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.