very competitive business and the producer is up against a huge number of other producers with similar ideas to theirs. This is where the producers powers of persuasion become really important. The director may be able to help especially if he is already well known in the industry. The film financing market is international and to maximise chances of getting the funds they need producers need to be prepared to travel.
Private individuals, production companies and public bodies all invest in films. The producers lawyers draw up contracts to seal the deal.
The producer can also raise money from 'pre-sales,' selling the rights to the film before it is even made. Contracts between the producers and pre-sales financiers are very complex legal documents that determine how much everyone will get and in what order. In return for finance, the sales company will want the right to sell the film to distribution companies in some or all territories, and to take a percentage of the resulting revenue. In return for finance, a broadcaster will ask for the right to play the film on certain television channels.
There are departments of banks that specialise in film finance they invest in commercial projects and also offer loans. They regard film as an investment and invest in lots of different films with different risk levels to try and even out returns.
Most financiers insist that a completion bond is in place before they agree to invest. This is insurance for the production. Completion bonds are guarantees that if the production runs out of money, the person who supplied the bonds will fund the rest of the film.
Once all essential funding and insurance is secured the film gets the 'green light'
Script Development
Once all the heads of department are hired, the shooting script is circulated and pre-production begins in earnest. The heads of department are:
*The casting director - who will need to start a shortlist of actors for all the roles required by the script.
*The Editor - The editor will be required to choose the people needed when the film moves into post production. During pre-production the editor works with the director to ensure that transitions described in the shooting script will work on screen.
*Head of Sound - they are responsible for hiring a team of sound recorders and boom operators
*Director of photography - He has to work with the director and the production designer to ensure everyone knows what style of film they are going to shoot
*The production designer - they need to hire a whole team to that all the sets are designed and the construction team builds them to the correct specification. They also oversee props and all objects that are going to be used in a film.
* The 1st AD - They are responsible for keeping the production on schedule and will be present in pre-production to help the producer, line producer and the production manager to plan the shoot
* The line producer - is responsible for handling every person and issue during the making of the film.
The casting director, with the director and the producer begins the long process of identifying and casting the actors. Storyboards are the blueprints for the film where every shot is planned out by the director and the director of photography. The production designer will plan every aspect of how the film will look and hires people to design and build each part. Effects are planned in much more detail to normal shots and can take months to design and build. The 1st AD, the line producer and the production manager make up the key logistics triangle of the production.
Packaging
A large film production can involve hundreds of people and it is a constant struggle to keep it on schedule and budget. The 1st day of principal photography is a key moment in film production, shooting begins and funding is released. The camera department is responsible for getting all the footage that the director and editor need to tell the story. Once lighting and sound have been set up and hair and make-up have been checked, shooting can begin. In the mist of all the commotion the actors must create an emotional world and draw the audience into it. Every special effect is carefully constructed and must be filmed with minimum risk to cast a crew. Film productions are run with military precision and if they fall behind schedule the financiers and insurers may step in.
Post Production
As the processed footage comes in the editor assembles it into scenes and creates a narrative sequence for the film. Once the picture is locked the sound department works on the audio track laying, creating and editing every sound. Digital effects are added by specialist effects compositors. Titles and credits are added in a compositing suite. The final stage of the picture edit is to adjust the colour and establish the fine aesthetic of the film. After a picture lock, the rough sound mix goes to a dubbing theatre where the sound mixers set the final levels. After the final cut the film reaches full lock it is now finished and ready for duplication.
Institutional Research
Sales
Selling the product
To sell her film she needs an agent who specialises in film sales.
The producer needs to distribute it to as many places as possible which the agent will sort it out and she needs to negotiate with.
The agent negotiates deals, values it and organises the deals.
Trailers are used for the audiences of films, the economic target, shows most marketable parts.
Producer and sales agent will organise everything needed to sell the film to distributors.
Must go to great lengths to attract attention to the film.
High profile screening at a film festival is the best way to get attracted.
Star Names are useful to get it more recognised.
Could be made a hot product.
Distribution deal when the producer negotiates a deal with distributor for the rights.
Marketing
Marketing team runs test screenings to see how film is received, audience response is important.
Potential audience is targeted through all sorts of advertisement. (Above the line marketing)
T.V, Radio and newspapers can create a positive response to it.
Internet is also used. Good for low budget films as viral adverts, such as Blair witch got attention.
The distributors must negotiate a deal with the cinemas to screen it.
Cinema programmer organises the exhibits schedule.
Exhibition
· A star studded premiere is used to launch the film with a lot of media.
· The Cinema does not get a lot of money from the film but does it through food and drink.
· Distributors give the exhibitors prints of the film, the more screens, the more prints.
· Data is collected from the film attendance, called box office performance.
· The exhibitors take their share and the distributors recoup their marketing costs. Producers can see how much they can make through the revenue.
· Once distributors are paid they can recover investments with a recoupment schedule.
Other Windows
Hospitatiy such as in flight movies and hotel channels can bring in millions.
UK audiences spend more on DVDs so it can make up for box office losses.
