Location Reccie

Production log 11

This week was actually packed up with so many things to do. Pre-production can be very stressful at times. We had to make sure that all our actors are reliable and we had to fill it quite a bit of paper work.I think the most stressful thing i had to deal with was the shooting script. This was due to the fact that whilst everyone had all these long takes and such; my opening had to be more fast paced and as there is quite a bit of dialogue it obviously had to be dialogue that keeps the audience engaged. Even though in the group everyone had contributed i was doing parts of the dialogue and all the camera shots. This was hard because there had to be variety and there's only so much you can do in a back and forth conversation. Once this conversation ended everything became easier for me as i could now expand the ways on how to use the camera with all different shots. Everything else we had to do was easier but still a little bit stressful.

T overcome all this i had to ration my time out so i don't overload on all this work. Also i am happy with script that we all produced and we have now planned out everything including all dates we are filming and all the dates we are editing. As well as this we have all props set out and all equipment needed.

Cast list

Location list

Call sheets

Production schedule

Shooting Script

Prodction log 10

In this week we had looked at audience research. We had gone out and filmed vox pops. We had made 5 different questions and we asked these questions to 10 different people. Doing this helped us in our idea in the way that we now know what things we have done bad and good and also gave us more of a insight into who are audience actually is. 

Doing these vox pops was our primary research.We had found out if people were into BSR films and we had found out that a lot of people didn't even know what BSR films were but they had watched films such as Adulthood and Kidulthood. When asked what they liked about these films they had said the action, violence and the story line. When asked about our idea they had said that it was really good and if executed properly then it would look brilliant. There were some responses that had said that some aspects of our idea was exaggerated but this was taken into account and we have made improvements upon this. Also we had found that they really liked the idea of drugs and violence which fits into our idea perfectly. 

This has given our group some new thoughts on what to do on our idea and also it showed us what improvements to make and what things are good in our idea. We have also found out who our target audience really is and what their interests are. 

Audience research

In our group we had produced a 12 minute vox pop that as multiple people answering questions about our idea and things that are related to the BSR. Their answers had helped us gain more of a insight into how to improve our work and what things appeal to our audience.

After making the vox pop i made a table to show the data in a simpler way. This table shows all the positive and negative feedback that we had received.

I then made a page to show what type of people would be into the film that i am going to make. I have described this person in a lot of detail. 

The research that i had got from the audience has been very helpful in many ways. It has helped me have more of an insight into my own idea and what i can change within my idea. 

A good thing that i had got from all this research is that a lot of people said that they like to see a lot of action and violence combined with drugs in this films. This works in our favor because in our film the main themes revolves around drugs and violence. This means this will appeal to the majority of our target audience. Also this is sticking with the conventions of a BSR because drugs is a main theme in BSR films. 

In our vox pops we found out that the most watched BSR film was either Kidulthood or Adulthood. This can help the group out a lot as we can watch these films and analyse them in depth to look for any new ideas and to get inspiration from these films. 

We have also made it relate to the audience by making our protagonist a teenager. Our target audience is mostly teenagers so they can relate to this character more therefore they can feel more immersed watching it. This keeps with being a BSR because we had found out that a lot of people could relate to other BSR films. 

Also people had said that the story lines have to be interesting and grab the audience's attention. I think our opening does this well as it is a non-linear narrative and it is a smash mouth beginning. 

McKee's Narrative Structure

Exposition - Protagonist

My protagonist is a 16 year old Asian boy names Chas. He is brought up in a very abusive world as his father abuses him a lot when he is angry. His dad would lash out on him every other day while his mother would try to calm him down. He eventually becomes sick of this and leaves home and enters the drug world. Chas is represented as a stereotypical teenager of this generation who does what he likes and is associated with drugs and violence. He dresses in very casual clothing such as a tracksuit with air forces as his everyday clothes.

Agents of change
The antagonist is the drug supplier who wants the money that Chas owes him and is willing to do what it takes to get him back, there isn't any alterior motive to this just the fact that the supplier is an irretable guy who wants Chas to suffer for wasting his time with such a little matter.

Conflict complication
Chas eventually wants to get out of the drug world because he finds out its not what he thought it was going to be so he wants to get out and stops selling drugs but ends up owing his supplier money but he only ends up owing the supplier money because instead of selling he was taking the drugs himself which isn't apparent from the get go and is seen later on in the narrative as it is a secret kept from the audience.

Elaboration
The film starts with the protagonist named Chas, he is neglected in his house and in school. He has no friends and his dad beats him senseless. Due to this he keeps to himself and he reads magazines and see how drugs are associated with money and fame in some cases. He craves this attention and one day he decides to get involved with the drug world and befriends some dealers to get involved. Eventually he realises that he wants to get out of the drug business and get his life back to normal so he just stops thinking its that simple. Eventually his supplier gets annoyed that Chas hasn't got the money he owes him and goes after him. He finds ways of avoiding the supplier for a long time seeing as he decides to go back to his old life of just sitting in his room with no one to talk to, he becomes very paranoid and cautious about a lot of these things.

Climax - resolution
After hiding from these dealers and making sure not to get caught, one day Chas finds out that his friend that he used to deal drugs with is in trouble with the supplier as well. His friend comes to stay with him and finally they get seen by the supplier. They get chased and Chas gets away but his friend gets shot and dies.

Coda
A couple days later it shows Chas crying at his friends funeral and then followed by some shots of how he's got his life back on track, he gets back into education and the supplier now leaves him alone as he feels he got him back for killing Chas' friend.

