Magazine Draft for short film

We have looked at many other film magazine draft and real magazine articles where we have researched into the different types of film magazines such as Total Film, Empire, and Screen magazine. these magazines gave us many ideas onto what to include in our magazine and the structure in which we should do so. We also looked at the main conventions that a magazine has, and hoping to include these in our one.

This is a simple draft drawn discussed fully by our group. This is how we wanted our film magazine to look like, the image we wanted to put up we thought would be of one image that was collected from our short film. the 'cctv image' would be on one of the corner's of the poster but we didn't decide which one yet and we wanted to do this to follow the convention and brand identity of our film. the 'about the film' would be a small section giving the synopsis of the film, the plot and everything from the film. the 'text' would talk about the film in more detail, the location and characters ect. the 'release date ect.' would be a section where we will talk about when the film is released, and the 'celebrity stars' acting in it. the 'title' will be written big and bold so that it draws the audiences attention however mainly delivering a strong sense of brand identity through the font, size and many other conventions.

Having researched into other films with our genre's such as ...., it has inspired us and gave us many ideas on what to put on our own magazine following the conventions of a magazine article. in order to catch as much attention from our audience, we have made our title and main picture as large as possible. the main reason a image was included was to create a strong sense of brand identity, which is kept throughout our film, blog and poster.
By doing this, we have followed the main conventions of a magazine article, whilst delivering a strong sense of brand identity through images, text and fonts. this allows us market our brand more successfully.
in addition, the fact that we spent so much time in order to finish our magazine, we thought that the time spent was wise and thoughtful as we had to consider the conventions of a magazine draft in order to gain maximum marks and receive a high grade.

Feedback on Poster

After we created our poster, we thought of asking different people about the poster and how it could be improved. We even created a chart which shows how many people like it, dont like it and poeple that think the poster could be improved.



 Judging by the results that are on the pie chart, it was clearly shown that the majority of our participants said they liked the film. However out of 20 participants, 3 thought it wasn't good enough which in my opinion, is good as 85% of our participants thought otherwise. only 5 thought that it could slightly be improved however we asked them it detail how, and they gave us some tips in which our group will later have a discussion if we should have some changes.

Draft Poster

This is our draft poster. Similar to 'I AM LEGEND' it centers our protagonist and our film name (which is in a bold easily read font). We chose to isolate our protagonist in the poster to show how youth feel today ;abandoned and alone. We also used to the tape to create a sinister atmosphere although this is in fact a finishing line for our runner and portrays breaking through the stereotypes or barriers he is faced with (reinforced by his race finishing posture). At the top colloquial language such as 'U' and '4' is used to engage with the audience and more importantly to empathise with them ; through second person address.It is also a form of imperative , somewhat harsh which we hope will be more absorbed by young people because a majority have grown in aggressive environments and this is more easily understood. The title not only reflects our film's content but also appeals to youth to grab the opportunities in life and to not give up.

One thing we forgot to include in this poster was color which would have more clearly made visible the police tape and sirens which should be reflecting from his face.

In addition, the poster keeps the twist of the film hidden to the audience as it doesn't portray anything about Olympic runners. The protagonist is symmetrically centred so the audience can familiarise with who he is. In the poster the character is also postured as if he has finished a race but instead of having to cross the ribbon and flashing camera lights which await most runners he is faced with a  police 'do not cross' tape and a blue light reflected from police sirens is on his face.We used the police do not cross tape in order to symbolise the stereotypes our character is breaking through and the race (struggle) youth have to face today in order to fulfill their dreams.

We have also used many conventions of a film poster such as the billing block and release date included in the bottom of the poster. As the slogan emphasises what happens in the short film, placing the slogan at the middle of the poster gives the audience an idea of what will happen during the film.

This is the final draft of our film poster, as we had others that we thought didn't meet the conventions of a film poster. We didn't include the releasing date and we had the slogan at the top which was defiantly not a convention of a film poster. Hence, when we changed all of this and met the criteria of the conventions of a film poster, we thought we have done a great job and hence we uploaded our final one with all the main conventions of a short film.