T.V is the final venue when the rights are handed to pay-tv channels and terrestrial, called the broadcasting rights.
Rights for the computer games are made and can be extremely lucrative.
Once they make a profit the producer has a lot of money, apparently.
Final income is not known, it may even be re-released in the future.
Selling the product
To sell her film she needs an agent who specialises in film sales.
The producer needs to distribute it to as many places as possible which the agent will sort it out and she needs to negotiate with.
The agent negotiates deals, values it and organises the deals.
Trailers are used for the audiences of films, the economic target, shows most marketable parts.
Producer and sales agent will organise everything needed to sell the film to distributors.
Must go to great lengths to attract attention to the film.
High profile screening at a film festival is the best way to get attracted.
Star Names are useful to get it more recognised.
Could be made a hot product.
Distribution deal when the producer negotiates a deal with distributor for the rights.
Marketing
Marketing team runs test screenings to see how film is received, audience response is important.
Potential audience is targeted through all sorts of advertisement. (Above the line marketing)
T.V, Radio and newspapers can create a positive response to it.
Internet is also used. Good for low budget films as viral adverts, such as Blair witch got attention.
The distributors must negotiate a deal with the cinemas to screen it.
Cinema programmer organises the exhibits schedule.
Exhibition
· A star studded premiere is used to launch the film with a lot of media.
· The Cinema does not get a lot of money from the film but does it through food and drink.
· Distributors give the exhibitors prints of the film, the more screens, the more prints.
· Data is collected from the film attendance, called box office performance.
· The exhibitors take their share and the distributors recoup their marketing costs. Producers can see how much they can make through the revenue.
· Once distributors are paid they can recover investments with a recoupment schedule.
Other Windows
Hospitatiy such as in flight movies and hotel channels can bring in millions.
UK audiences spend more on DVDs so it can make up for box office losses.
T.V is the final venue when the rights are handed to pay-tv channels and terrestrial, called the broadcasting rights.
Rights for the computer games are made and can be extremely lucrative.
Once they make a profit the producer has a lot of money, apparently.
Final income is not known, it may even be re-released in the future.
Treatment
Jason's job was simple. Teach the man in the car park a lesson he won't forget... or recover from. A straight blow to the head, it would like a car robbery gone wrong but Jason wasn't counting on retaliation, and now the next two hours of his life are crucial, a fight to keep his respect, his honour... but more importantly, his life. With greedy and ruthless drug bosses as well as the old bill on his tail, Jason's well developed skills as a hitman will be the only thing which will seperate the men from the boys. Set in that period in time known as the 60's, expect a whirlwind ride of money, violence, robery... and death. Our Generation will shock you, scare you, make you laugh, perhaps make you cry, but perhaps most importantly, make you proud to be British. Told as a linear narrative the film begins in the car park and then throughout the film we will have flashbacks of Jasons past, until his final moments are played out in the final section of the movie.
Discussion
After drawing out our storyboard, presenting our pitch and other research about the film industry, we could finally begin to start thinking about when we would start filming, and start writing the script for the voice over we will use in our beginning.
both Mark and Nick work at weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, so we had to find a date to start filming where we could all get time off work and be at location promptly and for as long as it took to shoot the opening. The date we all have in our diary to start filming are the next two Sundays of the month, the 9th and the 16th of the November. Both mark and nick now have to find time off work to come to location and shoot, as we will need sufficient time to edit the opening, shooting needs to be out of the way quite quickly.
We have the dilemma of whether or not to use a mobile phone for the opening. Being set in the 60’s, mobile phones were not around so we discussed what alternatives we could use. We were thinking of changing a cord phone to look like an emergency phone, found in car parks. We also thought that we could perhaps use an old phone which has been placed in the car park for Jason's victim to answer after he hears it ringing.
both Mark and Nick work at weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, so we had to find a date to start filming where we could all get time off work and be at location promptly and for as long as it took to shoot the opening. The date we all have in our diary to start filming are the next two Sundays of the month, the 9th and the 16th of the November. Both mark and nick now have to find time off work to come to location and shoot, as we will need sufficient time to edit the opening, shooting needs to be out of the way quite quickly.
We have the dilemma of whether or not to use a mobile phone for the opening. Being set in the 60’s, mobile phones were not around so we discussed what alternatives we could use. We were thinking of changing a cord phone to look like an emergency phone, found in car parks. We also thought that we could perhaps use an old phone which has been placed in the car park for Jason's victim to answer after he hears it ringing.
Tuesday 4 November 2008
Discussion
After our pitch we have found some ways to change our ideas, the questionnaire came through as one that was very decisive and Nick pointed out at that we could put comedy in to it so that it could become a certain type of genre, but we decided that this could go wrong and be very crude and cheesy so we decided to keep with no comedy in it. Also we have concentrated on conventions, we felt it was very important to get this right as the one of the first things is the location, this didn't take much time as we found that Tunbridge Wells top storey car park was the ideal place as it had the right lighting, had all the conventions of a 60's scene as it is quite plain, also there are not a lot of cars there so it is suitable.