Production log 9

I learnt a lot about narratives this week. I have learnt about linear narratives, non-linear narratives, restricted narratives and omniscient narratives. A linear narrative is a basic story line with a beginning, middle and end. It is a story set in chronological order.  A non-linear narrative is when it is not in order. These are things such as flash forwards and flashbacks. If  this is done really bad then it could be very confusing for the audience. A restricted narrative is when the audience see the narrative from the view of only one character whilst an omniscient narrative is looking at the story through multiple characters. The audience may enjoy this as then they can find out more and more about the story through different views.

Looking at all this helped me realize how to structure my film. What kind of narrative to use. I decided to use a linear narrative from the view of only one person. I chose this because a linear story will be easy to follow and BSR's are typically very easy to follow and i chose a restricted narrative because this way they won't get confused looking at different characters and they can actually empathize and invest with that one character getting the audience into the film.

We first chose to a non-linear narrative but then we saw that BSR's don't really do this and we didn't want to subvert from the conventions of a BSR.

Propp's narrative

Todorov's narrative

Mckee's narrative

Treatment

Title

In my group we decided that out title should be called "Class A". The title "Class A" connotes the main theme of the narrative which is drugs and because it is called "Class A" it also connotes that more serious drugs are involved in the story. As well as looking at the theme of drugs it could be looked at as being a reference to a social class which our protagonist is looking to reach seeing as he is a working class character and wants to escape in to a higher class of people. 

The title originated from the main theme of drugs because we thought that this was the main theme we wanted to be able to portray and the connotations of "Class A" i think do this quite well as a reference to "Class A" drugs. It connotes to the audience what drugs will appear in the narrative and also possible serious consequences may occur because class A drugs have a serious penalty by if you caught under possession of it. Also in the drug world where class A drugs are deemed to be the best and most expensive drugs where gang fights often happen over drugs like these and people get killed also offers another connotation for the title. For example In our production we will be looking to have our protagonist as a drug dealer, this denotation reinforces the connotations that our main theme is drugs as we will see Chas dealing class A drugs and ends up owing his supplier money because he didn't want to be involved anymore and having the supplier go after him backs this up.

I believe that the title being called "Class A" is conventional of the BSR genre, it is short, simple and has various connotations of the themes and content of the narrative. Typically BSR titles are short and simple with a reference to something that will happen in the film or either something that connotes something metaphorical like "Fish Tank" which is a girl wanting to escape like a fish in a tank. I think that the title is effective because it instantly establishes what the contents of the narrative is which i think is key to give the audience and idea of what the film will be about.

I think my title would appeal to the target audience of 16 - 24 year olds as it is simple, though it is unique it is obvious to be able to understand what it is about just from the title. Though the title is obvious when looking at it as about drugs but it could also have smaller, less clear connotations such as aspiration because people turn to drugs to escape from the world around them. Also something like drugs connotes addiction or experimentation and some people around that age being involved with things like drugs whether it be dealing or taking them, and this has a possibility of them being to relate and personally identify with this theme. 

Identify target audience

My production is aimed at very specific people. My production is aimed at people that are aged between 16-24. My production is targeted mostly for boys because of the stereotype that boys typically like violence and are more associated with the bad things in life more than girls. The fact that the age range is from teens to young adults is good for my production because this way the characters and the narrative will gratify them more than it would for other aged people. The narrative or even the characters may relate to the audience and this way they will be entertained and they will enjoy it. Also in most BSR's the jargon being used is more relatable to this age audience so if the audience can easily understand what is going on and every term used then it will be more likely that they will enjoy it. Also playing on the stereotype of boys are more likely to enjoy violence then it will draw in a wide male audience. Even though this can be aimed particularly at boys it will bring in girls as well and the fact that the age range is for 16 years old minimum then everyone will be allowed into the cinema and there wouldn't be any issue to watch it on TV such as parental controls because they will be allowed to watch it. This allows the movie to be certified as a 15 and also it allows us to use a variety of language, violence and sexual associations etc. into the production. If there is this variety then it makes it more relatable to people because in our production our main theme is drugs and in life it is typically seen that 16-24 year olds that are experimenting on drugs or even addicts therefore making it more relatable. My production will be targeted towards people that are interested in certain things such as what life is like with drugs and how it can be positive and negative on people even though it is mostly negative. Also for the audience to be interested in my film they need to be interested in violence because my film will consist of violence throughout. The main interest for the audience though is to see what life is like on the grittier, dirtier side of the UK and what things happen in these areas and how people are affected. This will gratify the audience in the way of them finding out more information about this side of the UK. It will  be targeted towards people of the middle class. These are the average sort of people that you see on the streets walking around. Also it will be good to appeal to these people because most of these people own televisions and do go cinema so it will bring in a wider audience this way and these people will have the interest of finding out how underclass people live and what their lifestyle is like. The themes that my production will use are themes such as drugs, corruption of youth and violence. These are normal for BSR films but it does have originality to it when it comes to the narrative of the film. This originality will appeal to the audience as it will be something that they haven't seen before. The narrative shows scenes of violence and drugs which is normal for a BSR but the way these themes are portrayed in the film are going to be unique. Also BSR films are known for being authentic and my film will be authentic and it adds the sense of realism for the audience. This will keep the audience watching the movie. 

