Shooting Schedule was tight for this film as through communication we found we only had a limited window with our talent so would have to shoot the majority of the film in one day and due to the the film being set in the light afternoon planning each shot and allocating different time slots was crucial so creating a shot list was essential to ensure we were able to shoot everything we needed in the time given. We communicated a lot with our actors verbally as they are close family friends. I decided to split the shooting into 2 days as the location on the moors could be done without the use of all the talent making the shoot more flexible and with using less time of all our actors optimising the efficiency of the shoot. We chose to shoot Early morning for the shot on the Moors as this gave us maximum safety with the car and also helped us capture the best look and feel to the scene.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The prelim I created was very limited in my opinion despite being technically relatively sound. From the prelim I feel I have learnt a lot about the film making process and work in which is vitally put into production in order to make the final product something of value. Planning was a huge progression from the prelim being the prelim was shot impromptu with no clear steer of the story's progression the Prelim was almost impossible to establish a genre for.
Planning a successful piece of video work is something I learnt and the depth in which you have to plan truly astounded me how every little element has to be controlled in order to achieve the right level of execution making the piece a potential success. Researching a genre was a huge learning process to me and getting to grips with the aspects of genres that made them so poignant was a huge development from the prelim task which had no planning at all. Analysing in depth specific elements and trends within a genre and how this would help me define my production (titles, shot types, colour.ect).
Being that I was the only member of my group and was producing Fidelity alone, time management was a huge factor I had on my hands as I knew I was responsible for getting everything done other groups could have distributed amongst themselves, the prelim task was done in groups and I found that having less control on the outcome of the prelim was something I disliked so from then decided in order to have full control over my film idea I would have to be physically responsible for every aspect of production. Time managing I felt was genuinely well managed I was able to meet all deadlines with ease as I had scheduled my shoots and thankfully had no major issues regarding weather on the dates and due to being awake early on the car scene shoot we were able to achieve the look we wanted when we wanted without having the reschedule any re shoots. Planning shoots was a key way of doing this I was able to set out exactly what I wanted to achieve and when this was done through storyboarding which helped give a more accurate idea of how the final product was going to look allowing me to tailor shots to suits the mood of the shot and sequence.
Pitching was a really great experience of the creation of the film and something completely new from the prelim. Pitching gave me a chance to really craft a presentation that was designed to showcase Fidelity in the best light possible which in real life would be to investors of production companies who would jump on board at the idea. It was a great new and exciting was to practice commercialising my media product giving me a chance to put my ideas out there against some of the other groups. It allowed me to identify key weaknesses in the film and my pitching performance and from other groups i was able to take tips and pointers on how i could improve my performance should there be a next time.
Casting was a huge area for flexibility in comparison to the prelim I chose to go for adult actors to really sell my production across it being a crime short therefore in need of some adult talent. Casting unlike the prelim would really determine the success of the production from the audience perspective making it believable or not. Thankfully I had a few male friends who were interested in being a part of this who had some sort of acting experience in the past. Props similarly to cast were an area in which i had much greater flexibility as i was not limited to things which could be brought into school and with the prelim having little planning there was no real opportunity to bring props for the shoot so in order to create Fidelity to a higher degree of realism I was able to use prop guns in which would not be allowed into school giving us more creative flexibility.
Thankfully finding a location came quickly to me and once again due to the fact we were not limited to the school environment like the prelim task so thankfully i was able to source a local location i found would be perfect to shoot in. Going to do some test shots there revealed some flaws to the location but visually it was too good to not take advantage of to I decided to base the shoot there which i felt was a major improvement from the prelim task.
Creating rough cuts and really refining and finalising editing was a new process compared to the prelim as being only one cut produced from the prelim it gave me flexibility to receive feedback and adjust the final look to the film accordingly. Sound design and production is something I had never really explored before Fidelity with the prelim using only in camera audio recorded there was no real chance to create an environment through sound and creating music was something id never explored before. I wanted to create tracks to suit the genre I chose so this required further research into sound design of inspirational films to try and replicate some of these elements to increase mood primarily creating a more mysterious and tense environment I was not able to create with the prelim due to lack of planning time and over all time for the production.
I had even experimented with SFX design for Fidelity in After Effects digitally compositing a blood hit which I would not have been able to do with the prelim due to again time restriction. In addition the creation of idents was something that further enhanced my production from the prelim and really shows evidence of the journey I have been on to achieve the final product.
Cinematography being the field i had the most experience in I found that generally the quality of the prelim cinematics wise was relatively sound however I used feedback I had identified from the prelim to ensure I tweaked the shooting style on set for a more impactful cinematic performance. Being able to once again plan shots so that i knew exactly the effect they would have and being able to plan the shots i would use in order to create the specific mood which in the prelim i did not do.
As mentioned earlier Fidelity was solely my production as far as planning goes. I was lucky enough to have a friend help out being a boom operator on set however I am responsible for the whole creation of the final piece.
Conclusion
Things I have learnt
- how to effectively plan a production (storyboarding, treatments, screenplay)
- managing talent and sourcing suitable locations to suit the film idea.
-Sound design ( realistic to create atmosphere )
- Music production to suit mood and shift mood in some cases also taking inspiration off existing crime films.