Evaluation of preliminary task - Editing
When editing we did not encounter any real problems, but we did pick up some useful tips for when we come to edit our film opening. We learnt how to cut unwanted footage out of a captured film, we learnt how to fade soundtracks in and out as well as the footage and we learnt how to put our footage into black and white. We also discovered that editing will be a very long a possibly time consuming process. We learnt how to remove unwanted sound so we do not have any background noise that we do not want, we just have the sound track. I think most importantly we learnt about continuity editing.
Synopsis - Our Generation
Back in the 1960’s, when it was all about, the music, the cars, the fashion, the drugs, the money, the Fighting. Jason Capella was the usual jack-the-lad only in life for one thing, to get a kick out of it. One day his routine life of crime is turned on its head when old friends wanting a deed done which was not fulfilled re-appear…
Technical Analysis, Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn, 2004
My technical analysis was on the 2004 British gangster film ‘Layer Cake’, directed by Matthew Vaughn. The director chose to show the opening sequence as a condensed linear narrative, putting twenty years about the drug industry into just two minutes. To show this rapid passing of time, Vaughn used a lot of fade cuts, showing a gradual change. Only when the story reaches the present day does the director use straight cuts to show differing events. To help the audience realise that they are watching someone’s story throughout the beginning, Vaughn uses a bridge of a character, showing one character in one place, followed by a fade cut to a different place, with the same character there, e.g. a hippie in one room, smoking drugs, then a fade cut to a prison where the same long haired hippie is sitting, discussing how he ended up in prison. As the opening is very rapid and fast moving, showing history as quickly as possible, Vaughn uses panning shots continuously, as well as tilt up/ down movements and the strong use of dolly, tracking and crane camera movements. This continuous right/ left, steady movement of the camera brings pace and the audience connotes that things are moving quickly for the main character, Mr. X. differing camera sizes establish certain things, e.g. close-up shots of the drugs so the audience knows exactly what they are, as well as extreme long shots and long shots, establishing a location. Filters are used to show coldness within the prison, with a blue filter, and a sense of warmth and fun with a yellow filter for the hippie room. Overall, the film works very well in telling the story in detail but in the shortest possible time.
Location Analysis
On a location reccie, I found a location which the whole group agreed would be suitable for our beginning, the top floor of a car park. From our questionnaire, we found that car parks, pubs and nightclubs were the three locations our audience associated most with the British gangster genre. At the location, we found suitable, cold and dim lighting, which we hope will give our opening a slightly chilling and tense feel, and we want to create a sense of fear in the audience as this will immediately garb their attention. As well as using Tunbridge Wells’ multi storey car park, other locations we will use in the opening are elevators and stairs which are situated very close to the car park. As we will be shooting in November, we hope that the dull colours of the car park will add to a feeling of coldness created in the audience, making them connote that events are happening in winter.
Title, one Liner
Title - Our Generation.
One Liner - An intense gangster thriller which will have you so close to the edge of you seat you might just fall off.
Our title and one liner were both the creation of Nick Wallis. We had alot of difficulty deciding on what the title should be. Are inspiration came from the song 'My Generation' by The Who.
One Liner - An intense gangster thriller which will have you so close to the edge of you seat you might just fall off.
Our title and one liner were both the creation of Nick Wallis. We had alot of difficulty deciding on what the title should be. Are inspiration came from the song 'My Generation' by The Who.
Monday 3 November 2008
Technical Analysis, The Business.
The Business is a Brit Gangster film situated abroad when he goes to pursue his dreams further abroad then from the streets of London. In this opening sequence they have used nearly all cuts and no dissolves or any other way to change camera angle or view. At the start the cutting rhythm is very slow when they were jogging, also there was not a lot of camera movement, the camera was mainly static, apart from when they were following the joggers and were tracking. There was quite a regular pattern to camera size as it went from CU to a MCU then a MS with sometimes XLS. It then changes when it comes to the action and dialogue, the cutting rhythm is very quick as the dialogue is fast paced with a lot of CUs to express the faces, also there were not a lot of MS shots as they were in the house and it restricted it, also there was usage of natural frames, such the archway.
Evaluation of Technical Analysis - 'Get Carter', Hodges,1971
I chose to do my technical analysis on the film 'Get Carter' by Mike Hodges in 1971. I chose to do this film because it is a British gangster film and it gives me a good idea of what films from around this era where like as I am trying to do a 1960's style gangster film for my film opening. The opening of 'Get Carter' used many different shots and when it came to movement, the director often uses the panning camera technique. The director uses a lot of cuts therefore, it could make the opening scene look very jumpy, however it doesn't because they use continuity editing; so everything runs in sequence. The director uses fairly long shots, there is no rapidly changing shots. Apart from the opening shot, which is an extreme long shot which pans in to a medium shot, the majority of the shots used are a variety of close. The different types of close up shots there are include, medium close up, close up, big close up and extreme close up. The majority of the the majority of the shots are medium close ups and close ups.
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