Thursday, 4 December 2008
Editing Overall
Filming overall
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Voiceover - New
"Poor lad. Aint been with us long. Inexperienced. They always are. He don’t know what kinda business he’s in. N this is the last time he’ll lose twenty five grand of my pills and get the rozza’s on my tail. Last time he’ll do anything in fact. You see, this is how things go down in this business. The empty building. The letter. Then BANG!"
Audience feedback - Rough cut
-how long the shots were, such as the the spiralling staircase sequence which we cut down so that it went down from 8 seconds to 5 seconds
-what sound effects we used, as we originally had the sound of a gas station bell for the sound of the elevator opening, which we have now changed to the sound of a note played on the triangle
-where our credits would come in, as we didn't have any names of characters, people involved etc. so we decided to spend this week fitting in our credits throughout the opening and deciding when the title 'Our generation' would appear
-the final shot, where the bat falls to the ground in front of the camera, needed to be changed so that the shot appeared blurred and hazy, as the shot was POV and we needed the audience to understand that they were watching the action from character who had just taken a strong blow to the head.
Overall, the rough cut was well received and as a team, we are very proud. Now we can take our audiences comments and incorporate their opinions into our final production.
Editing so far Pt. 2
Friday, 28 November 2008
Editing so far
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Filming 26/11/08
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Filming 23/11/08
Monday, 17 November 2008
Filming 14/11/08
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Filming - 12/11/08
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 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
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
Discussion - Soundtrack
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Institutional research - Mark
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
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
Discussion
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
Evaluation of preliminary task - Editing
Synopsis - Our Generation
Technical Analysis, Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn, 2004
Location Analysis
Title, one Liner
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.
Evaluation of Technical Analysis - 'Get Carter', Hodges,1971
Friday, 31 October 2008
Evaluation Of Our Pitch
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Questionairre and audience research
Monday, 20 October 2008
Music.
The following are some of the songs I have put on the CD, and that we could be considering form our soundtrack.
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Feedback #2
Keep up the good work!
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Preliminary Task, Filming
After drawing a storyboard, deciding what we would film, what camera shots, camera angles we would use and what would be said in our conversation we went to our location within the school to begin the long process of filming.
For our first shots we were to use a panning mid-shot, showing our character walk down a corridor. This pan shot would then lead to show the side of a wall, as we watch the character walk off into the distance. We had to move the camera up slightly so that we did not see the characters face as we wanted to reveal him in the lasts shot, creating enigma. As we were filming in school, the mise-en-scene included some unwanted details, such as school posters which were not entirely in keeping with the gangster genre! To keep in with the style of British gangster films, we kept the suits and adopted foreign Italian accents to make sure the audience immediately understood what we were trying to create. The second shot was of the characters feet acting as a leading line following him up to the door which he then went through. We had to film this shot many times as we found that without a dolly, the shot was very jerky, but the final shot was steady and had a slight noir feel as we caught the beams of light coming through the door casting a shadow on the floor where the character walks. keeping in with the noir style, the next two shots included a MCU walking through a door and then a high angle MS canted angle panning shot which gave it a slightly CCTV appearance, like the character was being watched. When filming the character walking down the stairs, we used a MCU of his feet, filming a pan shot through the bars of the stairs, once again adhering to the noir feel, showing the character to be locked up, through the bars which connote a jail bars. When filming the conversation we kept to the rule of thirds, showing the characters heads in both top corners using a MCU shot. When talking we had to make sure we were matching on action to make the shots feel natural. We also had to get sufficient head and lead room to make it all look natural. We then used a ECU of the characters shaking hands with the voice of the characters talking from the previous scene acting as a sound bridge.
We had to analyse the mise-en-scene to make sure everything looked like it should be there as well as using diegetic sounds which were appropriate. Certain rules such as the 180 rule and the rule of thirds were adhered to as well as giving the film a noir style with the lighting and angles and a gangster feel with the accents and costumes.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Preliminary Task, Errors.