Technology

The technology that will be used will be some simple technology such as iPods and old phones. This will be simple and be only used to establish the era of the film. This will also establish the class of the characters. This will be suitable for my production as old phones such as an old Nokia will establish that these characters are not very wealthy as it is a very old phone that they are using. Also using a old iPod will establish their class. It will set the era by showing that it is set in the modern age but not in an area that is very high classed. In terms of camera i will be using a lot of different camera language such as 360 shots and long takes. This will be easy as it conforms to the conventions of a BSR. The limitations of the camera shots is the 360 shot as it is going to be hard to do this shot without making it to shaky. BSR films consist of handheld camera movements but if there is to much shaking then it will make the film very unauthentic. I have many ideas of how i can do this 360 shot and still make it look authentic for the audience. Other uses of technology will be using fake syringes for any scenes to show drugs and the effect of them will be done by acting. The only limitation of this is actually finding this fake thing and making sure in the film we use the appropriate camera language to make it look as realistic as possible. In BSR films there are infrequent edits and abrupt cuts. I will use this but i wish to do a shot tracking someones feet when they are running. This will be a good shot if filmed properly and it will make my film look good. This is another hard shot because we do not have the technology to follow someones feet at that speed so we have to think of some other ways to be able to perform this. 

Representation

When coming up with our idea we decided on having one key character, a protagonist called Chas, a 17 year old male who has been kicked out of school and aspires to be rich through selling drugs, through him we see his lifestyle and the representation of a teenager who has grown up in working class conditions and how intends to escape from it.

Due to the fact that our narrative really only looks at life from his perspective which in a way is a positive aspect as it allows for the audience to be able to get to know and empathize with him. Also the fact that our character is representing a stereotypical, bad representation of youth of today it gets across the BSR genre and how it looks at showing real life as accurately as possible.

We are not really subverting from any representations of any social groups as we see that to not be accurate in relation to real life but we are subverting our protagonist in the sense that once he starts his drug dealing lifestyle he wants to get out of it as soon as possible and will do so buy any means. 

Narrative

The film follows the protagonist named Chas. He is neglected in his house and in school. He has no friends and his dad beats him senseless. Due to this he keeps to himself and he reads celebrity magazines and sees how  drugs is associated with money, fame and success. He craves attention and one day walking to school a group of thuggish boys, drug dealers approach him and invite him into the gang. Receiving the attention from these people he joins and from there on he becomes a drug dealer and becomes an addict until realizing what has become of him and he wishes to get out of this gang and get a job and money and does anything he can to get out. 

The opening sequence will start with 5-6 boys sitting around a round table talking and laughing. Every single guy sitting there is wearing baggy clothes and caps. This will show their personality in a way. One guy will be wearing jeans, a shirt and a jacket. This will show his status that he is a higher class. He is the drug supplier and he talks to all of them about stories that happened during the day of some violent act that he had done in  the day. Behind the drug supplier a trashy looking girl that is an addict and rubbing up against the drug supplier once again showing his status. The drug supplier will then start talking about how he wants all the money that everyone owes him from selling the drugs. Chas however doesn't have the money and gets all nervous. He had purposely done this due to the fact he wants to get out of the life he is living. The drug supplier asks him for his money and he runs straight out the door. From here the drug supplier stands up casually with a smile on his face, walks out and pulls out a gun. The screen will the fade to black and the title will appear. From here the next scene appears of Chas walking to school.

Conventions

In our production, we will conform to the typical stereotype of a drug dealers appearance of jeans and and a puffy black jackets. This we will do to represent the typical appearance of local drug dealers and for the audience to identify and compare them from the main drug supplier, who will be wearing expensive branded clothing, such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton items of apparel for the audience to be able to establish him as the top antagonist due to his social status and wealth status due to his expensive clothing. We will also make sure that we subvert to the typical stereotype of a father as our storyline includes a abusive father figure, instead of a typical role model father who takes care of his kid. This will be portrayed by the fathers tone and language towards his son, he swears and abuses him to connote the little relationship between the father and son and the real life everyday struggles the main character, Chas is going through and how he fights to get out of that life. Also, some of the audience may be able to relate to this stereotype of a father as they have seen it and, therefore, the audience are able to relate to the film more, and are therefore more engaged into the story and characters. Also there will be subversion from the mother character as a mothers job is to protect her kids, but she is failing to do this even with her efforts and I think this will be portrayed best in a BSR as the audience will empathize for the boy as he has no one to turn to and this results in the audience empathising for this young helpless boy. This would also add authenticity as not all mothers are perfect as they seem and act different alone so this is to see the true side of the family that have grown up with low wealth and not much help.

Style and Iconography

In the production, I will be using a lot of handheld camera shots as typical BSR films are handheld to give it that serious atmosphere and to really drag the audience in the real life situations in the film. There will be little amount of establishing and long shots, as these are used in other genres, whereas BSR films stick to mid shots and close ups as these are most used in a typical BSR and this is where we clearly see the emotions of the characters to see the real struggle about a BSR film. Also we will use natural lighting throughout as this creates no effect, and keeps it serious which will be based around our type of storyline which is a serious struggle for our main character Chas.

We will keep the editing to a simple, and just base it around cuts and fades as these seem to be most effective and work well in BSR's. For example, in adulthood, there are only fades being used throughout the whole film and it seems to work best as it flows well with the storyline and the show for struggle being shown and the audience to pay attention to this and not the fancy transitions which are unnecessary and don't flow as well.