- Improved Glidecam techniques (arc shot)
- location scouting, what to look for and what not too.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The whole process of creating and marketing Fidelity has been a huge learning curve for me. Understanding and really getting to grips with how to make a more cinematic and story telling video piece has truly been a challenge despite my previous experience as a video creator.
Production was the area in which I had learnt the most. Being that most of my existing videos have been to music sound design and quality has never been a main focus of mine. Researching how to optimise the sound quality through the equipment I had available was a key aspect to making the sound of Fidelity as good as possible. Unfortunately running into some major issues with sound due to the location having a fast flowing river close by meant that we sacrificed some sound clarity due to the river masking some of the dialogue. I used a shotgun mic and dead cat to try eliminate any possible unwanted sound ambience however it soon became apparent on set there was little chance of us avoiding the river ambience through recording dialogue. Thankfully I had decided to borrow a boom pole from school as I thought the best way to eliminate the river ambience was to enhance the main dialogue which meant getting the mic as close to the talent as possible so I instructed one of my good friends on how I wanted him to use the boom in order to optimise the sound quality. I was surprised at the clarity of the audio after using the boom pole and found it made a huge impact compared to the level of sound created by the river so this was a positive aspect of the film and utilising technology. Unfortunately we were not able to eliminate fully the sound of the river and I felt dubbing over the sound would not create a real enough feel to the sequence almost feeling like it had been recorded over which would give a weaker connection with the audience.
I feel the use of modern technology has really benefitted indie film makers as we have such a greater access to a wide range of technology which would have only been available to high budget film makers in the past. It allows more creative diversity which leads to more unique styles of video production being developed which furthers the industry in the limitations of what can be done. I feel technology did not limit Fidelity as I was still able to produce something in which I was proud of and that was also able to impact others as intended. Audience feedback when I presented the film to a Facebook page called "Frugal Filmmakers" generally consisted of positivity the only criticising comment I got was about sound which I also identified as a weakness to the film which definitely could be and area to improve for future short films which I have been inspired to create.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Distribution of media products is the ways in which people become aware of a media product this is often done through larger companies that have a larger access to ways of distribution, this in the past would mainly have been access to cinema chains however in house distribution is becoming more and more accessible to smaller film companies due to the digitalisation of the media market. Social medias becoming more and more popular in reaching target audiences and sites such as YouTube and Netflix now mean people have access to millions of short films and full sized films at their fingertips meaning some ways of distribution have become a dying substance.
Most media products do not make it into cinemas due to the cost of marketing the which in industry would be considered the most profitable way in which your film can be viewed. It allows an audience to experience the film in its full glory in a unique experience which as a film maker makes getting into cinemas a very desirable way to distribute the media product which is why often competition for box office slots is very high so most media products do not make their way onto the big screens. In the past media products were marketed using posters in cinemas incising people to select their next film venture. Distributors would pay large amounts of money for huge inner city billboards and in some cases flyers would be handed out. As technology progressed TV ads dominated media marketing and with the evolution of the internet we now find the majority of media marketing done through online media channels such as social media and through online sites such as Netflix or AmazonTV giving companies with a range of budgets the ability to get people to watch their media products through the advertising campaigns you can buy into on social media allowing a greater outreach to potential audience and its now becoming a development of these campaigns allowing companies to tailor the type of people their film creating greater interest and interaction percentages from these smaller campaigns meaning huge distribution institutions are becoming less and less popular with only the big companies remaining such as Disney and Comcast being huge media conglomerates who are able to control all stages of creating and marketing their media produce through vertical integration allowing them to become so successful as less cost is used on outsourcing out of house companies to distribute their films.
My media product is a micro budget indie product without any established stars or professionals involved in production. The genre of my product is a crime thriller and due to its violent nature and extensive use of profanity would have an older target audience therefore the marketing of the product would have to be tailored to suit the age of my target audience. It shares similarities with films such as "Goodfellas" and more recently "live by night" which both made for a very poignant cinema screening. The most recent "Live by night" was marketed mainly on social media using ad campaigns before videos on sites such as YouTube it also had a Facebook page in which potential audience could interact with the film being fed frequent teasers and outtakes of the film ensuring their seat in cinemas. I found through research that most of the best selling films in 2016 used big media institutions which are mainly involved in vertical integration in order to achieve the maximum audience interaction with the film. The film "Arrival" which net grossed over $100,000,000 in the worldwide market was distributed by Paramount one of the leading five distributors which it could be said was responsible for initiating audience interest which lead to the huge success of the film making it one of the best sellers worldwide in 2016. Another film which was recently distributed by a big institution was "Live by Night" which was distributed by Warner Bros another one of the main 5 distributing institutions. Live by Night was less of a financial success after being handed for critics to tear into its flesh, the film however still managed to net gross over $10,000,000 which shows its distribution had impact on many people. I personally became aware of the film through social media marketing after seeing its trailer for the first time during my crime film research ( it played before a video) and being that it had a target audience of people age 15+ the internet and social media was most likely the best place to set marketing campaigns as it already narrowed down the people who would see it to those who were most likely old enough to view the full feature film.
I found hardly any evidence of the film being advertised elsewhere and therefore assume the primary source of marketing was through online campaigns which suggested the target audience of the film was not elderly people despite the setting of the film being in the 1900s.
