Completed Trailer

This is the video for our final trailer

Evaluation Activity 4

We intended for the audience to able to distinguish the genre of the production and become interested in the story-line by noticing techniques used in films of a similar genre. I believe that we portrayed this well as we used props such as black leather jackets and glove appropriate to characters in Gangster/crime/thriller films which was our genre. Audience feedback also reassured us that it was clear on the genre and theme we were trying to portray and make as when we asked for feedback or asked the simple question of what genre they thought it was they replied with answers relating to crime thrillers and films such as ‘Snatch’ were referenced and compared to ours. We believe that people will realise that the film is of this nature and will involve a - to fit this genre, it will then become appealing to the audience and in particular fans of action/crime films. Our production used techniques such as fast paced editing and intense music with crescendos to help create this effect and atmosphere for the viewer, which is how we will make them interested in watching the whole film. If they are interested in the basics seen in the trailer, without even knowing the whole storyline we leave them interested and they are likely to want to watch the whole film once it has been released. By using basic and simple connotations and techniques associated with the genre of crime thriller such as fast paced editing and an almost predictable storyline, we believe we attracracted an audience, which was our intended outcome. We then had other techniques to build on this such as the way we portrayed the storyline to make our film different and appealing in comparison to other crime thriller films.

We wanted to emphasise that our production was British and we wanted it to be as realistic for the audience as possible, so to do this we used a range of stylistic techniques. In terms of character codes, we used very typical gangster clothing such as leather jackets, but this was just to provide reassurance for the audience and make sure that something as simple as character clothing didn’t confuse them and allowed for a clear distinction between characters, but at the same time was a stylistic feature. We also used a very common car seen on British roads as a getaway car, which added to the British ethos of the film. English roads where also seen in the trailer which were a common representation of Britain as you can see British style pavements and traffic lights in the background. We also used fast paced editing in post-production stages to add to the feel and tone, whilst complying to the characteristics of the crime thriller genre. We did this by using clips which where roughly a third of a second long and playing them after one another. It also keeps the storyline ambiguous and teases the audience in the manner that a genuine trailer would. We also used actors who were of a relatively young age which added to the realism of the production, as most of our target audience where in this age range (18+). This also made our production seem interesting as it provided an insight into a teenager's life and something that we can easily visualise happening in real life as we are of a similar age. The characters were also identifiable as being British in the style of clothes they were wearing and their accents from the dialogue.

We can apply the uses and gratification theory to our production as it gives the audience an insight to life of criminals and at the same time the possible insight into an average teenagers life. It educates them without them having to be in that situation and the fact that our characters are representations of everyday people it makes the sense of learning from the viewing more realistic. It also applies to the uses and gratification theory as we know that the audience are not going to watch the film and then carry out similar actions as they are already going to be educated on social situations, this will just broaden their learning of what can happen in everyday life to anyone, in particular teenagers as it is representation of youth culture.. It also goes against the hypodermic syringe model as that would suggest we would watch the trailer and learn from it, i.e, learn how to kidnap a teenager and become a gangster which we know is very unlikely to happen.

We used SoundCloud as a website to host and stream the audio file for our soundtrack. As the track was made public, it allowed for other members of the public to comment on the track telling us which bits where the best and how they suited the trailer, as well as giving us as a group constructive criticism. These are comments we received off friends who have knowledge in producing music.

-"Sparse drum hits give it the tension that you're trying to create and the release-heavy synths work really nicely in conjunction with that.”

-“It'd be better if it was slower, especially for a film, more hip hoppy”

-“I'd say that the kick drum could perhaps do with being tightened up a little. As in, reduce the amount of reverb that's on there and perhaps increase the amount of low end frequencies coming through, maybe if there's any sustain on the wave, it could do with being reduced a little”

As you can see we had mostly positive feedback and we had achieved what we aimed to do which was create the sense of an urban environment with gritty sounds. We can also take the criticism on our side and use it to rework the soundtrack, after all the people who left these comments are people in our target audience, which was also helpful for us as we can tailor it more specifically for our audience.

We also used 'FaceBook' which is one of the biggest social networking websites in use online. We made a fan page for our production in which our video was accessible by people who liked the page, and some people did. This page was a platform for feedback and also provided an area for a potential fan-base to be established. This was beneficial to us as we could get audience opinions and we can see what in particular our audience was interested in through what they liked whether it be a certain picture or screenshot of the production. The group also had a wall where fans could discuss the production and it was a community for people interested on our production. This also allowed us to connect with our audience and we could learn directly from them.

Evaluation Activity 3

Evaluation Activity 2

In our production of ‘Higher’ – we used several different forms of software. Our main form of editing software was ‘Pinnacle Studio 10’, we used this software to edit and add cuts and stylistic editing such as cuts and fades. We used this software for adding transitions as mentioned and also to add sound effects and our soundtrack. We also used it to edit the speed of shots, as this added to the realism of the trailer production. The speed editing made our production follow the conventions of the thriller genre, as it gives a sense of fast-paced action or suspense. Another form of editing we used in the software was the ‘Night’ setting, which darkened one of our shots, which was originally lighter – this was used as it keeps the shot in low key, high contrast lighting, which doesn’t distract the viewer’s attention. Another function of ‘Pinnacle’ was the ability to cut sounds shorter and adjust the speed of these sounds which made it more flexible to alter. We also used ‘Pinnacle’ to record our director’s commentary over our film production. ‘Pinnacle’ was used to edit our production shots, and we had many problems with it. Firstly, it often froze and we commonly lost editing through this. The other problem we had was the speed of the software, as we found ourselves waiting for the software to catch-up – which was especially difficult when we were cutting sounds or clips.