I will keep the costumes for the drug dealers to a simple plain tracksuit with trainers and a hat to cover their face. This will signify equality of authority between the drug dealers and will signify the difference to the drug supplier showing he has more respect, due to his wealth and clothes. Also this will signify the drug dealers as low class thugs who commit criminal activities to make money but are just assuming without knowledge of their background. Also the drug supplier, will be using the latest gadgets and expensive jewellery to represent his wealth and social status in comparison tot he drug dealers, who wear cheap clothing and do not carry around much as they have no money and earn a living with selling drugs representing the everyday struggles of their lives. Also another prop I will use will be flour to act as my drugs. This is used to signify a life changing object and also to connote the dangers of the life some have to result in due to their struggle for money. Also this links back to one of the main themes being drugs, and represents the title, being Class A, it connotes drugs which makes the audience think about the consequences of this drug which is what the movie is based on.

In consideration to music, We will like to keep to having our own created soundtrack that fits the genre and themes of the film. Also the music will be flowing accordingly to the shots so it will look professional and the audience will be able to remember the movie and soundtrack and create an association. Also is creates authenticity. We have ideas of slow paced music during tragic scenes and fast paced music during the action scenes. Also the music will represent the movies era and also will signify who the film is targeted at. 

Institution

The Brief of film four was to create the opening of a British Social Realism. This narrows what themes would be most appropriate and what is most typical to a BSR. There is a lot to do with drugs and violence so we made sure that these were two of the main themes inside our production. Also we must make sure it is realistic as that is a key feature to a BSR genre so we made sure that the story line behind our production is realistic and believable. This will effect the distribution of the film as it is a BSR , so the majority of viewers will be from Britain and also would have to fit the target audience as that is who the film is based at. Our film will be exhibited on NMT as British social realism generally don't do too well in box office sells, so if it is available to the public on line, they are able to take full use of it and this will grab a larger fan base who enjoy the film. Also I would maybe have home releases, because if it becomes a success on line, people may want the DVD's as a collection so if it is available, they may be able to make a profit through this method as well.

3 initial ideas

Idea 1

Protagonist

The protagonist in my first idea is a 17 year old Asian boy who has been brought up in a rough background. His father abuses him and he is neglected in the house and in school. He is lonely but he likes looking at celebrity magazines. He wears baggy clothes. 

Settings

Taken place in an isolated area with flats all around the area. Some scenes can be taken place inside a house or a flat or even a school. 

Story

A child is neglected all his life and he desires attention from anyone or anything he gets. He like reading celebrity magazines and sees how drugs and baggy clothes are associated with these celebrities and starts having a fondness to them. Drug dealers approach him and recruit him into the gang and he likes it at first as someone is giving him attention and then he realizes he's gotten himself into a deep hole and wants to get out. He then does anything he can to leave the life he had. 

Themes

The themes that will be explored in this film are themes such as drugs. This will be the main theme but there are other themes like corruption of youth, violence, abuse and even neglect. 

Idea 2

Protagonist

It is a 15 year old white girl that seems to have a dual personality. She dresses appropriately in the house and then dresses rough and skimpy outside. She is into her education but depending on who she is with she can be easily swayed to be interested into the bad things. 

Settings

This can be taken place in a school and an apartment in a flat. Also it can move onto going to small chicken shops on the street and dark alleyways.

Story

The 15 year old girl is brought up into a good loving world by her parents. She is smart and achieves the best she can. In school she has all these friends until a rumor spreads about her being a slut and how she cheats in everything. She goes through grief but then decides to embrace it. She starts hanging out with the wrong people and starts dressing inappropriately when outside the house. She gets consumed by drugs and alcohol and even performing petty crimes such as shoplifting. She knows it is wrong as every time she goes home she turns into the sweet little girl she used to be.  The story follows her throughout and how she changes and how she then overcomes it and to see which path she permanently takes. The right path of a nice girl or the wrong one filled with drugs and alcohol. 

Themes

Corruption of youth, drug abuse, violence, crime are all some themes that will be explored in this film. 

Idea 3

Protagonist

A group of white teenagers aged 15-18 go around causing various crimes from theft and lock picking etc. All grown up in the same rough neighborhood with neglecting parents. 

Setting

Rundown area with a lot of similar people living there meaning all in gangs and all into the wrong lifestyle. Under bridges and near small chicken stores or run down old train stations. 

Story

Throughout they cause all these violent acts towards people and do things that could land them in jail if they are caught. One member of the gang wishes to escape them and go on to actually getting a education and a job. 

Themes

There will be themes such as violence,crime,aspiration and escape and also corruption of youth. 

Production log 8

I had to look deep into my own ideas for my BSR film. I had to look at 4 main things which were the protagonist, setting, themes and the story. I had to have 3 initial ideas from which i can pick from and use as a final idea. I had to make sure everything i think of links straight back to BSR films and keeps with the conventions of a BSR film. The themes were very important because it had to include themes that you typically see in BSR films such as drugs, violence etc. The narrative plays a big part as if we know the whole journey of the film it is easier to know what the opening sequence will look like.

The things that influenced me were many different things. It was mostly movies but surprisingly it wasn't BSR films that influenced me most. IT was Hollywood films. I got inspiration from their films and then thought of ways to make it into a BSR film. I used influence from BSR films for things such as representation of characters and also some themes.

We had picked our groups ourselves and my group consists of two other members. This is risky as it could mean one person could get a significantly lower grade than the other two. I think working as a three will be good in a way because we know we all have to contribute even amounts of ideas and to make sure no one lacks in specific things. All of us had similar ideas from which we merged together to make a final idea. Our final idea consisted of drugs being the main theme.