Storyboard Animatic

Research & Planning Diary (11th Oct - 1st Nov)

During this period of Research & Planning:

• We came up with ideas of fonts we will use - this had to be suitable for the genre and for the production logo
• We made a questionnaire of a tag line, asking the audience which tag line will suit most
• We went to a location scout at South Kilburn - taking many photos and adding them to our blog
• We also went to Rowley Way, a second location scout, where we took many photos of the location as the location was very large and many good places to film in
• We made a draft poster however was not coloured in - but you can see the poster clearly - many said this poster was very good and suitable for our short film
• We organised the shots and location

Organising the shots and locations

Now that we have visited the location, we gathered information by creating a questionnaire for all media student at Paddington Academy sixth form, asking them which shots would be most suitable for out short film, and which order shall we put it in. By doing this, it gave us a rough idea of what we are going to film, where we should film it and why we should do so:

1. Our first location will be in the protagonists house which will show the protagonist waking up. One of the group members friend lives in the location we will be filming, hence it will be better filming inside the house as we can have shots of the protagonist leaving his house and shots walking down the stairs in this chosen picture above.

2. We planned to use the car park for the second opening shot. We thought we can have a shot of the person leaving the estate through this path, and even start jogging. in addition, we figured of having the "deal" of the delivery guy and the protagonist shot here as it seems as in the eyes of the audience, it will seem as a drug deal.

3. As the protagonist leaves the park underground, as well as us, the nominees in the questionnaire also though of having the protagonist have the main scene where the protagonist runs in this path. We thought this as we can have the victims looking out of their window which links to other shots.

4. The questionnaire results showed that the above shots can be inserted with any location as it can be linked with anything.

Now having the shots and location fully planned, we hopefully will go to the location and start filming. unlike last year, we don't need no permission from any one. however last year we need permission from things such as the hotel manager ans the public transport.

Choosing the location for short film

Having thought of our plot and ideas, we had to think of a location which will suit most. a silent, gritty urban area with many buildings around it. From a variety of locations, we had to choose one which suited our genre and however close to the school in case any emergency's and to make the journey easier and shorter. We had opportunities from the following:

1. Brixton (South London)
2. Earls field (South East London)
3. South Kilburn (North West London)
4. Tottenham (North London)
5. Mozart (West London)
6. Rowley Way (North West London)

Our group had to consider which location will suit the most, and which location will be better considering the journey time. We can to a decision to choose Rowley Way (North West London) for many reasons. Firstly, the estate is very quite hence no interferences with anything/anyone. Secondly, the journey time will take approximately 20-40 minutes, which give us time to go there and back various times in one day. Finally, the estate suits our genre as this area is full of attached blocks with many entrances and exits.

Our second option was South Kilburn (North West London). We never chose this location mainly because of local conflicts between the two areas south Kilburn and Mozart. on the other hand, the building in south kilburn will suit a lot more than the ones in Rowley way. The building were very big and tall, suiting the chosen genre in our short film.

The Following pictures are pictures taken in Rowley way:

These photos were taken from the Internet, however our group has decided to take a trip up to Rowley way as soon as possible to actually see the location ourselves as we thought we needed a first time experience to consider whether Rowley way is our main option.

Location Of Filming

This is a birds-eye-view picture of the exact location we were filming in and the picture was imported from google maps. Our group chose to import it as it would be very useful for both the gorup and the teacher of the location we would be filming in, in case of any emergencies and simply show our group where would be filming. the exact location in the picture is the mark 'A' and this is where most of the short film will be filmed.

Location Scouting - Rowley Way & South Kilburn

Our first location scout was in South Kilburn. this is a very good location as it is near to the school, and has many blocks and alley ways we could film in. the only problem was the conflict between the two areas around our school and we might be caught in cross fire. Here are some photos of the main area in South Kilburn we wanted to film in:

We thought this would have been one of our top options we would film in. However we still haven't went Rowley way so we couldn't choose South Kilburn as our option. During these few days, our group will hopefully take a second scouting trip towards Rowley way and take some walking shots and judge which is better and which location will be chosen for our final short film.

Having considered to have Rowley way as our option to film, we also thought of taking a trip up there to see a first time experience. We took a Digital Camera with us to take photos of the main locations and the Rowley way estate. On the way to Rowley way, we had to pass south Kilburn so we thought we might as well go there to also take a first time experience. Here are the photos we took:

We knew the area that initially got the the images online, in the second location scout we wanted to visit the location to get original images and walk through some of our shots first hand. Having visited the area, our group was even more impressed as there shots that were not seen on the Internet. for example, the car park was not visualised on the Internet, however visiting the location, we saw the car park and that was one of many important shots for our short film.

Resources used

We used a variety of equipment whichj included :

   



  

Sony HDV HVR-A1E Camera
A camera is a cinematic necessity when it comes to filming
but a camera of this sort is a privilege. This Sony camera is
great in regards to its ability yet small in regards to its size. In addition it
has a mic attached to it which causes less inconvenience unlike the long-
cabled microphone we used in the previous year.