We also used ‘Audacity’ – we used this software to get smoother transitions and also a wider range of sound effects which were in better quality. This software allowed us to see a variety of transitions, and select the ones which would be best suited and also fit the genre most effectively. We used ‘Audacity’ as it’s known for being the simplest of mixing software, and we had no issues or problems with it.
 The final software we used was ‘Adobe Photoshop 7.0’ – this was used for the titles; including the film production logos and our title. The ability to add such things as layers, colour filters and fonts gave us the appearance of a ‘real’ film production, as we could look at examples from films in our genre, and follow the colour and style conventions. The most ideal function of the software was the magnetic lasso tool – which allows the moving of a picture from somewhere to our film title, we used this with our font from ‘dafont.com’ – this creates more flexibility in our titles and creates a sense of realism. ‘Adobe Photoshop 7.0’ did challenge our group, as none of us was experienced in the software, and it was difficult to create the looks we were planning which resulted in an amateur look which is what we were trying to avoid.

The equipment we used was our DCR-HC35 Sony Handycam camera, cassette tape and tripod. These allowed us to capture our footage and also keep the camera still and straight for better quality footage. Unfortunately, the DCR-HC35 camera wasn’t able to capture high quality footage, as it made many shots appear grainy and often the colours weren’t shown clearly. If a better quality camera was used, we would have been able to record with more clarity and efficiency. Also, a con of the tripod was the size of it, this prevented us from doing effective close-ups as it would have to be handheld, and that would likely end with an unsteady shot. By using a cassette, we did encounter problems as it's very easy to over-write footage already recorded by trying to be efficient - this wouldn't be possible with more advanced technology such as SD cards or disks.

Evaluation Activity 1

This is our Directors Commentary which we made by splitting the original video up into freeze frames to explain how we made certain shots. We also used pictures and freeze frames from other films of a similar genre such as Reservoir Dogs which we were inspired by when making our production.

To record the Directors commentary we wrote out a script on Microsoft Word and loaded a voiceover track into Pinnacle Studio. School had microphones which we could use so we plugged them into the computer and recored directly into the microphone.

Ancillary task 2: Website

In addition to the poster, we also produced a website with promotional information, and release information to advertise the film.
www.wix.com/eb12media2011/higher is the domain for our website.
We designed the website using the online website creator "wix.com". It enabled me to use plugins such as Flash to animate sidescrolling screenshots from the film and animate text on the website. This generally improved the website aesthetically, and thus, this would be appealing to prospective fans of the film.

On the homepage, we employed a dark, "gritty" colour scheme to reflect the mood and tone of the film, and to establish the film as a modern "britflick" crime thriller hybrid genre film. On the website, we have included the title of the film, the distribution companies, "Miramax" and "Handmade productions", aswell as a four star rating at the Cannes film festival. We included this as the Cannes film festival is a prestigous and respected reviewer of films, and the filmgoer visiting the website will be able to identify this and will thus be encouraged to watch the film.

On the website we have included additional information of the film, in which we have been deliberatly vague as to the nature fo the film, providing the rhetorical question "what happens when you're forced to go against everything you believe in?", this is designed to appeal to the viewer by providing a vague hint of the premise of the film.

On the website, we also included the poster that we also produced, in order to make the poster accessible to the visitor of the website. The poster includes release information and further ratings and reviews by critics.

In addition, we also included a contact page, in which we implemented a contact form, so people could find out more information of the film. Also, we employed a Facebook "like" button, in which people were able to "like" the website, and thus, they would recieve further infomation of the film through Facebook, which is a useful tool to use as it is a very popular social networking website.

Ancillary Task 1: Making a Promotional Poster

This is the poster our group created for the first ancillary task. The film poster has all the typical connotations of a film poster. It has the main title, an image which represents part of the film, reviews, a star rating and distribution information such as companies and logos of companies involved. It also shows the certificate of the film in the bottom left hand corner which is important as people who look at it will want to know if they are old enough to watch it or not. It also includes star reviews from resputable companies and reviewers such as 'Empire Magazine' amd 'Total Film' which are common features of a film poster. The fact that Callum's name is also in a large font at the top of the screen is a selling point of the film or it would be if Callum was a well known actor. Most films will use the name of the main character to help sell a film as this attracts an audience from thier fanbase and if they are well known and resputable they will already give the film some credit.

