Props & Costumes

In this PowToon presentation, I listed and explained what props I am planning to use in my trailer and why this is important, as well as this I also listed what costumes I would like both of my main protagonists to wear and why this will then be important to making my film's narrative even clearer to my targeted audience. 

Lighting: Research and Planning

Through this PowToon presentation I tried both researching into the importance and use of lighting in trailers and looked at trailers within the social realism genre to see their approach to lighting techniques and by the end of the presentation I was able to list out my aims for the way I will use lighting in my trailer. 

Trailer: Scene Order Analysis

I created this PowToon presentation in order to look at the order of which scenes are used in trailers and why. I tried also suggesting their significance and why they have been done in this way. I lastly suggesting how I would like to use this knowledge as a benefit in the construction of my own product. 

Shotlist

This is a shot list I created (using a Word Document template). I had this shot list at hand when I was filming and this was very helpful as my actors were also able to see it to get a rough idea of what they should be doing along with my directions. I'm glad I did this as it helped me a lot when I was filming because I was able to see what type of camera shots I had planned for each scenes shot and why this was fitting, along with this, I was also able to change the shots along accordingly to the scenario if I thought there was a better one suited. I was also able to tick off one at a time once I had completed me which helped with my organisational skills as nothing was then improvised or rushed.  

The only thing I didn't include on this shot list is what type of sound I was planning on using along with each one, however, I don't think this is a major issue as I was able to purely focus on the camera work. Each one of these shots, once edited together, will be followed with a piece of non-diegetic sound that fits the mood of each one and further captures what I am trying to portray to my audience members. Further details of this can be seen in my post about my music plan and research, as well as my Storyboard posts. 

Diary Post 9: Editing day 1

After a couple of problems with my filming schedule being set behind, this meant that along with that, my editing schedule was also impacted by this. 

Today is the first day which I started putting my trailer together using iMovie. I focused purely on the footage and used my animatic to remind myself the order in which I wanted each scene to go in. After I started constructing it, I realised that I wasn't entirely pleased with some of the footage so I managed to find some which I had captured from the first day of filming that I came across yesterday so as I was going along, I was able to amend things to my satisfaction. 

When I next come back to editing, I would like to focus on just adding the inter-titles to bring my trailer along nicely as so far it is missing inter-titles/text and music/sound. 

Diary Post 8: Problems with filming schedule

I was unable to stick to my precise filming schedule due to the fact that for some of the scenes where I needed both Athena and Julia they were both unavailable at the same time. Furthermore, my schedule was generally set back due to medical reasons (as I had an operation) so i had to start filming in the second week of December and because of this and it being close to the christmas period I was unable to get my filming done as early as I had aimed for.

Sound and Music Plan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JYHk_D5A44 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qliGh_BhKyI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoH8E9MlB7s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpZMRMgr-gE 

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/sad-day

The links above demonstrate the pieces of music I am planning on using. I chose these particular ones as I think they clearly show emotion, therefore will hopefully allow me to make my audience feel the emotions I will be trying to portray through my characters. It was important for me find the right music that heavily transfers the emotions felt as I won't be including any dialogue so I am therefore relying purely on body language, sound, music and facial expressions. 

Although these pieces are effective, I'm still going to try and see if I can find any better ones to ensure it fits in with my narrative and further takes the audience members through a variety of emotions. 

Filming Day 2: Julia and Athena

As previously mentioned, I fell behind on my filming schedule, so again I managed to catch up by spending a whole day filming with my mom and her friend who play Julia and Athena. When I first starting developing my storyline, I asked my mom's friend Florina to play the role of Athena because she was actually pregnant so I though this again would add an element of authenticity. However, by the time I actually managed to get them both together after the set backs she actually gave birth but I asked her to put a pillow under her top to give the idea that she is pregnant. 

While filming with Julia and Athena, I used the following locations: 

• Athenas apartment as I thought that way it would be common ground, making her more open to the suggestion Julia gave her. 
• A charity shop on Worcester Park High Street

I included all of the locations I used while filming with them on my storyboards and I chose them because they fit with my characters backgrounds and descriptions, therefore, giving me the chance to give further insight to audience members of their role and the narrative. Most of the footage I managed to gather today is useful, however, I didn't manage to shoot the footage of Athena outside with the child (at the park, the bit where she is looking at pedestrians etc) as the weather was bad and she didn't want to take the baby outside. 

I will now therefore, need to set a date where I film the doctors scenes and the left over parts of Athena's unless I use some found footage if I don't have time to film my own. But I am hoping I will be able to only use original footage throughout my trailer. 

Filming Day 1: Steve and Julia

Because I fell behind on my filming schedule, I managed to catch up by spending a whole day filming with my mom and her partner who play Steve and Julia. I chose to have them play my characters as they are already a couple so they will be able to add an element of authenticity to my trailer, further linking it to social realism. 

While filming with Steve and Julia, I used the following locations: 

• A clinic at Harley St and Harley St
• His apartment
• A department store 

All of the locations I used while filming with them are included on my storyboards and are chosen because they fit with my characters backgrounds and descriptions, therefore, enabling me to bring my trailer together also giving further insight to audience members of their role and the narrative. Most of the footage I managed to gather today is useful, however, as I shot some of it in London and it was a very busy day, I think I may have to re film some of it. I am planning on filming with Athena and Julia in a couple of days and I will probably be spending the whole day filming to make up for lost time. 