I feel the complete budget of my film should it be made into a feature film would be around the same as very successful indie film "Kidulthood" being around the £500,000 mark as both films require little special effects or incorporate famous actors. They are both set in a rural and modern time in urban environment so location cost and set design would not be as expensive as films set in the past such as Live by Night. Kidulthood due to its low budget nature was not distributed by a huge institution and instead was picked up by Lionsgate a common choice for the more low budget films. The low budget indie film did not have immediate impact on the audience through marketing campaigns and more traditional methods such as word of mouth soon became a greater part to play towards the success of the film. Similarly low budget British film "Four Lions" was not distributed by a large institution and instead was marketed by StudioCanal a small UK based distributor leading to its relative success.
If I was to choose a big distributor for my feature film it would be Warner Bros due to its success with recent films such as Man of Steel. I found Warner Bros has been responsible for many action successes found here
However due to the high risk involved as an indie film maker with blowing a large proportion of the already low budget in order to distribute the film could prove fatal to the production its self leading to a less well made film which would not be masked through advertising campaigns and would be destroyed by critic reviews. I feel if I was to market my film with such a low budget I would opt into social media campaigns which may not have as large of an outreach as huge distribution institutions however with tactical placement of ads and attempting to create a fan base around the film it could have a lower success rate leading to decreased profits however would not require as great a financial risk as using an institution such as Warner Bros as leading to a lower chance of bankruptcy and would leave funding for another project which would be able to reach a whole new different audience widening the companies variety and increasing appeal towards the company as a whole.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My product presents one main social group being upper class British criminals. I achieved a very typical presentation of these characters through various conventions.
SOUND
Sound became a very poignant way which I used extensively to present the social groups. Firstly I ensured all cast members to perform with a strong and gritty accent. this linked to typical gangsters being from the south and gave a more convincing portrayal of the characters involved. I felt the accents helped to present social class as often southern people would be more wealthy which linked to my idea of presenting the criminals as being upper class. I also chose these accents as they contained very gritty and raw elements to them which gave a more convincing presentation of strength through the characters.
The soundtrack also became a main focus for presenting an upper class criminal social class. I chose to use slow paced soundtracks as oppose to high intensity more fast paced tracks to help present the social classes. The slower pace presents the higher class as being more in control and and having a more relaxed approach to the environment they face. I cut the soundtrack at dialogue when characters begin to speak to further portray the importance surrounding the characters showing the upper social class as being dominant and incredibly important.
MISE EN SCENE
Mise en scene was truly where I could present the target social class fully and most obviously to the audience. Firstly props were a huge portrayal of the money involved in modern crime and the upper social class. I was able to have access to a luxury car in which Jason - one of the protagonists - was driving in addition this depicted the "gangsters" as very wealthy and powerful and most definitely not humble about their money obtained unlawfully. I wanted also to really push the idea of the obtainment of "dirty money" to the audience so chose to shoot the confrontation sequence in a very desolate and run down area which almost juxtaposed the lifestyle presented through clothing and props giving the social group a very shady and false feeling surrounding them projecting the social class as hell-bent and fake. All characters were dressed in formal attire projecting them as wealthy still and being figured of importance, the formal wear correlated to that of a business man which of course it is a common projection for gangsters to see themselves as businessmen. This presented a very out going and independent feel to the characters. I Dressed my main protagonist who holds power throughout the majority of the scene in the more formal wear which portrayed him as the most important and also correlated to the power which he held throughout the scene. The other two characters were then dressed down further with the lowest ranking character dressing the least formal and I found this to reflect the power in which each character had and wanted this to reinforce the impact the twist would have. EDITING
Editing in Fidelity was quite simple and slow paced I wanted the editing style from the beginning to be very understated for the majority of the film drawing more emphasis to the characters interaction with each other and putting a greater focus on dialogue and the story elements of the sequence. The lack of cuts when more important characters were speaking put greater emphasis on their speech reflecting them as being a more important social group. The lack of cuts created however a more orientated feel and presented a much calmer feel to the visuals of the film. This once again helped to reflect the mind-set of the upper class characters presenting them almost being in a routine and used to these dealings but also presenting them as very collective people which I felt differed from many of the films in which I looked at which presented the more irrational side to criminals and their acting. I wanted to present a sense of urgency in the opening credits so only used straight cuts and didn't want to use fades as I still wanted that rough edge to be presented to the social group throughout creating a very raw and real feel to the sequence. The colour grade I used was also very muted and gave a more raw feel which became gradually more raw as the location changed which once again gave this juxtaposing feel from the false luxury and money.
CAMERA WORK
Camera movement and cinematography required the most in depth planning in order to subtly hint key aspects of social groups portrayed and highlight their power and tendencies. Firstly I used varying angles to give a sense of power to the characters using a low angle to project importance and dominance something which is commonly portrayed about this social group giving them a very strong presence in the shot without "glamourizing" them. Most of my shots were static takes giving a very calm and clean feel to the scene reflecting on the social groups calmer and collective side of their personality and also giving a more luxurious and prominent feel to the characters as our focus is purely on them during dialogue as the shots force us to focus on the motion of the character rather than that of the camera. However as action and tension increased throughout the sequence I used similar shot types for all characters showing the shift in power leading up to the shooting which presented a more turbulent and unpredictable side to the social group I aimed to present. The shot I was very happy with and I had crafted and used to really reinforce the power and importance of Jason - protagonist- was the act shot. I felt by rotating around the set really quantified the power Jason held showing that all around him belonged to him almost as if the world (audience) was revolving around him. it gave a very self centred portrayal to the social class showing them as being very stuck up and self obsessed.