During editing we had a lot of takes to overcome throughout the process of it, to cut out any unwanted clips we used to ways of cutting these out, the first was to use a clip and if it is too long at the start then you could set it in a bit further and if it is not wanted at the end then u can set it out, so it cuts off any unwanted pieces of video. Another way is once you have the shots you want in the timeline and it feels that when it cuts from one shot to another then you can use the tool split clip when necessary and then this splits the clip into two parts and the unwanted part can be deleted then the gap can be closed. Also unwanted sound was a problem as the sound from the DV camera could pick up a lot of sound, the first course of action minimise this to as little as possibly was to remove shoes so that there will no large background noise. In the video afterwards there is always slight noise picked up throughout. We overcame this by putting a slight soundtrack in the background, the non-diegetic sound complemented the sequence and it blocked out the background noise.
Gangster No. 1,Paul McGuigan, 2000
Analysing 'City of God', Meirelles and Lund, 2002
Monday, 13 October 2008
'Goodfellas' analysis

‘Goodfellas’, Martin Scorsese, 1991
‘Goodfellas’ belongs to the gangster genre. It is an American gangster film; we know this because of the iconography that is in the opening sequence. The first thing that we see after the credits is a car. The car is a Pontiac which is a very American car, you would not find one of them in Britain, and this is the first piece of iconography that shows us we are watching an America gangster film. After that shot we see a black screen with the words New York, 1970 written on it, this tells us for certain that we are watching an American gangster film. The final piece of iconography that tells us that we are watching an American gangster film is the voice over; he has a very strong American accent. The audiences generic expectations of a gangster film are fulfilled during the sequence by the costumes, the characters are wearing very smart expensive clothes. They are wearing silk shirts and suits. These are stock costumes for this genre, these types of clothes also appear in films such as ‘Scarface’, and ‘The Godfather’; although in ‘The Godfather’ the suits look different as it is set at a different period in time, it still gives you the impression of smartly dressed gangsters. The generic expectations are fulfilled bat the end of the opening sequence when we see a body in the boot covered in blood, and one the characters starts hacking at him with a knife. The opening sequence does conform to the characteristics of the genre, the people are all dressed smartly, they are violent, and they use foul language; all of these things are what you would expect in a gangster film.
The mise-en-scene of the scene enforces our image of the gangsters. The sequence is filmed at night, this connotes that they are bad guys. When watching films you tend to see that if there is something against the law occurring, it is being filmed at night. The fact that they are travelling at night could suggest that they are trying to avoid the police. When the car is travelling and when it pulls over we can see that is on a small country road well away from cities and towns. We know this because there is no street lighting along the road and because they are driving through a wood. Woods are often a stock locations in gangster movies because that is where they bury anybody they have murdered. The combination of the dark back road and the wood connotes that the characters have committed a crime, or at least have done something that they do not want other people to know about. When the characters get out of the car and go to the boot they are bathed in a red light, this connotes blood and violence. The opening shot is a tracking shot, which then pans left and comes along side the car, this shows us the car that we are about to go inside and it gives the audience the impression that we are following the car, so we know that the people inside are going to be the people that we follow throughout the film. When we see a shot inside the car it is a medium close up shot of the driver, but we can also see the other characters in the car. The director uses the rule of thirds to show that all the people within the car are important, but we get the impression that the driver is the main character as the camera is concentrating on him, and the other two characters are slightly out of focus. We then go to a long shot when the characters walk around to the boot, the director uses this shot to show the background, and to show the characters bathed in the red light. We see a point of view shot, which tracks in on the boot, this shows us that the noise we hear is coming from the boot. Sound is used to anchor the images during the opening sequences by the way that before we see the images of the car we can hear the sound of passing traffic anchors the image of the car. Scorsese also uses sound bridges, a good example of this is when one of the gangsters starts hacking at the man in the boot, we can still hear this going on, but camera cuts to a reaction shot of one of the other gangsters. From the dialogue we learn that these are tough men, two of them swear in their first line of dialogue. The non-verbal language shows us that the men are tired, one of them is asleep and the driver is rubbing his eyes with fatigue; this connotes that they have been up along time and it reinforces the fact that they are driving at night.
The narrative is structured so that it does not run in linear sequence, at the start of the film we are already halfway through the story, when then flashback to the beginning of the story. We know it is a flashback because the voice over says ‘As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster. The narrative then works its way up to the point at which we started and the story then develops from there. The audience is positioned in the style of objective treatment; we are treated as an observer not as part of the film. A good example of this is when we follow car, and when we go into the car with the characters. We know that it is objective treatment because the camera inside the car is positioned on the windscreen looking at the characters, if it was subjective treatment we would seeing the inside of the car from a point of view shot or the camera would be positioned in an empty seat. Another way that you know it is objective treatment is that there is a voice over at the end of the scene that addresses the audience.