 


  

Libec DL-2 Dolly

This piece of equipment will ease our filming methods and help us achieve the tracking and moving shots we wish to use in our film.







Mac Book Pro
The mac book pro will be one our most prominent pieces of equipment
and because of its sleek design , portability and lightness
we will be able to fully utilise its software capabilities no matter the environment.

 

Final Cut Pro 7
This software will help us cut and order our filming to suit our desires.It also has great capabilities in terms of effects and will allow us to manipulate our film's transitions easily.



 

Motion 4
Although we are somewhat inexperienced
with this software , an introduction by our teacher
has helped us come to terms with just how helpful it can
be and how it can improve our films feel and graphic vibe.

 


 Adobe Photo shop CS5
Although last year's photo shop was decent, we discovered that the upgrade was greatly more useful and more capable than its predecessor ; especially in logo design.



Garage Band
This software will be the most important when it comes
to the task of creating our films soundtrack.
Although we are already familiar with this software because of
using it in our previous year , we will see to develop our skills and efficiency this time
round.



 


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Libec TH-650DV Tripod
This will ease our mobility and stability when filming. Wheels can also be attached to the tirpod to make the tracking and moving shots ever easier for our group.

  

Adobe InDesign CS5
This software never used by any of
our team we hope will ignite our creativity.
It allows us to design page layouts (ideal for
our magazine review) and gives us precise control
over typography.



RotoLight Stealth 45
This is a useful light which has numerous filters , it will
help us manipulate lighting both in our poster and whilst filming,
There are many different colored filters which is also beneficial and will allow us to pull of the police siren effect on our poster.

 

   

All these resources were supplied by our school (Paddington Academy) and will be used by our group. Although we are aware that some will be more challenging to use than others we are sure that during the filming process we will be able to become more efficient and to fully utilize the resources we have been given.

These resources are used for many reasons. To begin with, they are used to give the effect in our film e.g. using the tripod to steady he camera and give the audience a better view of the shot. In addition, the resources are used conventionally, some resources such as 'Mac Book Pro' and 'Logic Tech' have to be used to edit the film and also give a better effect to it.

Character profile

To produce our film and make it outstanding to the rest, we have to create a character profile to suit the genre and plot of the film. Hence, we brought a character from outside of the group, which was very enthusiastic and wanted to show his talent in acting, however this character refused to reveal his face and does not want to be recognised and claims he want to remain anonymous throughout the film which. This character also insisted that his name shouldn't be told to anyone outside the group, therefore we named the character "Jerome" which suits the background of the character, and mostly the genre of the film. The character is about 6"ft with dark skin colour and a hefty build. In addition, this character has got a "bad boy" style, with "street swagger" and "attitude". This can be seen in his choice of dark clothing, which are always "fresh" and urban. However, what distinguishes him from other youths, is his immense talent. Our character shares a similar profile to many other films on t.v. such as "Misfits", "Adulthood" and "Kidulthood".

Personnel

Choosing our actor was quite difficult but eventually we found a black young male aged 17 known in the area by the name blacks. We also chose Abraham Safo to be one of “Black’s” associates dressed in similar costume. We decided that Blacks will purchase trainers in a black box from Abraham and hand Abraham a roll of money which will give off the impression that they have just completed a drug deal.

Props and Costume

Here are photos of what the props and costume would look like:

We looked at different urban genre films, taking down notes on which type of clothes the protagonists were wearing, how the background area is (location), and the props used for example guns and packages full of drugs. Our group had a discussion whether to include guns in our short film however due to the law in the UK, it would take a long time as we would have had to get permission from the police or even the government. We came up with a good idea of including an close up shot of a random magazine supposedly found on the floor where they were talking about the riots. We also came up with a decision that the protagonists would be wearing a 'Olympic shirt' which will be shown near to the end of the short film to reveal the twist and the real identity of the protagonists. However the t-shirt will be hidden by a black Nike woolly tracksuit also worn by the protagonist throughout the whole short film. We thought that having a tracksuit will give an urban affect to the audience, making them stereotype the protagonists of being a criminal of any kind. We will also have the protagonist wearing a pair of athletic Nike trainers however this will only be revealed during the end of the film so that the audience's perception of the protagonists stay the same of being the evil gangster in London.. On the other hand, we had a discussion of another idea having the trainers disgusted throughout but doing this, the twist might be somehow revealed to the audience.

Research & Planning Diary (27th Sep - 10th Oct)

During this period of research and planning:

• We filmed our storyboard and named it "storyboard animatic"
• We considered which location we should to choose to film our short film. Our group sat down and came up with ideas.
• We made a production logo which suited the genre.
• We talked about a poster inspiration
• We went location scouting in South Kilburn and made a post with many useful pictures of the location.