Overall I feel my media product presented the desired social class in many different ways through different aspects of the film giving for a very uncertain feel surrounding all characters towards the end of the sequence presenting the criminal lifestyle as unpredictable yet high rewarding however a very dangerous lifestyle to be involved in and shouldn't be aspired too.
How does your film use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My opening was crafted to follow generic structure, form and feel to a generic crime film. Based heavily off existing successful crime films and TV series Fidelity really was just a blend of as many elements a crime film would contain.
Depiction of characters was a main theme I focused on when planning the way the opening would pan out. I instantly began centring every element of the sequence to fit around how these protagonists would be projected to the audience. The opening shows 2 seemingly high rank characters (Jason and Reggie) and one aspirational sideman (Arthur) who will stop at nothing to get to where he wants to be despite the way loyalties lie. I felt the opening really presented the corruption and uncertainty of gang life and this was a key message I wanted to voice through the film. That below the law nothing is safe or appears as it seems. I felt the intended twist to the opening would really set this in stone for the audience and present the irrationality present in gang life and how things could change and become dangerous very quickly which is a very generic presentation of gang life.
I carefully crafted a location as often gang films are set in secluded and dangerous areas away from the lavish luxury life which is also presented with gang crime. I had the privilege of using a very nice car which presents the money involved in crime and how often the higher ranked people possess a large amount of money. I felt the car was perfect and another key way to present Jasons personality. I used editing techniques to make the driving in the opening seem erratic which linked greatly to the personality I wished Jason and by using sweeping shots far from the car it helped present a calmer side to Jason yet hinted at the more irrational and enraged personality he later possesses. I didn't introduce Jason till the abandoned factory scene to create narrative enigma as there was no clues as to his destination or intention during this sequence. This links to a more generic representation giving the criminals a more mysterious and innocent appeal at first and then revealing their darker undertones later on in the scene.
I used low angles to represent the characters in power so initially a lower angle was used to depict Jason quantifying his power at the beginning, gradually this angle became less and less emphasised until we get his final shot at eye level showing his loss of power over the other two characters. This element of the film I feel was less generic as its not often in crime films where a lower rank almost guard decides to betray his superior due to fear of fate should this be done.
Sound I had also planned to follow general trends of a crime film introducing a rock and bass sound track to create a high energy level and adrenaline to the film whilst introducing suspense. I took inspiration from Peaky Blinders for my soundtracks as I had liked the way they introduced emotion through a soundtrack implicating the characters mood and intended actions without any dialogue. I wanted to make my tracks predominantly percussion based so I tried to find an intense drum track which would suit the "in your face" nature to the video.
Editing built up in speed as the scene became more intense I used an increase of cuts to create a sense of discomfort and also removed the static elements of the shots creating disorientation as Jason gets betrayed which links to generic trends through current existing crime films and TV series.
Overall I feel Fidelity was a very generic film suiting the genre and was purposefully based on existing crime successes to secure a relative success of the film due to its low budget limitation as well as run time allocated in the brief.
I decided to introduce Jason through time showing initially his feet as he exited the car, this was done through a crab left as the door opened which presented a very slick feel to this introduction almost as if the world moved with his actions showing immediate power and by not showing his face initially this created a mystery surrounding him. Through the shots eventually his face was revealed from a low angle which depicted him as a very strong and powerful man. It is very generic in crime films to introduce a mysterious character indirectly to create narrative enigma surrounding them and giving them a sense of power also.
As well as incorporating many generic factors of a crime thriller film I felt there were elements of the film which made it stand out from other generic crime films. For example the colour grade I was using was tinted towards a more blue colour palette which gave a very raw and exposed look I also desaturated the colour to reinforce the grit and rawness which would be prominent through the scene, this almost modernised the crime genre in my opinion as often colour grading in crime films is very understated and is often incredibly contrasting crushing the shadows in the image to surround the scene with mystery. I also managed to shift the colours of the sequence from a surprisingly vibrant grade for the first scene which I then shifted to the desaturated grade in the industrial estate. This I wanted to do to throw off the viewer and create a more poignant mood shift that was sure to hint at the nature of the events that follow. This I felt was an example of me developing and defying typical conventions of a crime opening.
Another example of developing conventions was the use of the arc shot during Jasons speech which I felt worked really well as often in crime films not much is displayed of the location and very often I found through research an establishing shot is completely removed from the sequence to create secrecy however the arc shot in which I used my camera mounted on a glidecam was intended to create a calmer environment surrounding Jason showing how he is almost reluctant to people seeing him as he has so much power the world is almost revolving around him. I feel by using extensive camera movements I was able to really portray power held through the characters and at the same time I was able to show the depth of emotion surrounding each individual character.
Titles are very effective in enhancing the scene and can play a big part in setting emotion and enhancing tone to the sequence. size, timing and introduction to these titles will help enhance the scene whilst subtly giving us as the audience insight into the people behind the film and key actors who play parts within the film. They are only used for the most important people responsible for the creation of the film and come at the start of the film which differs to the credit which roll after the film have ended and list every person involved in the movie its self as well as distribution and marketing.
Opening Credits
For the Titles I wanted to go for a more discreet effect which would involve very standard looking titles in the sense they would just appear on screen without a fade however this would be hidden by a cut which I gathered inspiration from the TV series which helped inspire my opening- Peaky Blinders.