The social group that is represented in the opening sequence of ‘Goodfellas’ are middle-aged, white males. They are portrayed as anti-hero’s. This means that even though they are the bad guys, we instantly like them. The ideological discourse of gangsters is challenged within ‘Goodfellas’. Gangsters are the bad guys so traditionally we shouldn’t like them, but we do. Another ideological discourse within ‘Goodfellas’ is gender. Gangster films are traditionally very male films and ‘Goodfellas’ reinforces this. All the characters within the opening sequence are male, and there are not many females throughout the whole film. The females that are in ‘Goodfellas’ are portrayed to be inferior to men. Capitalism would be another ideological discourse within ‘Goodfellas’. Capitalism seems to be an ideological discourse with the majority of western films; this is because people are constantly reminding us of the values and beliefs of our society, and capitalism is the belief that our society is based on. ‘Goodfellas’ is about making money, it is not one of the main themes in the film, but it is definitely there. Making money is a capitalist ideology.
The target audience is for ‘Goodfellas’ is young adults in the age range of about 18-30. There is a lot of violence and other adult topics that younger children would not understand, and it is rated an 18 so anyone under that would not be able to view this film in a cinema or buy it. The characters are predominantly white, so the target audience is white males, so the audience can relate to it. Gangster films are typically a male film; they just tend to find all the violence, swearing and drug abuse more entertaining than women do. As a British teenager I read and evaluate the text differently to an American teenager, this is natural as I have been brought up in a different environment with different values and beliefs. Our society here in Britain is very similar to the society of America, and we often here about America in our media. Therefore, I am able to understand the majority of the film, because I have some knowledge of there culture, however I am sure there are some aspects of the film that I would have been able to understand better if I was American, and was brought up in there culture.
Discussion - Monday 13th October 2008
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Feedback #1
The analysis of 'Scarface' led me to think that a solution to your idea of a character walking down a corridor (too little for 2mins) would be to cut away to a second line of action, perhaps the same character being 'interrogated' for the crime that he is about to commit? This would provide an interesting non-linear narrative... something to think about
Keep up the good work - at the moment this is very productive and creative group work.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Analysing 'Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels', Guy Ritchie, 1998
‘Lock Stock’ is a film which a variety of audiences can relate to. Its hybridised genres attract different social groups but also allow the director to use different aspects from a range of genres to employ a range of connotations and denotations. The film could be categorised in to either crime, British Gangster or the comedy genre.
From the beginning of the film the generic expectations are satisfied in the gangster genre as the film employs stock locations, characters, costumes and non-diegetic sounds which are used in classic British gangster movies, such as slang and cockney accents, a suburban London setting and smart, snappy outfits. We understand that the film is based on the life and times of misfit gangsters as we are introduced to the male lead characters, Eddie and Bacon in the first few minutes of the film. We understand after hearing the voiceover say ‘its time to move on and he knows it’, in a hardened cockney accent, that the following story will be based around the life and times of these two characters and what exactly they are going to move onto. The generic expectations of the film are fulfilled with crime as we understand that what the two leads are doing is dodgy deals on street corners, something that the police don’t take too kindly too as a chase between the dealers and the police ensue. The cockney accent, location and the suitcase full of ‘stolen’ goods connotes that these characters are involved in some dodgy business. The comedy genre is established through the cockney rhyme and slang as well as the foolishness of the characters, letting themselves get so close to being caught. Things which anchor the film as being a gangster film are the stock costumes such as the buttoned up coats, the cockney accents employed by these typical British gangsters and the location which denotes a dilapidated estate where small time gangsters can thrive.The director treats each genre quite playfully in the fact that he has decided not to stick with one particular genre but to mould a variety together to produce a beginning which the audience finds funny, intriguing and exciting and for that reason wants to watch more. Although the text does not conform to the characteristics of one genre specifically, we see that each genre has been thought of, such as the up beat and rebellious soundtrack for the comedy genre, the accents and arrogance of the characters for the gangster genre and the stock characters of gangster vs. police for the crime genre. The Evening Standard called it ‘The year’s best British movie…one of the funniest films I have seen in years’.Mise-en-scene is used throughout the beginning to give the audience a true understanding of what is going on. In one of the very first establishing shots, we see Bacon through a crowd of people, selling what we