The Title font used is sans-serif which makes the poster appear more mature and as the fonts are edgy they add to the gritty connotations. If we used curly letters and serif fonts the film would appear more comedic and wouldnt be taken as seriously. The name of Callum however, is serif but it is very subtle and it is only a few lines of some letters which allows it to fit into the genre and comply with the connotations of gangster films. It also makes his name stand out more amongst the other text. The red glow behind the text "HIGHER" was also a key feature of the poster as the colour red is famously symbolic of blood and danger which are key elements of the production. The red was made by duplicating a layer of the title font and putting it behind the text. This then had a red glow applied to it which made it glow behind the original text. The fact that is also subtle makes it effective, as it is noticeable but it doesn't stand out massively. The picture we chose to use is also powerful as Callum is wearing his everyday casual clothes, in this scene it is a beige harirngton jacket. This makes it seem more relaistic and the audience might be able to feel more empathetic, especially teens who wear similar clothing. It is also a type of jacket everyone can relate to as it is common and the audience are likely to have seen someone wearing one in the past. The colour is also in direct contrast with the black background which also highlights Callum. The fact that it is beige is also important as it allows for the smoke to be seen infront of Callum, if the jacket was white the smoke may be hidden so this was important.

It is suitable and representable of our production and the genre we chose which was gangster/crime/thriller. It portrays these conventions with the dark lighting and Smokey mysterious element which you can get from the image of Callum tied up in the hostage scene. It compares with other posters of similar genre films such as pulp fiction where they have a centred image of a main character. They also use smoke in their poster off a cigarette to express danger and a risky nature to the characters, whereas we use smoke in a different manner, to portray danger and to make the texture of the room Callum is seen in seem dim and this makes Callum look vulnerable. On the pulp fiction cover, it is clear the character on the poster is not in danger, it is clear that Callum on ours is.

To create the poster we used Adobe Photoshop as this is an advanced piece of photo editing software which gave us lots of scope when wanting to add different forms of images such as texts and photos and merge them together in different layers. We could also use effects such as text shadows and blending to make the images fit smoothly and blend together as the shadows from the lettering fades out into the darkness of the background. We also used colour filters on the layers of images to make them seem more dark and dingy which is a connotation of the hostage scene and the gangster genre.

This is one poster for the film Law Abiding Citizen which we took some inspiration from. The film is of a similar genre to ours as it is a crime thriller so we used this along with other more British productions such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels and we combined the kinds of themes which these types of posters used. This poster focuses on Gerard Butler who is the main character of Law Abiding Citizen by using his face as the main image and filling the screen. Similarly to ours, a picture of Callum in the chair fills up most of the screen and the focus is clearly on him as a main character. The lighting seen on this poster is also very low key and dingy which is again, similar to ours with the lighting in our picture coming from the lamp on the floor lighting up callums chin. This poster also includes some form of smoke which seems to be a common feature of any action films and is usually always present in some form, such as pulp fiction where it hasn't come from an explosion or anything of that type, but a cigarette.

A Questionaire With Callum

This is a questionnaire we gave to Callum after he finished filming with us. As he is a student outside of the media room we thought it would be helpful to get his feedback and see what he thought of the production and his involvement. We plan to use his feedback if we do future work as he might tell us better ways to carry out scenes or let us know if we could have done certain things more effectively or differently.

Did you enjoy being a part of our production?

Yes I really enjoyed being part of the production and the whole filming process I think it might even be something I would look into doing outside of college in the future. It helped knowing the people I was working with though as it was easy to express ideas throughout the group.

Did you find it easy to work in the filming environment?


Yes, but again I might have found it more comfortable because I knew most of the people but yes, this was something that I didn’t really have a problem with.

How do you feel the production was directed?

At times it could have been a little bit unorganised but this was never really a problem because I know we came up with a few new ideas with the lack of planning and these turned out to work really well in the end, for example when Aaron puts on the leather glove, that was thought of on the spot but looks quite
effective.

Is there anything you would have changed about your role?

I would have maybe liked to speak a bit more but as it was only a trailer there wasn’t much time for speaking and I still managed to get a few lines in.

Would you consider taking part in a video production again?

Definitely, this is the second media production I have been in and people have complimented my acting skills and I was chosen specifically for this role which makes me feel quite good and it also boosted my enthusiasm for taking part. I would definitely do something like this again and I really hope to it has sparked a new interest for me.

Is there any extra points you would like to add and/or anything you would like to tell us about your involvement?

I would just like to say that I think the group worked very well as a team and it was clear that they all knew what they wanted to get from the final production which I am very excited to see!

Construction of soundtrack

I am making the soundtrack for our Media production as this is something which already interests me and is a hobby of mine which I enjoy doing. This also has a benefit to the group as we can make the soundtrack specific to the trailer by making it fit to certain shots. For example, we can use loud bass heavy booms when we need to build tension and we can use crescendos and other uplifters to build suspense in certain shots.

This is the completed soundtrack which you can listen to and below I have split it up into different production stages to help explain how I made it:

The software which will be used is Apple's Logic Pro 9 which is a highly advanced piece of music production software. It has lots of effects plug-ins and lots of VST instruments which we can use in the piece to create different sounds and it also has lots of audio effects such as reverb and distortion to make the texture of the sound thicker and make it more cinematic. 

Before the piece was started I browsed through some of my sample packs for sounds which I think would have been appropriate to the piece I had in mind. I already knew that I wanted to work at the tempo of 130bpm as this is quite andante and fits the walking pace of the gangsters. I also used influences from genres such as 'grime' and 'dubstep' as I used drum beats at half time which make the piece seem tense, because you know it is building up to something, but it teases you in the way that it appears slower than it is. 