I used an external font sourced from dafont.com which I felt complimented the text of the final title as I wanted the final text to have more impact so didn't use the same font for the opening titles. I wanted to give a rustic and industrial feel to the fonts showing them as almost damaged which matches the characters personalities very well. I chose to use alternate corners for each opening title to almost divert the viewers attention so the titles do not seem predictable and are spontaneous this effect I also took inspiration for from Peaky Blinders. I chose to make the text quite bold and big to also reflect the protagonists personalities. I chose to use a white colour for the text as I really like white text as I feel it compliments the colour grade very well and stands out from the darker tones of the film. It also presents a sense of irony as the colour white is quite pure which would later on in the sequence become apparent none of the characters are pure.
Outro Title
For the outro title I wanted to give a very edgy and industrial look and found using smoke on a black background made this work very easily. I wanted a rustic looking text which would be minimalistic yet very poignant over the smoke. Once again I sourced the font from dafont.com and sourced the smoke from stock footage. I wanted slow moving smoke to compliment the music and create a very mysterious yet modern feel to the outro. I rendered out the outro in after effects yet when it came to importing in Premiere I felt it wasn't as impactful as I wanted it to be so I saw I had a glitch effect plugin installed in Premiere which I felt would give a very spontaneous and sudden twitch to the outro which would reflect the volatile and irrational theme running through the whole film should it be taken to production. The title would then fade to black and into the next scene.
I used keyframes to alter the opacity of the smoke and text so that they both faded in slowly to give a mysterious effect enhanced through this. I feel the glitch added in later worked well with the soundtrack to relight the energy lost through the sudden death and this was built back up through the car sounds I added in production and the glitch effect combined with the drum introduction of the soundtrack gives a very energetic feel to the conclusion of the opening ready for the scene to follow.
For this cut I achieved a more final look to my film going back to adjust colour parameters on each shot individually to make the sequence flow more seamlessly to the eye and I also brightened some of the shots to retain detail which was lost in previous colour correction. I wanted to slow down the whole sequence as I didn't feel enough tension was created in my rough cuts and that the scene was very fast paced and some of the shot timings were off I created 2 different sound tracks in garage band, one which was intended to be more ambient whereas the main intro soundtrack intended to accentuate the scene and add personality to the character driving.
This cut was merging both scenes together to formulate an idea on how to blend both scenes to run seemlessly and to try establish how the mood flows through the scene. I added minimal sound to try add atmosphere but my main focus of the cut was to finalise colours and show how the full story would pan out. I essentially blended my two previous rough cuts together to create the full story.
Next steps I will need to create a final cut and create a soundtrack as well as researching potential title sequences and formulating a final title slide. I have to correct some colour to make the scene flow fluidly and in addition will have to sort the issue of sound abbruptly entering the scene to mask the fact its a new shot.
I managed to finish the shoot for Fidelity by travelling to Ilkley Moors to shoot the opening of my sequence as Jason drives over the hills to reach the abandoned factory.
For this shoot I decided to wake up at 7:00am to shoot the sequence to catch the roads at a quiet time and hopefully encounter an interesting morning mist as I had checked the weather the night before and mist was predicted which I found would be perfect for the look I aimed for. Unfortunately we went up a bit too high for the mist to have impact however it created a very industrial looking smog in the valley which I found gave a very impactful look to the image. To shoot the sequence we took the car onto the moors and I would walk off to find the shot and then signal the car to be driven past. I has planned to just shoot as much as possible so I had a lot of flexibility when editing in post as I found shooting purely from the storyboard during the execution scene left some gaps where a shot was missing however if I could manage to capture a large variety of shots it would ensure no gaps would be left.
In the video above I wanted to see how I could fade in the footage from my idents as I wanted the car to be introduced very abruptly giving an instant adrenaline filled opening. I sped up the shots slightly also to enhance the speed making the car seem as if it was going at a faster speed. I used a fluid head tripod with the microphone mounted to my camera this time so I could capture a more distant sound of the car as most of the shots were establishing. I focused on adding sound before visuals also which helped to add a more abrupt feel to the sequence.
I wanted sound to be a very dominant element to the opening contrasting the peaceful countryside with a roaring engine sound complimented by a rock soundtrack to really project the characters personality through his driving and create an atmosphere surrounding this.
Overall I found this shoot to be a huge success which will hopefully add to the production value of my film and further help accentuate mood.
Next Steps: work on how to transition from the scene on the hills to the more tense feeling abandoned factory confrontation scene. also try to craft a soundtrack to help enhance the mood and increase tension adding more of an emotion.
I created my Ident in Adobe After Effects. I wanted a very simplistic title sequence that carried a lot of suspense through sound design. I wanted to add the element of water which would link to my company name "Tidal". I had a small title text in the Bauhaus font which is San Sariff creating a very simplistic and clean look carrying a lot of impact. I created a vignette around the dark blue background and then key-framed the mask path so the vignette gradually increases and decreases in said however this is very discreet when reviewing on an apple Mac. I used the CC drizzle effect on my text and reduced the drip frequency to time a single drop in the corner of my text. I then added a drip sound effect on top of the water however felt there wasn't enough ambience. I found some water noise to add ambience and depth to the intro. I also added a slowed down helicopter blade sound which made for quite an uncomfortable feel to the ident. I keyframes the opacity of the text so it faded in slowly and never fully reached 100% opacity giving some more depth and mystery. I didn't want the ident to be too poignant so that it complimented my film opening and didn't set a scene i wished my film to do by its self. I aimed for a minimalistic intro so it looked professional rather than including a tonne of effects which would distract from the film opening and reduce the production value in my opinion.