connote is stolen goods. By showing us all the surroundings, the audience can see everything and try to work out what is going on. The leading line of the shutters from each side of the shot leads us towards Bacon which highlights his significance. Mise-en-scene used in the beginning helps establish where the characters are such as outside the shops and the alleyway, what time of day events are taking place (bright lighting to convey daytime), what the characters are wearing (helps audience understand the weather is probably quite cold due to the big, buttoned up coats and scarves, and their smart trousers and shoes connotes that both Bacon and Eddie are traditional British gangsters). In a MCU shot where we can see Bacon with his customers in front, we can see his table of goods in front of him so the audiences can immediately understand that what is going on may be illegal due to the fact that the table is makeshift and these deals are going on outside a closed shop in east London. Bacon’s non verbal language shows us he is very confident in what he is doing and perhaps has been involved with selling goods on street corners for a long time: he knows how to manipulate a customer into buying from him.In the first opening shots where we see Bacon selling his bargains, we are placed within the shot so the audience connotes that they are one of the characters in the film, looking in on him selling his items. The shot used here is a MCU shot so our eye is focused mainly on the character but we can see objects and scenery behind, such as other customers coming in and out of the shot and establishing where the deals are going on, in front of a closed shop. CU shots are sued after this so we only look and listen to what Bacon is saying as Ritchie understand the cockney is fast paced and at times confusing so the audiences attention should be focused on understanding what is being said. A customer walking towards the deals in front of a camera acts as a leading line towards the main focus. The camera used here is steadicam. This gives the effect that the audience believe they are in the shot looking in on the action, and it is used over similar camera movements such as handicam as this would give a feeling of confusion and disorientation, whereas Ritchie wants the audience to understand what is going on straight away. When Bacon is talking back to Eddie, the director uses a POV shot, so we are placed in his footsteps, looking at the customers coming towards the action whereas previously we were placed as a customer looking in. A CU is used here so our attention is drawn directly towards the actor speaking and our eye is not drawn to anything else: we understand what is going on and what is being said immediately. The director chooses not to employ the rule of thirds too often in the opening scene as he wants to establish who the main characters in the story will be. Although shots where characters are placed directly in the centre look unnatural, we are forced to look at them and remember their faces for later on in the film. The director also makes sure that every main character has enough head and lead room in their shots, compared to the customers who are sometimes not all in a shot, making us realise that these people are insignificant and will not contribute to the story later on. CU shots are used to bring emphasis on particular objects during the opening. When the police arrive, there are a number of quick and close up shots of objects such as Bacon and Eddies face and the suitcase. These shots create both confusion and tension and the pace suddenly builds up. As well as highlighting the urgency of the situation, these shots convey that these are ill things of importance and should stay within the audiences mind as the film progresses. The panning shot showing the police and both Eddie and Bacon run past conveys urgency and exhilaration. This camera movement is used to once again place us within the action and watch head on as a ‘cops ’n’ robbers’ chase goes on right in front of us. The characters non-verbal language shows they are trying to run as fast as possible to avoid getting caught. The shot size here is LS to leave emphasis on where the chase will lead to as wee see both police and gangsters run off into the distance. The final shot we see in the end of the opening sequence is a low angle shot, looking up ate Eddie and Bacon run down the stairs. As well as showing them to be high up and of importance in the film we are placed once again in the action, with the two characters running off to the right of the camera. Throughout the opening Ritchie places us a character in the story, taking us through the life and times of Eddie and Bacon. The director slows down the action in the slow motion shot of the pair running down the stairs. As the narrative is being said whilst this is going on we do not want to be distracted by anything else. If Ritchie used lots of different shots during this speech our main attention would not be on what is being said. By keeping the same shot whilst the character talks, we can learn a lot more about them.Sound is used in the opening to anchor the images used and to help the audience understand what each image means. For example, we hear the customers talking amongst themselves, and this connotes that we are actually watching a real life dodgy deal going on. The director uses a sound bridge, the soundtrack, from one part of the story to the next to help the audience understand that what is taking place now, the police chase, is very different to what was going on before. The soundtrack itself is very high-paced and has a fast tempo which coincides with the action which is going on which escalates from an everyday business deal, with no