Project Development - British Film
Coming up With our final idea
Our First Idea
Finding and deciding in a group on our final idea proved to be more difficult than we had imagined. Within our group 3 main ideas were put forward and we had to decide which one we were going to improve and develop.
The first idea we came up with would had been based at a Party, it would have included a young boy protagonist who is under the impression he is living the 'high life'. We would have based this story in a house, and used many background people to create the right atmosphere. We were going to use the song 'Blinded by the Lights' by 'The streets to create a party atmosphere, and show the sort of things that would be included into the 2 minute clip. During this story the protagonist would have been shown to be naive as he is believes he is living life the best way he could, and thinks he is lucky He is seen getting drunk, and taking drugs, so the camera would have been distorted along with the sound. This would have shown the viewers the protagonists are feeling. At the end of the story it would have ended with the young boy passing out, and falling back with a black screen. This would have shown that the protagonist is foolish. Although, as a group we had to distance ourselves away from this idea because of feedback from our teachers showed that examiners felt strongly about the use of drugs and alcohol in projects when it is not necessary. Also, we used this to help us come up with a more unique idea that hadn't been done before in a British Film projects. So we tried to stay away from the idea of using alcohol, and drugs. So after this, we tried to come up with a different story-line we could use, still belonging to the British-Film genre, that would be more accepted by the examiners and is unique to what anyone has done before.
JM
Finding and deciding in a group on our final idea proved to be more difficult than we had imagined. Within our group 3 main ideas were put forward and we had to decide which one we were going to improve and develop.
The first idea we came up with would had been based at a Party, it would have included a young boy protagonist who is under the impression he is living the 'high life'. We would have based this story in a house, and used many background people to create the right atmosphere. We were going to use the song 'Blinded by the Lights' by 'The streets to create a party atmosphere, and show the sort of things that would be included into the 2 minute clip. During this story the protagonist would have been shown to be naive as he is believes he is living life the best way he could, and thinks he is lucky He is seen getting drunk, and taking drugs, so the camera would have been distorted along with the sound. This would have shown the viewers the protagonists are feeling. At the end of the story it would have ended with the young boy passing out, and falling back with a black screen. This would have shown that the protagonist is foolish. Although, as a group we had to distance ourselves away from this idea because of feedback from our teachers showed that examiners felt strongly about the use of drugs and alcohol in projects when it is not necessary. Also, we used this to help us come up with a more unique idea that hadn't been done before in a British Film projects. So we tried to stay away from the idea of using alcohol, and drugs. So after this, we tried to come up with a different story-line we could use, still belonging to the British-Film genre, that would be more accepted by the examiners and is unique to what anyone has done before.
JM
Our Second Idea
Storyboard by SC
Our second idea we came up with in Our group was based in the dreams of a young boy contrasting with his background. It includes a young boy who has grown up on an estate in a rough area who has always dreamed of being a footballer. A storyboard was written up, which we made many changes to during our development of the story. The story would have started with a cuts between dream and reality, the protagonist would have been walking through an underground tunnel near or in the estate, dressed in a football kit holding a ball, and this scene would cut from the underpass to a football tunnel in a stadium. This would help the viewers to see the difference between his dreams and his real life. We were going to use a voiceover during this clip to show the emotions of the young boy, as he is walking over to a group of older boys who he is constantly trying to impress. He is constantly laughed at by these boys as they think he dream is unrealistic and that a boy who has grown up on an estate is optimistic to think he is going to one day become a profesionall footballer. If we went ahead with this idea we would have had to get access to a football stadium. We tried to find links to people who could help us speak to someone who knows anyone working at Charlton Athletic but this proved difficult. After taking this, and many more aspects into consideration, we decided to change the idea to a more lighter atmosphere. More like 'football factory', creating characters who are easier to relate to.
FINAL IDEA
After this we came up with our last and current idea. This was more suited to the British Film genre, and the atmosphere was much lighter. When deciding and developing on this idea, as a group we all had the same and more clear ideas of the shots we were going to use, and the props. Before completely deciding on the idea we made sure we had enough people to play the roles needed and people who look well suited to each role. This idea involves a group of young people who have got caught up in trouble and have to answer to their older and trouble making boss. A brief description: It begins with a phone call between young boy called Gary, who is told a job is needed, to get money for this anonymous man by the end of the day. Gary tells his grouo of friends what us expected of them ,which leads to a montage of the group of protagonists, committing small crimes, to earn money. During this montage there will be freeze-frames of extra close ups to show the emotions of the protagonists. We will also use the montage to introduce characters with a voiceover and freeze-frames. Describing each character with nick-names and telling the viewer a bit about each actor. The sort of costumes we aim for our characters to be wearing a tracksuits, trainers, they should be scruffy looking and shown as trouble makers. Mise-en-scene such as the characters wearing their trousers low, and not talking properly and using slang will help the viewers to understand more about the background of the protagonists.