The software which will be used is Apple's Logic Pro 9 which is a highly advanced piece of music production software. It has lots of effects plug-ins and lots of VST instruments which we can use in the piece to create different sounds and it also has lots of audio effects such as reverb and distortion to make the texture of the sound thicker and make it more cinematic. 

Before the piece was started I browsed through some of my sample packs for sounds which I think would have been appropriate to the piece I had in mind. I already knew that I wanted to work at the tempo of 130bpm as this is quite andante and fits the walking pace of the gangsters. I also used influences from genres such as 'grime' and 'dubstep' as I used drum beats at half time which make the piece seem tense, because you know it is building up to something, but it teases you in the way that it appears slower than it is. 

I filtered through the sample packs (to the right) and found my favourite percussion samples and placed these onto seperate tracks within Logic. I then used effects such as reverb and echo to fill up a more sonic space and help hold the track together. Here is an example of how I manipulated 3 sounds. The original will play and then the edited one will follow.

Here is an overview of the soundtrack in Logic once it had been completed.

 

This picture just shows all the layers together and how the sounds have been ordered. It also shows how things layer on top of each other and work together to build the piece up. 

This picture (above) shows a few of the plug-ins and effects I have used to manipulate the sound in the piece. The plug-ins show how you can alter little parts and it shows how there is so many little things that can work together to change the scope of the sound. You can use these effects on their own with one sound or you can use several built up on top of each other, for example you can add echo to a sound you have just distorted or added reverb to so it has more to it.

 

 

 

 

This picture shows the instrument track (in green) which is where I have used a MIDI keyboard to record in some notes. They are simple and just repeats of the note E, but the point was not to have a melody but a bassy note to add tension and a pace to the piece. It is also nicer to hear an actual note than just a sampled sound so it adds a more musical element to the piece. I used the plugin Albino3 (below) to make the sound.

 

 

Automation is also a vital part of the production process as it allows you to bring certain sounds in and out of the piece which allows it to be specific to certain parts and it makes a sound seem as if it is weaving through the piece which is just an interesting thing to listen to. Here (picture below) is what one of my sections looked like in terms of automation, where I adjusted the volume levels to make it fade from quiet to loud. The yellow lines represent the level of volume.

 

 

Another key element of the production is the opening. Once the piece had finished we realised it would need some kind of introduction to bring in and accompany the opening credits, it had to be short but cinematic and fast. To do this, I used an 808 'boom' sample with a kick drum on top to giveit a punch, I then reversed another 808 drum sample so it faded out but came back in and when it finished its reverse I added a snare hit to lead the credits into the production. The snare hit also had reverb so it dragged on to link the two sections together. Here is what our introduction sounded like.

 

Animatic

Construction: Additional Camera Peripherals

This is a Fish Eye/Wide angle lens we used in some shots. We attatched the lens
to the end of the camera and it creates a convex image of the image being captured.
This allows us to capture a larger amount of the setting whilst implementing the intensity of a close up shot.








This is a Flycam/Steadycam. We used this to make a smooth shot whilst walking around a main character, it is used instead of filming a simple hand held shot where the camera would be shaky. It absorbs these shakes and provides a sharper image, especially in tracking shots.

Construction:Make up

This is the make-up kit we used to make Callum look like he had gone through a rough beating by the Gangsters. We created bruises and cuts by using dark colours such as purple, dark blue and brown to blend it all in. We also used a black eyeliner pen and a red lip pencil to create more cut like features. To apply the make up to the face we used a cotton pad which absorbed the colours well and it made it relatively easy to apply the make-up to Callums face.

This is a sequence picture of Callum once the make-up had been applied. As you
can see he looks slightly rougher and more beaten than he would in person
outside of filming so we think the simple colours and application of make-up is
effective for the scene. It also complies with the connotations of a character
being held hostage and it makes him seem more vulnerable as a character.

Construction of Special Visual Effects-Smoke

These are images of the incense cones we used to create the smoke effect. We created the smoke to make the room look darker and more dingy and it also added to the texture of the mise en scene with added mystery. To make the smoke we had to set the cone alight and let it burn before it started to smoulder and create thicker smoke. We placed three across the table to try and make it fill as much of the screen as possible.

Construction of Indoor locations

Pictured below are shots of the locations we have used for the indoor scenes of our trailer.

This is a picture of Aaron's Bedroom, which we used as the bedroom of Callum's character.

Aaron's garage, we used this for the hostage scene.


This is a shot of Aaron's garage, in low key, high contrast 'chiaroscuro' lighting, with smoke effects.

Setting up the Garage location

This is a video displaying how we will set up the mise en scene for the garage location.