There is going to be a lot of drugs and a lot of money

Presentation of initail BSR idea

Production log 7

The things i have looked at this week are what is in the news. Looking at these articles made me realise what the most real stories are and gave me story ideas. I can use these ideas in my production of different crimes going on. If it is based on a real news story then it makes it amore authentic for the audience. It has also give me an insight to the world problems and it lets me know what things i can associate with crimes. It helps me know what the stereotypes are and this means i can subvert from them which makes my production so much more original.

The key issues i had to deal with when doing this work is looking for the more appropriate stories that relate to BSR's like murders and thefts. These were quite hard to find as there were a lot of killings but i had to find a variety of crimes that are relatable. Other than that this was quite an easy piece of work. Also writing about how it relates to a BSR was quite easy as the task was to find articles that relate to BSR's in the first place.

Some of the pictures from articles i had seen

Whats's in the news?

Roy Harper

Singer Roy Harper has appeared in court accused of having unlawful sex with a schoolgirl.

Harper, 72, faced two charges of having unlawful intercourse with the girl when she was under the age of 13.

The folk star was further accused of four gross indecency charges involving the same girl when she was under the age of 14 and three charges of indecently assaulting her at the same age.

This will be good for a BSR film because sex is a running theme in most BSR films such as fish tank. Also this shows corruption of youth as it is with a schoolgirl and she is underage. If this is incorporated into a BSR film, it would generally be a authentic film. It suggest that the protagonist could be a victim of sexual abuse and her journey is about getting away from that life or accepting it. 

Horrific moment man is "repeatedly knocked over by his girlfriend" 

These dramatic pictures show the moment a man was repeatedly knocked over in a suspected hit and run.

Horrific CCTV images capture the moment the car - which was allegedly been driven by the man's girlfriend - hits him and knocks him back to the ground.

This is good for a BSR film as this can connote the themes of violence. Violence is one of the main themes that run throughout BSR films. This story shows obvious violence as the girlfriend knocked him over repeatedly. This can also be a protagonist as a violent person in a gang or something and abusing people by running them over. Possibly a murderer or maybe the victim could be the protagonist with people coming after him in violent ways.

Taxi boss attacked by yobs after he refused to order them cab saying they were too aggressive

14 Nov 2013 13:18

He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after the attack by the men as he finished his shift on Sunday afternoon

This is the moment a taxi boss was attacked by yobs - after he refused to order them a cab saying they were too aggressive.

This story can connote themes of violence and even social class clashes. This is because these guys had randomly beat this other guy up because they didn't do what he had said. They felt threatened by him. This is more of the theme of social class clashes. The protagonist could play as the person causing the violence and his life of violence. The protagonist could also be the victim. This is typical of a BSR film because it makes it more authentic to follow a real storyline.

Beachcombing for inspiration

Camera shots

One thing i really liked was the technique used in the opening of Reservoir Dogs. They had used a 360 shot which revolved around the characters sitting around a round table and the camera rotating around the table slowly capturing everyone and everything.

I find this inspirational and i may even attempt to imitate it in my production by opening like that but making sure the situation is different making sure it isn't a direct copy. Also a scene from Bad Boys 2 is very inspirational as they use a 360 shot as well but in a different way, it is more fast paced and used for a different purpose. (00:54-01:11)

This is inspirational as it gives me a selection of 360 shots to use even though to master the Bad Boys 2 shot i will need CGI which i do not have access to but it is a good idea to look into and see what other ways i can perform it.

0:40-0:52 shows another example of a 360 shot.

Sounds

The song used in this film in the background was brilliantly used as it described everything that happens in the scene character from character. Almost as if it is a narration of the scene that is happening. Seeing as we have to get original music this will be an ideal thing to get ideas from and get music that narrates the story in my production.

This is a brilliant soundtrack that is actually inspirational to play maybe if i used a dramatic opening such as someone being shot and people rushing over to the body whilst the camera pans all around them this sort of soundtrack can be played non-diegetically and it will create an emotional atmosphere and connect with the audience. Also using a montage of shots from the movie like it has been used above is a good idea.

Locations

This is the sort of location i would want to film at because it is a real location and it is a chicken shop which is a general shop that most teens would go to for food. I will try to find a more run down area though with shops like this.

I would also like to use something similar to this. A long road with a lot of small shops and bins lying there and just sort of a dull area. This would be brilliant for a BSR film. It gives of the gritty feel to it and creates the atmosphere.

Costumes

These are the sort of costumes that i am going to need people to wear to make it seem authentic that the characters are rebellious teenagers and are actually quite uneducated but that can be seen through the dialogue that they use. Also in my film the clothes have to make the personality of the character so they also have to be acting violent

Themes

What i like about this poster is that you can just look at it and you know there is violence. I want people to be able to look at my film and when they first see the opening scene i want them to be able to see that violence is a big theme in it. I want it to be obvious, just like it is in the poster.

Tony Montana (Scarface) with cocaine

I want to use drug abuse/experimentation in my production and i like how it is used in Scarface because he takes the drug and yet his face still looks all screwed up. I want to make sure i convey the effects of drugs and how bad it was.

Hotel Rwanda

Blood Diamond

Poverty is a running theme in BSR's. Two films that show poverty well are Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond. These films are brilliant at showing poverty and I may use the fact of a lot of people crowded in a small area to convey poverty or even show people working hard labor. 

Typography

I like the typography in this movie that she has used, it is child like but it is simple. This works effectively because it can connote things about the characters and also it is simplistic. I can use this in association with characters.