This was a very rough cut in order for me to see how the story flowed together and was also an opportunity to test out colour grading and making the scene seem as mysterious and gloomy as possible despite shooting in daylight. I didn't add any music or foliage as I wanted to also see how the sound of the water and surrounding traffic would sound. I feel the location worked very well to set the scene and music would definitely help mask some ambient sound. From this edit I was able to identify weak points to the story where there are gaps in which need to be filmed. I think returning to the location to shoot some more B-Roll would be a huge benefit for this video as a whole as I found from this rough cut the betrayal does not carry out as much impact and shock as I wanted and this point of the scene almost runs too quickly lacking suspense build up which although can be reinforced through music and sound design could be introduced more strongly through the cinematic of the video. I feel I focused too heavily on the camera movements and sound and should have paid more attention to detail on how the story is going to be presented.
On the other hand I feel the colour grade works very well in masking the daylight of the scene and creating the gloomy atmosphere I desired for the scene I de saturated the image which relates to previous crime films I had studied and helped add a more gritty and raw feel to the image. I also reduced exposure to bring down the overall light in the video creating some menacing shadows which I reinforced through decreasing the blacks. I increased the highlights of the footage bringing out the white which give a more glamorous feel to the video and gang life. I added the faded film also in order to give a more hazy mysterious effect and also retain some shadow details.
Next steps: return to location to shoot some B-Roll to increase suspense and help to compliment some of the ambient sound present in the sequence. Finish shoot on the moors with driving and help to pad out ending to the opening.
For the blood hit (gunshot) I used After Effects in order to create a more realistic feel to the shot. I used the Rotoscope tool to mask around the subject frame by frame then duplicated the layer so only the talent was on the top layer meaning I could put blood behind him which would make the shot more realistic as it gave almost an exit wound. I then thought about exposure as when the gun would fire the muzzle flash would light up the subject so I created a mask one frame long of the talents face then increased exposure to give the illusion the gun has been shot. Combined by a gun sound which I will add too as I go further into post production I feel gave a more realistic feel to the shot creating something relatively realistic and almost shocking.
Once all my footage has been saved I will then be able to string the whole story together to hopefully come to the final piece within the next couple weeks. I might even look into dubbing over the original dialogue to make the scene more prominent however before doing this I will look into some similar tension scenes to see what famous directors do, The Godfather for example Coppola uses ambient sound volume to create suspense when Michael is about to shoot the policeman and other gang member in the final sequence.
First day of production for Fidelity is complete. It involved many successes yet a few issues which could be fatal to the production value.
Unfortunately timing the shoot was a bit of an issue. I had chosen to shoot from 4:00pm onwards however felt this was an appropriate time to shoot and would give me the mysterious dusk lighting I had aimed for. Unfortunately we ended up shooting in broad daylight which although produced a very nice and clean image didn't provide the look I had aimed for. I had experimented in Premiere with colour grading post the shoot and found it was going to be quite easy in order to achieve the mysterious look to the video. Sound had quickly become an issue when reviewing footage at home as there was a river near by we were unaware of during the scout of the location however I think if we establish where the noise is coming from whilst establishing the scene it will oppose less of an issue and also helps to add ambience to the scene. I think during post we will have to add an additional stream sound on top of most of the shots to reinforce the ambience which will help with continuity and fluidity of the piece.
Cinematography of the piece felt quite strong however I feel I will need to possibly return another time and shoot some more B-roll. Following the script and story board was quite tricky as some lines when in practise felt unnatural or either were too complex and dragging the scene out. In addition as explained in my location scout the location differed from what I had originally planned so I even managed to make use of the nearby fire exit in order to look down for the final shot to emphasise vulnerability.
I decided to try multiple shots for each shot i wanted to include which would give me more variety and customisation when editing. We were also stuck for time towards the end of the shoot running into some serious car problems meaning we had to end sooner than expected meaning the end for me on review seemed almost a bit rushed.
Next steps are to complete the shoot in the second location and begin editing.
So location for Fidelity was a very aspirational aspect of the opening and was going to be the make or break for the mood of the film and would have set the mood really well. For my story board I had based it around a certain location I had spotted and have blogged about and also pitched my idea behind however I felt this would be a tricky place to get a hold of as it could be considered a health and safety risk for the owners due to the state of the building so I had my doubts from the start. I then had decided to find a few other similar setting locations in my local area as backup and found these places (though more practical to use) would not be as desolate or provide the secluded mood and feel to the scene or give off the same tension. They were also not as photogenic. One night I decided to hike down to the factory I had originally planned to shoot at and to my astonishment the homeowner was more than happy for us to shoot on the premises which meant Fidelity became one step closer to the finished article. In this video I walk down to the location and hope to show you it as well as assess the place myself. Shooting is scheduled to happen in the next few days and I would like to say I'm as prepared as I can be to move onto production of this project as things fall into place however as I explain I am aware of the chaos that can occur through shooting and pre shooting so am moving on with this project with a cautious head on and being prepared to improvise which I have been aware over the years I have been film making really makes or breaks the film and impact it gives off.