Audience Research

Whilst deciding our target audience we took into account the storyline, character type and props used. I would instantly put our film under a 18+ certificate because of the content it will include down from the dialogue to the props in scenes. For example, props such as drugs and weapons may be present. These are more suited to an adult audience because they are the most suitable audience in terms of understanding the effects of them in film and are at an age (18+) where these are not likely to have an impact on them. For example, a young child say the age of 12 may feel frightened if he sees everyday stereotypical people with weapons and he may be harmed by being exposed to drug and crime cultures. An adult audience is also more suited in terms of understanding the plot and being able to link certain things in the plot together as they are more mature.
Research also shows which demographic group of people are most likely to watch
our films and we found middle-working class to be the most popular, although
there is some interest from higher class regions. This helps use to decide how and where to promote our film in advertising stages.Research into crime thrillers on the internet also shows that people more interested in watching these types of films are usually males around the age range of 18-30. This then inspired us to do our own research including classmates, school friends, work colleagues and relatives outside of the school and this is what we found. We asked people the question:
“Would you be interested in watching our production if it was in the style of a
crime thriller”. This graph represents the results we gathered.

The columns on the graph represent the total number of responses and the two colours divide the age range. This shows the split in which age range would be most interested in the film. As the majority is below 30 years of age, we can market our film in places such as universities and in clubs on posters. The results support general research into the crime thriller genre as the graph shows a distinctive difference in the numbers of people who would like to watch our production. Although this study was on a relatively small scale the results give us reassurance of our audience and who is likely to watch our production. This will then allow us to plan our marketing and
advertising more carefully and we can be more specific in the way we do so.

Risk Assessment

Media A2 Risk Assessment Table: Higher

Editing ideas

This is where we have stored ideas we have thought of along the way that we might use when we edit the video. We will be using Pinnacle Studio which has lots of built in effects, transitions, sound effects and titles but there are websites where you can download and make custom ones which we may use.

-Fast editing and cuts
-Fade to black
-Fade to white
-Low key High contrast, "chiaroscuro" lighting effects
-Colour filter effects
-Slow motion on certain clips, points in clips or scenes
-Animated Titles
-Split screen editing
-Tracking shots sped up

Sound

Diegetic sounds
For diegetic sounds in our trailer we will download uncopyrighted sound effects from websites such as "freesound.org" to make events such as a car door being slammed much more dramatic and intense for the audience.

Non-Diegetic Sounds

We wil record a non-diegetic voiceover for the film ourselves. We will use Logic Pro 9 to edit sounds, record our own samples and manipulate sounds we use from copyright-free sample packs. We can add reverb, distortion and other effects to make them suit the mood and at the same time provide the desired atmosphere. For example we could add lots of reverb to aa pen hitting cup to give a distorted, eerie feel to the setting.

Soundtrack

We will make the soundtrack on Logic Pro 9 using plugins, effects units and samplers. This allows us to have the freedom of matching the piece perfectly to the trailer, changing it wherever we want. We can also change the key, change chords and add notes whenever in order to correspond with the scenes on screen and level of energy present. This freedom is something that will benefit our trailer on the whole. We plan to produce an urban, "grime" soundtrack, of which is found in films such as "Kidulthood" and "Attack The Block", this will help establish our film genre of a "brit-flick", and also sets a tone and mood for the film.

Shot list

1)Bird's eye shot of teenager tied to chair
2)Medium close up of teenager's side profile
3)Overhead shot of teenager sat at desk
4)Close up of teenager writing
5)Long shot of teenager sat at desk with back turned to the camera
6)Side profile of teenager
7)Medium-long shot of teenager swivelling on chair to right
8)Close up of phone vibrating, teenager reaches for phone
9)Over the shoulder shot of teenager looking at the phone
10)Medium close up of teenager speaking on phone
11)Jump cuts of teenager putting coat on
12)Medium close up of teenager speaking on phone
13)Elliptical fade to long shot of teenager walking towards friends
14)Over the shoulder shot of teenager's friend pointing to market stall
15)Medium close up of teenager sat in chair
16)Medium shot of teenager being pushed towards the stall
17)Medium shot of teenager sat in chair
18)Shot of car driving towards camera
19)Medium long shot of teenager stealing clothing
20)Over the shoulder shot of two gangsters in car pointing
21)Shot of teenager looking at car
22)Shot of gangster leaving car
23)Shot of teenager beginning to run
24)Shot of Gangster running across street
25)Tracking shot of teenager and gangster in alleyway
26)ground level shot of second gangster coming and pinning teenager to ground
27)Ground level shot of car approaching gangster and teenager
28)over the shoulder shot of gangster waljing towards teenager putting glove on
29)ground level shot of teenager being dragged into car
30)Medium over the shoulder shot of teenager getting ready in mirror
31)Shot of teenager strapped to chair smoke billowing
32)Two shot of teenager and gangster sat at table
33)Shot of teenager looking at phone

Synopsis

Our production is going to be based on the genre of ‘crime thriller’. The story involves two opposing groups of people, one group of youths and one group of adult gangsters. The story begins with one of the youths, he is seen to be the runt of the group as he doesn’t agree with their stereotypical yobbish behaviour, he just wants to study, but peer pressure is seen to get the better of him. This is apparent when they have congregated at a marketplace. They see a stall and the runt is dared to steal something, little does he know, in the background are two gangsters in a car who happen to own the stall the youths are eyeing up. The runt is defeated by peer pressure and he goes for it, stealing a simple piece of clothing. The youths then flee the scene with the gangsters not far behind them. When the gangsters finally get hold of the runt youth, he is woken in a garage setting with fog and lights intensifying the mood. He comes face to face with the gangsters and dialogue is traded between the few characters involved. The runt chav is given the ultimatum; he either stays in the garage unknown to anyone else and beaten, or he works for the gangsters. He chooses the gangster path and the shot which shows this is when we see him return home and replace all his studying equipment with things associated with crime such as weapons and wads of cash.