CW
FINAL IDEA
After this we came up with our last and current idea. This was more suited to the British Film genre, and the atmosphere was much lighter. When deciding and developing on this idea, as a group we all had the same and more clear ideas of the shots we were going to use, and the props. Before completely deciding on the idea we made sure we had enough people to play the roles needed and people who look well suited to each role. This idea involves a group of young people who have got caught up in trouble and have to answer to their older and trouble making boss. A brief description: It begins with a phone call between young boy called Gary, who is told a job is needed, to get money for this anonymous man by the end of the day. Gary tells his grouo of friends what us expected of them ,which leads to a montage of the group of protagonists, committing small crimes, to earn money. During this montage there will be freeze-frames of extra close ups to show the emotions of the protagonists. We will also use the montage to introduce characters with a voiceover and freeze-frames. Describing each character with nick-names and telling the viewer a bit about each actor. The sort of costumes we aim for our characters to be wearing a tracksuits, trainers, they should be scruffy looking and shown as trouble makers. Mise-en-scene such as the characters wearing their trousers low, and not talking properly and using slang will help the viewers to understand more about the background of the protagonists.
CW
This is an idea of how we want our protagonists to look like in our project.
Feedback From our Pitch
We pitched the ideas for our opening sequence to our peers and teacher, and we recieved a lot of helpful feedback from them on how to improve our film in the long run. These included:
- We were told that our characters must be likeable and must not be villainised. Despite dabbling in criminal activities, these characters must be endearing eough to be liked in spite of their shortcomings. We therefore will flesh out these characters more to create likable and relateable people that the audience would be happy to accept as protagonists, despite being criminals. In addition, we were told to perhaps add more comedic elements to make them even more likeable. As well as this we will also make sure to have a clear antagonist in relation to the characters in order to show the protagonists in a much better light, to create the idea that, although these kids are doing wrong, there are worse people out there.
- We had originally considered using lighting to create an ambience of criminality, but we were told instead to use as much natural lighting as possible, as is the convention of the more lighthearted atmosphere we are striving for. Using this lighting will also give the film a more naturalistic feel, which will hopefully make the events feel more real, like it could really happen.
- What locations will we be using for filming? - We have very specific shots tht require very specific locations, therefore we really need to decide on where things could take place, and how we can 'dress the room' in order to give the feel of the genre through the mise-en-scene.
- What will the costumes look like? - We have a vague idea of what our main characters should look like (see above), but there is the antagonist to consider, who will likely need a fairly elaborate costume to convey his wealth and power.
- Who are the characters? - Our characters are not very fleshed out, and we need to conclusively decide who will have what role in the group of characters. They need to be likeable, possibly with comedic potential, but in order to be relateable and accepted by the audience we must seriously develop these characters into 'people'
Story Board
This is the (virtually) final story board plan for our film, despite Joe's incredible drawing talents (?!) it doesn't quite convey the shots exactly how we imagine them in our heads. It got a bit wet on one of our shoots, so you may have to ignore some of the stains. Also there are three extra drawings that were added in on the end, have no description, and are out of order, this is because we added them in when doing the animatic and frankly we weren't drawing another one for three more shots, especially since we'd already done at least four (no joke, Joe has no life).
Animatic
We decided to animate the storyboard so that we would have a better idea of what the shots would look like, as well as helping with the timing of each shot. This was very beneficial as we managed to see that our film was way too short, hence leading to the addition of the ending scene, which made it too long... We'll probably end up cutting a lot of this out.
Locations
1. Eltham High Street
This is Eltham High-street, our location for the main montage during the project. This is where most of the money is taken and where the crimes take place. We decided to use this high-street because it is quite busy so small crimes can be dismissed and unseen. Also, it creates an urban atmosphere, this is because of the run down shops, and the high rise buildings. This sets the scene as the there are old brown high buildings, which show the sort of housing our characters would be living in, which look like estate buildings, showing the area is more government than manually business run. It looks run down implying there may be a lack of jobs of available, so this could tempt the characters to commit crimes, such as the characters robbing people on the high-street and breaking into peoples houses.