music, to a chase throughout London, with an up-beat soundtrack to create a feeling of fun and action within the viewer. What we would expect to hear when Eddie and Bacon rush down the stairs would be the sound of footsteps and items from the suitcase crashing against the floor. Instead all we hear is the voiceover, so our attention is on what Eddie and Bacon are doing but also on what the narrative is saying, we aren’t distracted by these sounds, which have been edited out after filming.When examining the pair of gangsters through their non verbal language we can see that they are both very confident in their business but at the same time we connote that Eddie is perhaps a little worried about being caught as he constantly looks side to side. He doesn’t speak with as much confidence as Bacon and is shown to be quite shy and wary. Bacon is a very outgoing character, and this is evident with his use of puns and deal clinchers all rolled into one short burst of dialogue. Only a few lines have to be spoken and we already realise that Bacon is very self-assured and has every faith in himself that he can secure any deal. This suddenly changes when he notices the police and he rushes to clear everything away and he becomes more hunched, connoting that he is scared of the police. In the opening we are only introduced to Bacon and Eddie, and no one else; we learn more in depth details about them during the narrative. By not introducing any other characters to the film too soon on, Ritchie gives the audience a chance to try and understand what the two main characters are like and make up their own decisions about what they have done in the past etc.There are a lot of visual techniques used throughout the beginning. In the film, Ritchie relied on a lot of pro-filmic effects to give the film its edge as he did not use a lot of CGI or special effects. Leading lines are used to draw us into or away from the action, such as the pavement leasing us towards where Bacon and Eddie are running, the line that a customer walks towards the action in front of Bacon and the stairs and railings leading up to the pair fleeing from the cops. There is a yellow filter used in the opening which gives the film a grainy and pure colour which connotes that the events are real life. The director also uses the rule of thirds throughout the beginning so our focus is on a variety of things within the shot, such as the background and foreground. When we see Bacon talking to his public our eye is on him in the top left hand corner but also the customers in the foreground on the left and right. Our focus is not on one thing but a variety, once again making us believe we are actually there. Low angle shots are used to establish Bacon as a protagonist, a high-standing character, someone who we look up to, the hero of the story. Lighting in the beginning connotes that the events are occurring during the daytime. The credits come into the shot as clear white typography against a black background; our focus is purely on the text. We can hear Bacon talking in the background as the credits come up and this connotes that deals are still going on. The text is similar to that of a typewriter and comes onto the screen as it has just been punched on with the typewriter. The audiences’ connotations of this are that we are watching a police report or reading a file about the life of Bacon and Eddie. The films language is very unique and the director’s use of camera shots, angle, vocabulary, sound and positioning establishes its style as being very new age and something which appeals to everyone.The narrative is linear and organised so we are presented with the beginning which sets us up and informs us for the rest of the story. When the films title appears during the opening scene, it is in white clear font in front of a pure black screen. This lets the audiences focus remain on the title and nothing else. Like very film beginning, the idea is to inform us and to create enigma. lock stock does this very well as we ask ourselves what are these ‘new things’ which Eddie are Bacon are going to move onto and we get to see the two characters in an every day situation where we can see them for what they are.The audience is positioned as an outsider looking in on the action. We are the ones who see the characters in the muddle that they are in, we are the ones who are to try to understand what is being said and going on, and Ritchie hands us snippets of information to do this. To help us to realise that something may be of importance later on in the film, there is prominence on the shot, keeping the image or words in the back of our heads, such as the information told to us during the narrative.We identify both Eddie and Bacon are the heroes due to the way they are filmed, low angle shots and a sense of charm help us identify this . We identify the character saying the narrative to have some say in Eddie and Bacon’s futures as he talks about them as if he has known them for some time. We don’t see the narrator so we are alienated from him but this helps to create enigma as we want to know who he really is.The major theme in the narrative is small-time crime. Throughout the whole opening there are shots which the director uses to establish things in our minds. We understand that the pair are both up and coming British gangsters and we perceive them to be just that through LS of the pairs faces, panning shots showing them and the cops and diegetic sound.Tension is created and maintained mainly through the music. The song builds from silence up to a fast paced and exciting tempo during the police chase. We see Eddie look side to side more than once, this establishes enigma as we question what is coming and also creates tension as we