Our Distribution company

Handmade films are a British film production and distribution company. One of their biggest and most successful releases was ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ which is a film we have been influenced by whilst making our production. After finding out that they were affiliated with the film we did some research into the company to see if they would be a suitable distribution company for our production. They have also released films such as Monty Python's Life of Brian
which shows that they are a diverse company with a very varied back catalogue. This would make it suitable for our film because it has the seriousness of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and other similar “gangsterish”/crime genre connotations but it is also quite unique in the way that it is modern and involves modern issues and modern day teenage characters. This is a selling point which I believe would interest a diverse label. They also released ‘127
hours’ which is based on a true story, this could relate to the real life, imaginable situation of Callum in our production.
In July 2010, Handmade was purchased for $6.1 million by a syndicate of Jersey based businessmen David Francis. This relatively low price for an entire company suggests that it is quite independent and it shows it isn’t as big as Warner Brothers or Miramax. For example, Disney tried to buy Miramax in 2010 for $700 million which shows just how big and powerful it is. However this is another factor that appeals to us and it would also appeal to a company investing in a film with no background as they would be unsure whether they would make any
money.

Evaluation of Final Font

We have chosen the title 'Higher' as it represents different aspects and
attributions of the trailer. Higher can represent someones mind state, it can
represent the hierarchy of the characters which is a key underlying concept as
the runt youth is bossed around by a higher status and therefore leads himself
into trouble. It also represents and relates to a key piece of dialogue we plan
to have, when the runt youth is given an ultimatum, when he decides to work for
the gangsters, the gangsters response is "your hired", obviously it has a
different spelling and meaning but it will still be a clear relation. We
also like this font because it is simple, but gritty and descrete and requires
the audience to look into it that little bit more to understand it. This is
something which represents our ideas and the idea of the criminal world beause
criminals are always trying to hide something. As our production is not a comedy
we want to avoid the idea of anything being humorous and this font avoids that
by being edgy and mature. It can also relate to the personality of the
characters as it is bold. We can edit the font in Adobe Photoshop to make it
more unique or match it to a picture or theme we decide when designing a cover.
We can use tints of other colours and maybe intertwine pictures with
it.We believe that it appeals to our demographic audience as it is
simple and easy to understand. It doesnt defer attention from our genre either
so people won't question it, they will understand it and think it is fitting. We
asked several of our classmates and friends outside the classroom what their
thoughts on this font were and these were some of the responses we
recieved:
"Personally I like the font because it reminds me Inception and other fims like that"
"The font looks scary like it's covering something up"
"I can imagine the font on a poster or advert at a bus stop"
These comments were very useful to the group as they showed us other things
it represents outside of the production which we also aim for in the long run
such as using it in an advertising manner. This reassured us that we had chosen
the perfect font.


Our title can also compare to influential films of a similar genre such as "Snatch". As you can see the logo is very simplistic and easy to read. The simple design around the logo against a black background also looks very simple but very effective at the same time as it gives it a signiture look. This is an idea we can use to inspire our final title design.


Reservoir Dogs is also another film commonly associated with the genre which takes a different design idea but on a simple background and font. After looking at these two logos it is clearer to us we made a good choice with the font we have chosen.

Final Font

After narrowing down our font choices to the 5 previous, we then discovered
a more suiting and appropriate font which we all think looks much better suited
to our production. It is more simplistic but this is more effective and relates
to other films from a similar genre, such as "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels" where the title is very bold and simple.

Possible Font 5 "Salty" Font

This block like font is a bit more design
heavy as it involves a heavy use of shadowing and tilt on the lettering. This
makes it slightly tricky to understand but a few simple editing processes could
eradicate this problem. As it is very simple however, there is lots of scope for
a design and particular, recognisable design to be used on it. For example
‘Layer Cake” is spelt like “L4YER CAK3”. The digits relate to a feature of the
film as they are car registration digits. It is now recognisable and that font
idea reminds people of that particular film.

Possible Font 4:"Square One Grunge" Font

"Square One Grunge" Font

This sans serif font is quite interesting as it is
similar, and influenced by the computer game “Grand Theft Auto”. The game itself
has a storyline which involves drugs, crime, police and car chases. all of these
are connotations of productions we have looked at and we intend to use some of
them in our own production. The fact that this neutral looking font is so
fitting for that game, it will be fitting for our own production. We could
further edit it in Photoshop to give it a unique and distinctive font, relating
to, and reminding people of our own production. The font is also very edgy and
we intend to produce some edgy, thrilling scenes.

Possible Font 3 "Hexagon" Font

This sans serif font is quite interesting
as it uses a minimal, mysterious looking design to fill the letters. It looks
very ‘crime’ and is very modern. It relates to simplicity of other films similar
to our genre such as ‘Snatch’. Some letters, however are a bit tricky to see we
would further edit and enhance the lettering in Photoshop when designing the
full title if we were to use this font, but I think it could be very effective
as it looks very similar. You would never see a font like this used on a chick
flick for example.