I like how in Fight Club the poster had the title written on a bar of soap which plays a role in the film. I like this and may use this. I will put the graphics in random objects that are associated with the story or the character.

The typography used in The Dark Knight is a simple as it gets. It contrasts against the black background and the colour is just a basic white. It is simple typography for three of the most legendary films of all time. I might incorporate this into my production because simple typography is easy but if used in the right places then it is effective.

Actors

I like that Christian Bale can adapt to any character and so quickly. He went from skinny to muscle in 5 months. I need to find suitable actors that can adapt to the environment well and this will make it believable for the audience. Christian Bale has played as a psycho to a superhero to a hustler to a drug addict. He is British yet grasps accents and acting very well. It will be easy for me to find a British actor being that i am in Britain but finding someone who can adapt to the role may be hard. 

Production log 6

We had to analyse the first half hour of three different BSR films and we had to look at three specific things. Mise-en-scene, camera and editing. This had to be a detailed analysis of the three opening sequences. 

I have learnt many things about BSR films overall from analyzing these three things. Such has the fact that editing rarely happens and only happens mostly when locations change. Also i have learnt about how the camera is not a smooth camera movement but it is a bouncy movement as if it was a handheld camera like a documentary. I also learnt about how unsaturated lighting and dull lighting makes it more authentic for the audience and all this can connote the mood of the scene. 

This will impact my production in such a way that i now know a good idea of where i want to film. It has to be a real location and dull lighting to make it authentic for the audience. Only then will it have that realistic feel to it, i also  have to make sure i film it with a slight bounce to the camera. If it is too clean then it makes it seem fake like a blockbuster movie. I need it to be realistic for the audience.

Mise-en-scene style

In this I had to analyse the first half hour of three BSR films for camera conventions, editing conventions and mise-en-scene conventions. I had analysed Made in Britain, Scum and Kes.

Production log 4 & 5

I have learnt quite a bit about titles. I've learnt when they appear and what order they should typically be in. I have analysed the 'Skyfall' opening sequence to see the order of the credits. On top of this i haven't just learnt the order; i have also learnt what they do. I have learnt the actual role of directors, producers, D.O.P and much more.
 This will impact my work as it has let me know what people not to include, such as visual effects supervisor. This will take away the realism of the film and i only have to include the conventional credits that appear only in BSR films. I also know whose names appear where and when.

Production Log 5

Skyfall

We had to do multiple amounts of work over the half term including opening credits analysis, fish tank case study and a sound analysis of a BSR film, for which i chose Adulthood. Doing all this work is actually quite simple for me as media is my main subject. I make sure my work is done at a good standard. Doing the fish tank case study was probably the longest piece of work i have ever done but this was the piece of work i enjoyed the most and i found it quite simple because it involved analysing a whole film which was pretty fun. As well as that i enjoyed the analysing of the opening credits of a film. The film i chose to analyse was Skyfall. Even though the opening sequence was longer than normal i didn't mind watching it over and over again because the film is actually a really good one. I found the sound analysis quite hard as there is a limit of what you can write  about sound without repeating yourself.

To overcome these issues i had to keep reading over my work and even though at some parts i did repeat myself i had to make sure i didn't do it over and over. The issue i had with doing the opening credits analysis was that i had to fit all the credits onto one A3 piece of paper which i thought would be big enough. It was just about enough as the Skyfall opening consisted of a lot of names. I had to manage my space wisely on this sheet of paper. The only issue i had with the Fish Tank case study was finding the scene that i had in mind. This was due to not knowing the time code of the scene so i had to guess where it was from memory. This was overcome via trial and error by clicking on a random part of the timeline and hoping my scene would be there. This was not a major issue though.

Fish tank case study

Themes and situations

Leaflet Mia finds about dance- Aspiration and escape

Throughout the film there is a running theme of aspiration and escape as in this movie the protagonist, Mia, watches dances on YouTube and then copies their dance moves and also she dances by herself to train. Dance is her main passion and to show this in the movie it shows her picking up a leaflet about dancing. 

Mia also watches people dance around the city and she is clearly not accepted as they bully her and she is not accepted into their group. 

Mia drinking beer- Corruption of youth

Another theme in this movie is corruption of youth. This can also be seen as a major running theme throughout. This theme being shown starts by showing us a 8 year old girl smoking a cigarette with her friend whilst her older sister allows it. This is clearly a good example of the youth being corrupted because she is way under age to be smoking cigarettes. Also the protagonist is portraying a 15 year old and in the second half of the film she is seen drinking beer and getting drunk which she is not supposed to do as once again she is under aged. Also the last thing that shows the major corruption of youth through this is that Mia has sex with a man that is twice her age. She is under the legal age to have sex and the fact that she did shows that everything is out of the ordinary for her youth. This is the typical theme for a BSR films most BSR films revolve around the protagonist being a young adult or a teenager. 

Sex scene between Connor and Mia- Sex

As Mia is seen having sex with another man sex could also be a theme throughout the film but sex doesn't only occur once in this film. One scene involves Mia spying on her mum and sees her fully undressed having sex with her boyfriend. This could suggest a theme in this film.

2 brothers beating Mia up- Violence

Violence is a theme that runs throughout the film. There are various types of violence in this film, such as domestic abuse as the mum hits her. This adds realism to the movie; most BSR's contain violence because of the location. This is set in the urban area if the gritty side of London. The violence is normally done by the hoodlums in these films. This is shown in the picture above.