Professor Green music/video inspirations

One element of this video we admired and hope to include in our production was the sinister atmosphere created by the music as well as the videos content. In the video many young black individuals with similar costumes to our character's are filmed causing mischief, fighting, kicking in doors and holding weapons. There are numerous shots we were intrigued by, for instance a close up into the beady eyes of a black male at the beginning of the video creates suspense immediately and puts the audience on the edge of their seat. This influenced us to do a similar shot with an old woman at her window which will arouse suspicion. This shot is repeated many times within the video but is most effective when the black male awakes from the coffin and when two males push their weapons into the camera (insinuating that these youth are physical and dangerous). Another shot we were inspired by was a tracking shot of a hooded boy doing a 'wheelie' on his bicycle; this could be similarly used for our runner. Also used in the video is a handheld camera style of filming at the time when the gang invade a home after having kicked in the door, this we thought was extremely effective and added realness to the video (making the audience feel involved or as if they are witnesses to this event). A low angle shot makes the gang come across as powerful and superior when they are kicking a man who is impersonated by the camera. All in all many of the shots as well as the synchronous sounds (such as tire screeching) were inspirational and we hope to use at least two or three in our video.To conclude although this video seems to reinforce the stereotypical views of youth we are aiming to dismantle ,we hope to use these factors to empower our film and elevate our twists effectiveness at the end.

Tear tatoo inspiration

The reasoning behind our tear tattoo was to make viewers think that our protagonist is a gang associate or is a criminal who has been previously incarcerated. These  connotations exist because of the tattoo's symbolic meaning on the 'streets'. There we have discovered that this tattoo has multiple meanings . one being that each tear represents a person the beholder has killed , another that each tear represents a length of time spent in prison and the last less common reason that each tear represents a loved one lost . In our case we chose the third (least common reason) although we additionally came up with the tear instead being a droplet of sweat which could be reflective of our protagonists efforts/struggles in the past which has passed in order to reach the Olympics. A key reason to making this decision was because in today's society although tattoos are somewhat accepted, amongst black youth they are seen as ways of acknowledging gang divisions. We chose this tear therefore to enhance our characters background and how prone he is to stereotypical judgement. The overall effect of the tear is to show struggle and hardship.

The way in which we wish to pull of this 'tear' tattoo is through pen ink. As tattoos are usually dark green we chose to run with this conventional colour which would make known that it is a permanent tattoo and not a fake. Another thing we had to consider was the stage in which this idea was created. Because this idea was developed after the first day of filming had been completed we were obliged to review clips and think whether or not we had shot any  close-ups so far which could divulge the absence of this tattoo which could later pop up and displease the audience. After contemplating we realised that there was one shot or two with the protagonists face yet his face could not be seen with great clarity because of the running motion he was in. Another shot was the close up of his face when he descends down the stairs and looks around , this however was ok because in the filming we had told him to only show one side of his face (which would raise suspense) and has now given us leeway to introduce this tattoo.

Misfits influence on filming style.

The de saturated filming effect seen in misfits  elevates the films grittiness and realness and this is why we chose to imitate it .Aswell as this the series was also effective because of its ability to dimantle sterotypes ; all the characters are young offenders yet have super powers which they use to rescue innocent people within their community and at times even the world. This de saturated effect not only creates a cold lifeless atmosphere but also enhances the cold hearted occurings within the film such as their probation workers death. We have decided to use this effect similarly to enhance the sterotypes of our character and to make him look like a cold criminal in a cold abandoned estate similar to the one where the young offenders gather. We shall use the effect to contrast our characters sterotypical side and his real side. While we portray him as a gang member the effect shall be used whereas when his true identity is revealed we shall use color to reinforce the twist and his bright future.

Inspiration for character persona

Two of our most significant inspirations came from misfits, a comedy-drama which included both the character traits we were looking for and a similar filming style (grey de-saturated). The character we chose from the series was a young talented track runner who aspired to be in the Olympics. In the episode it shows how because of him covering for a friend he is arrested and his life changes forever. This example is ideal for our film because many of the youth today make similar mistakes and ultimately face similar consequences. In the episode below he has a chance to change the past because of his time travelling powers .Of course this is fictional and in real life mistakes cannot be undone. This is one of the messages we hope to embed within our film , that opportunities like the Olympics should be captured and not missed or wasted.  This character will therefore be similar to ours because of his innocence, yet our character would differ because he would have avoided making similar mistakes in the first place.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/misfits/4od#3018430