Possible Font 2"Awesome Java" Font

This font has a simple, but very effective
design in terms of what we are trying to portray. It is quite neutral in terms
of connotations but it has a retro, 80’s/90’s vibe to it. The extra lines add
depth to it which makes it stand out and be that little bit more distinctive
than others. I would say this font would relate to other films such as ‘Starsky
and Hutch’ which is also a crime thriller. Therefore it suggests and shows where
some of our influence has come from. ‘Lock Stock has a straight forward text but
lightens it up by slanting it, this is straight forward but lightens it up with
the extra lines and design.

Possible Fonts 1 "Bright young things" Font

This font is very modern and simple so it relates to
our production as we want am modern take on an old idea. It also relates to
older films of the similar genre, for example films such as ‘Snatch’, ‘Layer
cake’ and ‘Lock, Stock’ have very straight forward sans-serif fonts. We were
influenced by this as you can see by the lettering. The flickers that the font
has give it an arty and creative edge and looks like smoke. Smoke comes from
fire, cigarettes and other burning objects so it relates to fire and danger,
another reason why it is appropriate for our genre.

Titles

There were numerous titles that we brainstormed when setting about planning our production.

We considered the title: "Gangs of North West" as it coincided with the theme of our production and reflects the plotline and premise of our film. We decided against using this title as we had superior alternatives and it did not sound impressive phonetically.
We also thought about using the title "Second Hand" as it reflected our original concept of a borrowed car.
"Dust" was also a title we considered. We thought about using this title as it reflects our original idea for the plot, which centred around the hiring of a car. This was considered as it is symbolic of a car that is travelling very fast, and we also thought that a brief, short title would be a good idea as it would reflect the "cool" nature of the film.
"Smoke" was a title that we considered for similar reasons, as it is also associated with cars.
"Mantle

Title Suggestions

Our Top 3 Film Titles – Explained.

1) ‘HIGHER’ – this is a play on the word ‘hire’ as our film is based around a hire car company. It fits the genre because it is quite inconspicuous and it will be clear to the audience that it has relevance once they watch it. As the word itself has several dictionary definitions, it leaves the reader thinking at a first glance.

After asking several people what they thought about it after first hearing it, they gave us several suggestions as a reply. They guessed that the film would include:
-A hierarchy or characters, one main villain or main ‘gangster’.
This relates to our film as their will actually be a distinctive powerful character which will stand out from the rest.
-Drug related
This also relates to our film as gangsters and crime thrillers usually have drugs as a centre point for storylines so we thought it would be important to involve this, it is also an easy and simple prop to use.

2) ‘MANTLE’ – this name began with the idea of crossing over two words and ideas. As our film is going to be British and northern we always had the idea of involving the word ‘Manchester/Madchester’ thus the part ‘Man-‘. When we were generating title ideas we also had the suggestion ‘Metal’, therefore we combined the two to produce ‘MANTLE’. This word, we feel is very fitting because of the way it has been designed and it also has its own connotations.
For example, ‘Mantle’ sounds and looks like ‘Mental’ which is a characteristic of the stereotypical gangster. It also sounds identical to ‘Mantle’ as in the earth’s mantle, this could connote that situations will heat up and there will be fire explosions or fast, sweaty chase scenes.

3) ‘NORTHERN SOUL’ – This name has lots of connotations and is very fitting for our film. It fits the industry, our location and the characters. We know it is from a retro era so we would make it modernised, but nowadays the idea of ‘Northern Soul’ is very much back to life with clothes shops and music events, therefore many people could relate to it.
Northern soul emerged from the 60’s in a mod era, in the mod era there was lots of conflict between other gangs such as punks, which can relate to the tension between groups of people in our own production.
Northern will clearly be relating to our location of the Northwest.
Soul itself is a very mysterious and eerie word, this gives off negative connotations which gangster life may bring. The soul is seen as the centre of the body so is a prized possession of any human therefore would be something you want to protect, protection is a massive theme with the gangster scene so it can link to our production in that way.

Props + Locations

This is the book that the main character will be writing in during the trailer. This will be a good prop to use as it denotes schoolwork, which may be associated with teenagers, this is good as this prop connotes vulnerability, and this is correspondent with the vulnerable nature of the main character.

This is an incense cone we are going to use to create a 'Smoky' effect in the garage scene to connote mystery and danger, and to reflect the fear of the main character as he finds himself in an umfamiliar situation.

This is the fisheye lens we are going to use when filming the garage scene in our production, we are going to use this as it enables us to capture the entire mise en scene in the garage scene which is essential to encapsulate the mood and danger of the scene.

This is the steady cam we are going to use when filming our trailer, it will enable us to capture action footage in a stable manner.

Location

• A garage for the hostage scene. This can be a house garage or an open warehouse space which is easy to disguise. By having a scene in a garage it adds reality. Therefore it is more serious and gripping as people can put themselves in their shoes.

• Rawtenstall Market/Back Alley: This is an ideal location to use when filming our production. An empty market stall is ideal as a location for our production as it is stereotypically associated with 'Chavs', and other unruly youth subcultures. Also, it is apparent that there is a backalley nearby which is ideal for our trailer. We will have a chase scene in our trailer which will take place in this back alley, we will use this as it will reflect the gritty, British style of our film.