2. Footscray rugby club
For our bar scene, we had considered filming inside a proper public house, even going so far as to contacting The Royal Oak in Bexleyheath to see if they would let us film there. We didn't get any reply, but it was a blessing in disguise as we instead managed to get into the sports bar at Footscray Rugby club, which is a much larger space and far more accommodating to our filming needs. In the end, filming around a load of patrons would have been very difficult, so although the place won't be as bustling as we'd hoped, this location will likely make the filming of our scene much more efficient. It doesn't have the exact look of a bar we had hoped to find (especially in terms of the corridors and entrances), and, due to the bar's commitments, we can only film at night, which will likely hinder the continuity of our film somewhat (though we may be able to edit our way out of it). Despite this, the scenes shot here will hopefully have enough of the correct mise-en-scene to feel as authentic as possible.
CW
CW
3. Outside Joe's house
Joe's house will be used for the house burglary scene, mainly for convenience, but also because it has quite a wide front drive, which will be good for framing characters within the foreground and background (see storyboard) from the side. Also, it has some nice flowerpots, which are good for hiding keys in. As a typical family home, why wouldn't our characters want to rob this place, apart from the alarm. Yes, one character will try to break down a door that opens outwards but really that just highlights how stupid he is.
CW
CW
Cast List
We have a pretty big cast, but luckily we have lots of very nice people who have agreed to help us out. We have repaid them by not giving their characters names...
Played by Characters Name Costume
Charlie Gary Jeans a hoodie and trainers.
Shokirie Henry Full tracksuit with a puffer coat and trainers, man bag.
Joe Simon Tracksuit and trainers
Jess Nancy Tracksuit / jeans and a smart top, dressed to impress. Handbag.
Alice Anonymous Well dressed, large necklace, handbag.
Tayo Anonymous Well dressed, jeans a designer top etc.
Mark(Jess' Dad) Dave Suit with shirt and tie, black and white
Played by Characters Name Costume
Charlie Gary Jeans a hoodie and trainers.
Shokirie Henry Full tracksuit with a puffer coat and trainers, man bag.
Joe Simon Tracksuit and trainers
Jess Nancy Tracksuit / jeans and a smart top, dressed to impress. Handbag.
Alice Anonymous Well dressed, large necklace, handbag.
Tayo Anonymous Well dressed, jeans a designer top etc.
Mark(Jess' Dad) Dave Suit with shirt and tie, black and white
Prop List
1) Money (fake), lots of notes. Like, tons...
2) Sports bag, to put the sum of money in at the end.
3) Man bag, for shokirie to put his money earnt in.
4) Key for Charlie to find.
5) Hand bag, Jess to be holding.
6) Make-up, for Jess to put on.
7) Jewelry, to be in in the montage being stolen.
8) Cheap phone, to be used at the start.
9) X-box and controllers, to be used for the beginning of the scene.
10) Watch, to be taken off of Jess' dates wrist.
11) Wallet, to also be stolen from Jess' date
Test Shots
We don't like to blow our own trumpet, but we've been pretty ambitious with some of our shot selections and transitions, and frankly if we pull them off they'll look mind-blowing. Of course there is the possibility that they will be rubbish, so we decided to test a few of them before we dove into filming....
1. Split screen phone call
You may have noticed that we tried to do split screens during our rom-com practice opening, and it kind of flopped. This time we think we might have found a better way of doing it, as shown in the above video. This shot has worked reasonably well in terms of the entering and leaving of each clip, but the sound is an issue, as both have extra background noise and dialogue that does not match up with the other. because of this, when we attempt this shot for real, we will make sure to have absolute silence when recording the dialogue so as to make the clips blend together as much as possible. similarly, we will have to time each part of the conversation to perfection so as to create a realistic flow of conversation between the characters. |
2. Swish pan
This shot is also effective in creating the technique we want to use. The swish pan in this is pretty much exactly what we wanted, despite a few rough edges. However, sound is yet again an issue in this clip. on the other hand, during our montage there will be no diegetic sound, and therefore we will not have to worry about sound when using this technique. (Special thanks to Chisom, Jordan and whoever left behind that sweet chicken hat) |
Shooting Schedule
We are not able to film during the entirety of half term because of prior commitments. However, we are confident that we can complete the majority of filming on the dates below, with (hopefully unnecessary) re-shoots being possible during the weeks after these dates.
- Thursday 6th February - Eltham high street for location shots - 10am-2pm
- Monday 10th February - Jess' house for indoor shots (beginning and end scenes) - 1.25pm
- Thursday 13th February - Joes house for burglary scene - 2.15pm, Footscray rugby club for bar scenes - 7pm