anticipate what they are hiding from. We realise through the narrative that we are going to watch the story of the two friends unfold in the future and this creates tension as we are anxious to find out what will be the final fate of the characters that Ritchie establishes very early on as the loveable heroes. As the police look to be very close to the characters during the chase we are unsure whether they will actually get away and this creates tension which is maintained throughout the chase.When we think of British Gangster films, we think of hardened criminals, very masculine and proper, although the male lead gangsters in lock stock are presented as being quite different from an audiences conventions, they are quite clumsy letting themselves come close to being caught, they carry no weapons and are shown to be quite skinny compared to other strong and muscular characters in other British gangster movies. They both have cockney accents as well as Bacon having a shaven head so some aspects of a gangster genre are kept but Ritchie decides to go against traditional conventions and give his own spin on British gangster. They are shown to be quite sure in what they are doing but vulnerable in the fact that they never quite know what is round the corner. The customers at the beginning, an everyday middle class social group, are portrayed as being of little importance to the story, having no place amongst the good or the bad, the cops or the robbers.The framework of semiotics used in the opening sequence include the visual of the suitcase containing what we perceive to be Bacon’s entire business and it connotes that this is his way out of suburban London. A shaven head man immediately connotes toughness and this is highlighted with Bacon’s rough accent. The alley way where Eddie and Bacon run through is a dark black which is similar to the clothes which the two gangsters wear, here we understand that the pair are perhaps a part of the streets and blend in well into their surroundings and activities, and the black clothing also symbolises that the two are perhaps hiding something and are perhaps a little rebellious compared to the other customers we see who wear lighter colours. The producers of the film may have encoded the text with preferred meanings in mind to be structured later on in the film but in the opening the audience can only interpret and understand what they are seeing.The target audience of the film is men, predominantly young men. Anybody watching lock stock would find it very visually impressive but Ritchie made the film for the younger comedy and action lovers, normally aging from thirteen to thirty year olds, putting a twist on the classic British Gangster movie. As British teenagers we can relate to the film; we can understand the language well, we can understand the hard times which Eddie and Bacon go through and we can relate to the characters circumstances.The probable readings of the text are that Eddie and Bacon are good friends and probably have been doing dodgy deals for quite some time (to make other customers around him jealous and want to buy Bacons products more, Eddie comes in and bids ten pounds for an item to start off the buying). We understand that the two friends were probably brought up in and live in London, highlighted by their accents and the suburban London setting which we find them in. The possible readings of the text are decided by the audience themselves. In the opening we only hear of the couples present and future, nothing of the past, Ritchie leaves it to the audience to create stories about how each of them has ended up on the streets of London. The audience would have an oppositional reading of the text as they get to know both Bacon and Eddie well and develop a liking for them justfrom the opening credits, but we see them getting chased by the police, so our reading is that although the pair are the bad people in society, they are the good people in the story.Our age and gender shapes how we read this text, as the target audience would be similar ages to the characters, also dictated by the viewing certificate, we look up to them as the heroes of the story. Our gender makes us think separately about the film. Teenage women living in Britain would interpret the text as being dominated by male characters as all we see of women are those in the crowd, characters that are of no importance to the story. The lead characters in the opening are both male as is the voiceover, speaking in a very hardened criminal sounding voice, someone who we always connote as being male. Teenage men living in Britain read the text as different from traditional gangster movies where there is normally a completely different enigma such as death. Men see the male lead as the hero and this is in keeping of films we like to watch, so all males will find the text appealing to their ‘action’ senses.
Capitalism is an ideological discourse evident within ‘Lock Stock’. We see both Bacon and Eddie trying to make a living for themselves, trying to make as much cash as possible whilst dodging the law. Through a capitalist government we are encouraged to make money for ourselves and the film displays how every man is out fro himself, although in the film this is very evident as the characters are British Gangsters and when the audience think about gangsters they immediately thinking of money and making cash quickly. We have a certain view about being a laddish man that is reinforced in the film; we look up to these characters and the way they do things. The counter culture attraction of crime governs the way we live our lives, there is a basis of social rules and practices which we follow, influenced by the film.
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