Cast + Characters

We will be using our friends as the cast members. Several of our close friends have experience in the acting industry and have featured as extras on hit dramas on national television which credits our production very well. As they are close friends we can trust them and they will be reliable, which is an important factor when filming as they will listen to us, be on time and follow instructions as well as giving their own input.

We will be casting:
2 Gangster characters
1 Victim
5 friends
As a group we will be getting involved as characters, editors, cameramen and directors.

Costume

In terms of costume we planned out two ideas for the two different concepts we came up with, one modern and one ‘retro’ and ‘old-skool’.

Modern:
-‘Gangsters’ will wear formal "gangster coats"
-Victim will be a smart casual male in a pair of chino trousers, checkered shirt and Harrington style jacket. This dress code is identifiable with the mod revival/skinhead youth subcultures of England in the 1980's. British viewers will be able to identify this, and this further reinforces the British feel of our trailer. Also the fact that he is dressed in such a manner reflects his studious nature of the teenage character

‘Retro/Old-Skool’
-‘Gangsters’ will be identifiable with retro style tracksuits and large logos on t-shirts, bright colours will also be apparent in trainers and maybe on some of the clothing detail. They will still have an essence of smartness and wealth about them.
-Victim will be in jeans and a shirt or retro styled coat/jacket.
-Fake facial hair to comply with the 90’s cop image.

Planning Ideas

First we did a brain storm of potential scenes we could include in our production, they didn’t have to be in a particular chronological order but they helped us to distinguish a genre and to gain a starting point for our production.
This is what we wrote down:

1) Small car parked up at traffic lights or at the roadside
2) We see the silhouette/full picture of a character coming towards the rear window (from the inside)
3) The window is smashed/attempted to be smashed in ‘slo-mo’
4) Blackout transitions to hostage scenes with strobe lighting
5) Light filters and strobes over dry ice
6) Tied up characters in a garage setting
7) Speedy, smooth camera movements
8) Characters in typical shell-suits or smart suits
9) Drug dealers
10) Car hire garage to make a link between gang and victim
11) Intricate camera positioning and movements
12) Effects in the editing process such as glare, blur and fading to black


With these pointers and a general idea of the direction of our trailer we devised some ideas.

IDEA 1:
Main gang: group of teenagers
One of the teens gets dared steal an item of clothing.
He gets caught as there is an unseen person inside in a car on the opposite side of the street
The driver chases the boy down through streets and traffic and catches him
The driver (gangster) gets the teen involved into the gangster lifestyle and he grows up as the runt who turned out to be a stereotypical British gangster

IDEA 2:
A man hires a car from a car hiring showroom
That car was previously used to store, transport illegal drugs
The drugs were left side and the agency collected the car
The gangster’s lose their goods and set out to retrieve them
The new driver is just an innocent man who is unaware of the cars inviolvement
The gangsters track him down and give him trouble as they think he is playing dumb, he is simply confused and unaware
The hire car owner has retrieved the goods and they eventually track them back to him
The victim takes some sort of revenge

Planning Introduction

Short Planning Introduction

After having a discussion with the group, suggesting a range of genres to each other, we decided on the idea of a making a crime thriller with heavy influence from ‘old skool’ 'geezer' gangster films such as ‘The Departed’ and in particular ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking barrels’.
Guy Ritchie is a director who we looked at for inspiration as he has been very successful in these genres, he is the director of ‘Lock Stock’ so we did some research into him, finding out his views on the industry and how he becomes inspired, as well as some simple background information which might influence his productions. This quote in particular is a great outlook on the British film industry
“England no longer has the identity that we previously understood it to have. It's become international like New York has become international.”
This quote shows the scope that we have with the mise en scene in England and how it is such a unique and flexible place. By being so international it is very powerful and has a reputable and large audience.


The genre of our film is an action crime thriller. This will also include influences of the ‘geezer’ image.

Our film will be shown in cinemas and through other forms of media such as sky box office.

Our production will be aimed at people aged 15 or 18 and above. The reason behind this is that it will include scenes of violence, drugs and other adult connotations so it could definitely not be certified any younger than that. Films alike including, Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels are certified 18+ which provided a guide for us.

We will include key elements of action, thriller and geezer films. This could be things such as the cockney accent (or similar regional accent) and two rival gangs. Special effects and filming techniques are also key features of these genres so they will also be present in our production.

The key focus of our trailer will be ‘gangsters/crooks/criminals. This is the type of character our film will revolve around.

A film company which would distribute our film would be Miramax if it was to a big hit with a big budget. If the film was more independent and British, with a lower budget then it would be a company like Summit Entertainment who produced Lock Stock and Two smoking barrels.
If we were to invent our own studio it would be very similar. We would like to produce similar gritty films, but we would also produce comedies. In our planning stage we had ideas of including comedy, so our company would be unique in this way.

The characters would be a selling point of our film but the unique storyline would draw in the most attention. It is a Mancunion based modern gangster film which has never been made so it is a niche already. The props and special effects will help the film to look professional and realistic which is another way to sell a film.