Mia stealing money from wallet- Poverty

Mia lives in a council estate which is very cramped up and small. In every corner there is dirt and every door hinge is rusted. This shows the clear significance of poverty. In the picture above Mia is stealing money of a middle class man showing she is desperate for the money as she does not get enough being in poverty. The outside world is very dirty as well as if no one cares about the environment and they do not abide by the laws and rules.

I can use these themes in my film becuase these are typical BSR themes and using these themes would mean my film has the potential to be successful if i conform to the conventions of that theme.

Stereotypes and archetypes

Mia practicing her dance

In this Mia subverts the stereotype of all teenagers living in an urban gritty area should be criminals that have no ambition in life. She subverts it because Mia actually has ambition and she wishes to succeed in life in dance. This is a different aspect of a teenager that the audience looks at which keeps it interesting for the audience as it doesn't conform to the general stereotype.

Mum physically hitting and pushing Mia

The mother is another character in this movie that subverts from the typical stereotypes. Mothers are generally seen as caring passionate ladies that would do anything for their children. In this movie the mother is seen to be uncaring, rude and neglecting her own children. However she is also an ambiguous character as,at some points, she does fit the stereotypes of a mother as she shows a interest in her daughter's life.

Tyler and friend smoking cigarettes

In most BSR films all the main characters are seen to be living in bad conditions as it is taken place in the gritty part of  London. Due to this location it is shown that these characters tend to break the rules of society a lot. This is stereotypical in this film as you can see these two girls have broken the rules of society by smoking cigarettes even though she is underage. This is stereotypical of BSR films as they do normally show characters not conforming to society.

Brothers beating up Mia

These two boys that are abusing the protagonist can bee seen as the archetype of Bullies. But depending on point of view they can also be seen as a pair of goofballs. This is due to the fact that they are being violent towards Mia and the audience can see this from Mia's facial expression and how she is reacting to this situation. The fact that boys are smiling and laughing during this scene shows they are taking it as a joke suggests they are goofballs as well.




I definitely will use this in my film. I will try and subvert a lot of the stereotypes to keep it interesting but i liked the fact that in this film the mother was ambiguous so i may use that in my film. This will keep the audience intrigued.

Mise-en-scene

Characters wearing more or less the same clothing

The clothing in this film is pretty much the same clothing as every other person in this film with the exception of one character. This shows a lot about the location and about the type of people that live there. It shows that these people are not very rich and are working class as they cannot afford other clothes. Also as most of the characters are wearing the same thing it shows that most people in that area are not very rich. It shows that it is not only the protagonist but all other characters are the same. 

Mia plugging in speakers to her CD player

The movie is set in a modern era and you can tell this by some of the equipment that Mia owns. The picture on the left shows that she owns portable speakers so this shows that this film was set in the modern day. As well as this the music being played such as Cassie and the clothes being worn such as their trainers are all very modern which makes it relatable to the audience and it appeals to the target audience of teens and young adults.

Red bus on the street

You can tell the location of this movie by just seeing the red buses. The UK are known for red buses so you can tell that this movie was shot in Britain. Also another thing you can see that connotes that this was shot in Britain is the registration numbers on cars. Britain has a unique registration number layout. These are two things you can see in this movie and the buses are seen in other scenes as well. There is an island in the middle of the road to. The yellow thing with a blue circle up top with a white arrow in it. This is unique to Britain as well.

Lighting all over is natural lighting

In the majority of this movie everything is pretty much natural lighting. A lot of this movie is shot outside or in a place where light shines through windows. The natural lighting gives a sense of realism to the audience and helps them relate to the environment and the everyday life. This is common in BSR films because these types of films are made to help the audience relate to the film and most importantly they need to make it as real as possible.

Some of the set where the movie was shot

The set is important to the audience because it gives them a fell of where this is all located and it gives them an idea of who lives there. This set represents underclass people who do not earn a lot of money. It also gives the audience a bit of insight to the gritty parts of London. Even this is another thing that adds realism to the film and it makes us feel more for the characters knowing where they come from and what they are surrounded by.



I like the fact that they added red buses to mkae it known that it is set in London. I think i will use that idea in my movie and i need to establish the era which can be very simple as all needs to be done is dressed right and have the right technology. Mise-en-scene is probably the easiest thing i can incoporate into my movie.

Music & sound effects

This song plays a significant role in the film as it is the favourite song of character Connor and this influences Mia to do her dance performance on this song. A lot of the music played in this film is diegetic which is good because it adds to the authenticity of this film. If the audience knows that the music being played is also heard by the characters in the movie then it gives the audience more depth into who these characters actually are and what they are into. Another thing is all the music being played is rhythmic and upbeat. This plays nicely as the protagonist wishes to dance in this film so all this music being played is mostly by her as she is looking at dancing. There is also modern music such as Cassie which gives us a sense of the era. 

Background noise of trees and insects

There are some scenes where foley sounds are added on top such as the scene shown on the right; this scene has the foley sounds of insects and trees in the background. The director really wanted to emphasize the naturalism of this scene. It helps the audience know the environment better. There also is another scene taken at Connor's workplace where in the background you can hear the sounds of trucks and cars. This all adds to the atmosphere. It doesn't just isolate the characters, they make sure all these sounds are there specifically so these characters are not isolated. 

All this sound, be it diegetic music or foley/ambient sounds, adds the realism and the atmosphere to each and every as they are supposed to. It gives an audience a insight into the characters and also the environment. 