For my opening sequence I will shoot in two locations for each sequence. The first sequence is very short however will be filmed on the country roads of Ilkley Moor. I feel these will be very good to use as they are twisting and masking and will be able to hide and reveal the car as it passes through and will also how enhance the cars personality and luxurious and peaceful feel. This location will be easy to access as we will just use public roads and shoot with a tripod at the side of the road. this location will also contrast to the following location of the confrontation.
My second location would be Murphys Machinery in Menston, this is an abandoned factory with a gravel car park down the side which would be perfect to present the confrontation sequence. The location is secluded and will provide great narrative enigma during the sequence leaving the audience perplexed as to how the story has taken them here and what is to follow. It also shifts the mood instantly as the scene will be shot at night so it will instantly flip from what would be a peaceful drive through the country to a cut throat stand off which leads to casualty.
CAST
To make my opening realistic I want to have a cast made up of adults as this will present the opening as more realistic and therefore impactful.
For the role of Jason I have decided to cast my dad as he is a business man himself and is able to act relatively well and has experience being an extra in TV shows such as Eastenders.
For the role of Reggie I wanted to cast a smaller character who will seem vulnerable yet possesses a fiery personality so I have casted one of my dads friends as I feel they will work well together to produce a compelling performance.
For Arthur I wanted to cast someone slightly younger who will appear less experienced than the elder two characters which would therefore reinforce the fact he is of lower ranks as from inspirational films I have seen the more powerful protagonists to be of an older age using the younger characters under their command to carry out the more violent and physical work for this I aim to cast a younger man mid 30s who is slightly skinnier and could appear very intimidating.
The final characters I will need to cast will be the further 2 "henchmen" who I want to be younger still so it appears they have less power further despite each one being equipped with a gun so for this I aim to cast people who are around 25 years old. These characters will mostly be covered by shadow so appearance will not be as important. I will aim to cast 2 people of similar physical structure so therefore it will seem more clean and organised in the crime world and almost uniform and systematic almost like bodyguards.
As an execution plan goes wrong leaving a large British gang exposed the hunt is on to find the traitor and eliminate the threat. Lines will have the be crossed and shadow filled figures are forced into the light. This truly is a test of loyalty and Fidelity.
Synopsis
In a desolate factory below ordinary life lurks a darkness hidden in the shadows, a world renowned leader of British crime as we could not understand arrives in order to claim his next victim and reinforce his dominance. An opposing leader is tied up at the scene surrounded by muscle prepared for execution. A figure steps out of the mist and shadows with a gun held at his waist prepared to carry out the execution, there is a tense build up as the darkness consumes the scene. The figure raises the gun the the hostages head and is prepared to pull the trigger when suddenly he turns and shoots all the guards of the gang leader leaving him exposed. He then delivers a speech towards his previous master before putting a bullet neatly through his head escaping with the other gang leader in his car. Driving away the title sequence begins.
Its Peaky Blinders meets Goodfellas and is sure to capture the attention of all types of crime film fans.
Following a genre which is growing in success Fidelity combines the classical elements of a crime thriller holding a very strong success records with the modern elements of crime thrillers such as glamorous car chases and action sequences, this diverse nature to Fidelity is sure to replicate the success levels of classics such as "Goodfellas" and "American Gangster" with a modern twist which would only add to its success and potential profit margins as a hug crime hit is long overdue, this hit will be Fidelity.
The film develops into two stories; the battle between the law enforcement and gang crime in general and the battle within crime in Britain. It follows some of the most powerful people in underground Britain as they team up to find the traitor within. Blood-shed and high action will be sure to leave the viewers on edge throughout as well as this there will be phsycological elements keeping the viewer hooked as the story unwraps and the chase progresses.
Influencing my idea is such great classics such as The Godfather and The Road to Perdition as I will incorporate stunning sweeping camera movement to display the lavish and luxury lifestyle involved in crime making a beautiful and transfixing piece sure to keep the viewer transfixed throughout. This accompanied by its truly magnificent classic gangster story is sure to produce a compelling final product which will leave people talking for months to come.
Marketing the piece will be executed mainly online as the target audience is of a younger market so the best way to approach this is through social media ads especially concentrated on YouTube as it is sure to entice an audience who is already interested in watching content. This film will be the successor to the recently released Live By Night with a modern twist.
Synopsis: A group of radicalised young British Muslims set out to become suicide bombers the film shows their journey to fulfilling their destiny by executing a suicide bombing, the film is a comedy as we see the journey the young males take to get to the final stage.
Produced by: Warp Studios
Budget: $2.5,000,000
Finance was provided by Film4productions and Wild Bunch (Welcome to New York, Blood Father)
Uk Release date: 7th May 2010
Distributor: Studio Canal, Drafthouse films, Hollywood Pictures
Warp films is not a subsidiary it is privately owned. So there is no Horizontal or Vertical integration however Warp has a strong connection with Studiocanal who finance a lot of their films and help to distribute.
Box office earnings: $304,000,000
I would not think Ilkley Cinema would show Four Lions as it is a very politically incorrect film which would appeal mainly to the younger audiences. Ilkley has a majority population of elderly people who would not find the concept amusing or entertaining as most of the humour is very modern and controversial.
Film available online and in DVD and Blu-ray and is often re shown in private theatres.
Synopsis: A secret mission backfires leading to the shooting of an agent who was destined to find out secret information containing the name of a British agent who is feeding information to the Russian federation. The film shows the journey to uncover the traitor: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Production Budget: $30,000,000
Production Company backing: Studio Canal
Studio Canal have also produced : Non-Stop, Terminator 2 and Our Kind of Traitor.
Uk First Release date: 16th September 2011
Distributor: Focus Features and Studio Canal
Working Title is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, Universal is owned by Comcast which have companies in various stages of production in through vertical integration, in addition they have a long term agreement with Disney's distribution companies. Working Title are only allowed to make films with a budget of $35,000,000 without consulting Universal.
Box office takings for the film: $24,000,000
I would expect this film to be shown in my local cinema of Ilkley because its quite a sophisticated and complex film which would be suited towards the local community which is quite aged and upper class. the film has a very mature and elegant feel to it which would appeal to the older audiences which are very present in my local town of Ilkley
The film is available online and on DVD as well as this it is occasionally shown in independent cinemas such as Ilkley Cinema.
For my film it will not require many props or SFX as I want the scene to come across as quite raw and realistic.
Props
For my film I will need: a sports car for the character to drive into the scene and for the protagonists to leave the scene in concluding the opening. I will need an assortment of prop guns with the hero gun being a M9 pistol. For this I will use a replica airsoft gun to achieve maximum realism throughout this sequence. I will need an SUV car to act as a secondary car to help light the scene and present to the audience how the other characters arrived at the location of the scene. I will source both cars by using my family cars.
SFX
For the opening sequence I will only use basic SFX for when the gunshots occur, to do this I will overlay muzzle flashes in after effects overlaying gun sound effects. In addition I will mask around the area surrounding the gunshot and increase the exposure of that area during the muzzle flash to add to realism and add interaction with the environment.
My film I feel would be rated as a 15+ due to its violent nature and adult themes present from the opening I am going to create. I took this rating by looking at other crime films of similar violence levels and adult nature such as The Godfather and Goodfellas.
Primary Audience
My primary audience I have concluded from research looking at similar films and through polls conducted online. I have decided to tailor my film towards the 15-30 tear old male. My film appeals to this audience because the protagonist is male and I found the more violent crime films appeal towards a younger age group, the storyline of my opening is complex and uncivilised and set it modern era so this will also appeal towards a younger age group of males as in the opening of my film it lacks the maturity of a gang crime film that would appeal towards the elder male audience, such as complex phycological elements from films such as The Godfather. From research I also decided to aim my audience at the male gender as I found males to be by far the most interested in the crime genre.
My film includes cutting edge technology including sports cars and fast abrupt fast paced action which i found would appeal more to a younger audience. The film would primarily feature modern cinema techniques and would not be considered a classic like The Godfather.
Secondary Audience
My secondary audience would be the 30-50 male. This is based of the film as an entirety should it be produced fully as a feature film it would incorporate the mature elements which would be needed to attract an older audience interest. I based my Primary audience primarily off the opening of the film which is very much "gritty" and "raw" and lacks elegance which is similar to crime films I had looked into. I found most crime films will start off in a mystery location leaving the viewer perplexed and will then begin the story in a more civilised setting giving us as a viewer an insight into their real lifestyle before presenting them in a glamorous setting.
An older audience could be more interested in my opening as the opening still does include an element of elegance although subtle as I shall dress my actors in formal attire similar to a typical "gangster" film. Im also hoping to include an elegant car in my opening which would again appeal to the more mature older audience who would be interested in these elements.
Data from the Godfather shows a more mature audience towards the mid life age range. The film is primarily watched by a male audience however the audience is not mostly male and there is still an established female audience showing films of the crime genre will still appeal to a female audience.
Pulpfiction
Pulpfiction primary audience is a younger audience than The Godfather, possibly because it has a less mature nature so because of this would appeal to a younger audience the gender is also primarily male which is a common trend for films in the crime thriller genre. You will also notice a recurring interest in David Attenborough which further implies a maturity to the crime thriller audience in contrast with another genre such as action films, this is most likely because crime films often have a complex logic and storyline to follow and will often be very psychological at times.
The Road to Perdition
Much like The Godfather I noticed an older age audience once again primarily male, The Road to Perdition is a very mature film with a much deeper meaning designed to resignate with you after the film, it is a slower moving film which means it may not be as appealing towards younger people. The mood to this film is something I will try replicate in my film opening so I think I will try base my target audience around the older age group and use a primarily male target audience.
Goodfellas
Goodfellas being a more abrupt and action based crime thriller film seems to have a younger audience than Godfather and Road to Perdition due to the lack of complexity of the main plot. Once again the primary audience is male and the audience is similar to that of pulp fiction.
Public Enemies
The main audience of Public Enemies is mostly male which is promenant in most crime films. The main audience of Public Enemies however is a middle age centred meaning the main audience is varied between young and old people creating a balanced age audience. This shows this film has elements which both appeal to both young and old viewers.
Transporter
The Transporter is a more action based crime film with a lot of high speed action and fight scenes so the audience is slightly younger because of this however you can see that the audience is once again more middle age showing the film appeals to both younger and older people and has quite a wide ranging audience. Once again the audience is primarily male which links to all the other crime films I have looked at.