The diegetic sound adds realism but i think i can make it more dramatic by adding some non-diegetic sounds ovder the top. I do not like the fact that everything is diegetic but i do like that they used foley sounds to create atmosphere so i may use that. 

Camerawork & editing

For the camera work there is a lot of long takes. A edit occurs around every 10-15 seconds. The fact that there are long takes add to the drama a lot more as it makes you watch that one scene for that period of time. If there was a lot of fast paced cuts then we would forget the previous scene instantly. This way you can take in the characters and the environment as well as process it and keep it in your head because at the end it all adds up and makes it an enjoyable experience for the viewer. 

(13:08-13:28)- this scene is an example of a long take as it occurs for around 20 seconds. The editor had the chance to put cuts everywhere in this scene but putting a lot of cuts will take away all the realism of the scene. It would make it into more of an action film and it would look to clean. What i mean by clean is the majority of the time the camera work is not static and 'clean'. There is a lot of bounce and this makes it almost seem as if it was handheld. This definitely adds more atmosphere and authenticity to the film as if someone were watching this whole girl's life and videoing it. Also these long cuts use a lot of tracking as it follows the character around.

When cuts are used they can be very abrupt. Most of the time it is to do with a location change. It skips the whole journey and cuts straight to the location she was going to. This is effective as it keeps interesting and different as it doesn't make the scenes flow one after the other which can convey the feelings of that character that maybe she is frustrated. Also the long takes can get tedious at times so these abrupt cuts keep it engrossing. 

Two shot showing their relationship

A lot of two shots are also used between these two characters which is good because it shows us their relationship over the course of the film. Some scenes would show them very close and some would show them far. This camera shot really captures this.

Close up of hand

Close up of foot

As well as all these camera shots and slow edits there is also some cuts used to actually convey emotion. The camera does not always focus on facial expressions. It also looks at body language. These two scenes can just tell you the feeling of the character just by looking at her foot and arm and what is happening. This shows how effective close ups can be and how these edits are used effectively. To make this more powerful camera shots and frequent cuts like this are rare in the movie. 

I will use long takes in my production but i do not like abrupt cuts because it just doesn't flow. I will make my one flow but i will have long takes and i will use a variety of camera language in it such as the close ups to convey more emotion that the face cannot show. 

Dialogue

The dialogue used in this film is very informal by every character. The most formal anyone talks is most probably Connor. A lot of swearing is used and slang which portrays that they are uneducated and most likely living in the urban gritty areas of London which it is; meaning the way of talking emphasizes this. Also their dialects are from London showing where they are from. Also the fact that the mother swears in front of her young child shows that their way of talking is socially accepted in that area and everyone brought up in that sort of environment will turn out like this. A lot of the time the mode of address used is very aggressive and this is helpful to the audience as it lets us know what she actually is feeling. This is common in BSR films.

"Mia: I'm leaving then.

Joanne: [dances] This is one of your CDs.

Mia: Yeah. It's Nas.

Joanne: Yeah, it's great.

Mia: You can keep it.

Joanne: Well, go on then. Fuck off."

This is one of the quotes from the movie and it shows how in any situation, whether it's a good situation or bad, they still use vulgar language. This backs up the point of them being uneducated. Also it shows they are from a working class background and the fact that the mother is saying it emphasizes how much she subverts from a stereotypical mother.

"Mia: What are you looking for?

Billy: A Volvo 940.

Mia: What's it look like?

Billy: Like a Volvo 940.

Mia: Cor! Clever Dick!"

This quote connotes the attitude of the characters and it shows that they are still quite immature in a way making stupid comments to one another. This represents the characters well to be in their teens as teenagers are the ones who use sarcasm most often. Also again the use of foul language is there even though the context she uses it in is a humorous manner. This backs up the point of the characters being uneducated. 

"Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed of. Ring me back, you bitch."

This quote connotes the fact that Mia is rude and doesn't know any better as she is trying to apologize to a friend yet at the end she calls her using a swear word which doesn't help her situation with her.

Institutional background

There are 5 companies that produced this film. These companies are:

BBC films

UK film council

Limelight communication

Content film

Kasander film company

The main production company in this is BBC films and UK film council. These two are British production companies. BBC have produced films such as 'Ill Manors', 'Billy Elliot' and  'Shifty'. BBC have many upcoming productions in future years but at the moment they have produced up to 237 films. They produce 7-8 films per year which is very similar to Film4 which is the institution for my film. 

The UK film council have produced films such as 'Woman in Black' and 'The kings speech'. These two companies work in collaboration a lot such as the movie 'My week with Marilyn'.  The UK film council have produced up to 225 films so far. The UK film council actually funded this film. 

Target audience

I would say the target audience for this film is teenagers to young adults so i would say 16-30. This is reasonable as the film is certified at a 15. Also this is targeted at more of the female side. I say this because the protagonist is a female and dance is stereo-typically associated with females but i would say it is aimed at 60% females and 40% males. This film would interest the people that are interested in dance and interested in seeing what life is like on the gritty side. This helps them relate making it more interesting for them. Also this film is targeted at people living in the UK as this film is a British film and also it is targeted at white and black people. 

Marketing materials

This film can be found on numerous websites such as Play.com and Amazon. These are mainstream websites so anyone and a lot of people can see this. You can buy this movie in different formats. In DVD and Blu Ray. Also being on these websites gives it a wider audience range. There are also posters that contain short one sentence reviews from companies and how many stars they have given it out of 5. This may influence people to watch it due to these reviews.