Aside from the day I will be filming with Julia and Athena, I will need to set a date to film some extra scenes, such as the scene where a doctor delivers the bad news to Julia and Steve etc.  

The Hollywood Reporter: front cover analysis

• The main image used for this front cover is a medium shot, angled- side portrait of actor Mark Wahlberg directly looking at the audience drawing us in. The natural pose he has is a relax and friendly one further drawing us in as it makes us feel comfortable although his facial expression suggests otherwise and although he dominates most of the page, the colours and softer tones used counteract this slight feeling of intimidation. Furthermore, his pose suggests that in the article that he is featured in, he will be educating us, perhaps on a film matter. 

• The masthead is placed at the very top of the page in white font and because it is a well known magazine the creators of this magazine were easily able to overlap the main image wit the masthead, resulting in Mark Wahlberg's hair covering some of the magazine's logo, however,  this isn't an issue for the reasons mentioned so this is already served as a brand identity and the magazine's viewers already know it's name and it's genre, despite some of it being hidden. The issue date is placed underneath the "H" in white similarly to the masthead yet in smaller font.

• The text that overlaps Mark's image are the ones directly linked to him, giving us as an audience insight as to what the article written which features him is about. "The Fixer" us written in block capitals in yellow, making it stand out and the text next to it is written in white and is as long as "the fixer" in terms of height. This suggests to us that the text in yellow is a title and the text in white is a small blurb of what will be included in the extended version of the article. The things they wanted to stand out in this blurb about Mark, is either written in italics or capitals.

• There are another four small blurbs included on this front cover and these are placed on the background on each side of Mark's photograph and are placed in same colours, taking the same form as the bigger one which is about Mark Wahlberg. The titles are in yellow which is a darker shade of the one used for "the fixer" making it clearer that the main feature of this magazine's issue is that which included Mark Wahlberg and the shorter versions of the articles underneath are again written in white. 

• The colours used on this cover are very effective as they are light/bright and seem to stand out against the ombre greyish coloured background. As previously mentioned, the image dominates most of the cover and the texts placements work well with the actors composition. 

• As a whole, I really like how although it is quiet simplistic, it is highly effective as it has both a visual and written appeal to it. 

Shank: Poster Analysis

• The thing which is most eye catching on this poster is the films title as it is placed slightly off centre  in bold, bright red text right above the main photograph, behind some of the characters head giving them priority in terms of importance. Length wise the text is in the middle, but not height as it is placed above the characters. The title, followed as a brand identity, is extremely clever and effective because as part of the letter 'A' there appears to be a silhouette of a person holding out a knife, linking in with the title and the red foreshadows the amount of blood loss during the film (as re connotes blood and danger). The silhouette could further suggest to the audience that a particular character may get involved in a dangerous situation as the films story line unravels. 

• Just like Adulthood's film poster, Shank's main photograph is one of the main six characters possibly from a scene in the film. It also suggests the importance of each character through their placement as they are standing in a line. Shank features one of Adulthood's main cast members who is in fact Adam Deacon, well known for that particular role in Adulthood, Adam is standing on the far left. Along with Adam, there is another extremely familiar face on the poster and this is of Bashy (standing next to Adam) who is a rapper well known in the UK ( and as previously mentioned on my blog, Bashy's music was used on the film's soundtrack). Shank's audience members are most likely those of both Kidulthood and Adulthood and will therefore most likely be interested in getting more insight on these characters roles, expecting them to have important ones throughout the film. Their positioning is further effective because it both supports and neglects this idea because it could be argued that as they are not in the centre their roles may not be as important as other characters. However, Bashy's body language suggests that his role in particular is quiet important as it is almost suggested to us as though he is leading the rest of the characters and it further looks like he is ahead of the rest. This makes the audience members intrigued and further makes them want to watch the rest of the film to see if their roles are in fact important or not. 

• The main photograph of the six characters is an action shot and appears to capture them either running away from or even towards something, suggesting to the audience what this film will be like and what type of characters these people have. This, along with the mise-en-scene (costume and 'props') further gives insight to those looking at this poster what the themes of the film are. The costume that they are wearing captures an element of teenage life within the gang culture. We are able to see that it is a violent youth film because of their clothing (hoodies) along with the dog that is with them which is a bull/terrier which are in fact banned in the UK fir their violent nature. Behind the characters, in the background there is a big group of people dressed in all black with hoodies again showing themes of gang culture. The tagline "The gangs have taken over" further supports this and suggests to us as an audience that these characters aren't part of a gang but are however, exposed to the features of gang life.  

• Above the title, in bold fonts are written the names of each main character and next to the title is the name of the director again in bold and big enough font for it to stand out against the background. At the bottom of the poster, are the billing blocks is a convergence link of the films website which enables viewers to further gain information on the film if they want to.  The blurb on top of the tagline is put in place in order to show the audience what previous success they have contributed towards. It is especially effective because Kidulthood is another film within the same genre, therefore attracting both a wider but also an already established audience.

•  As stated on the poster, Shank is from the distributors of Kidulthood (and Adulthood) so this films poster, especially the portrait one (and this one, even though it is landscape, follows the generic conventions of film posters) has almost the same exact layout as the Adulthood poster in terms of text and photograph. Because this poster I am analysing is the landscape one as mentioned before, it does differ slightly to their portrait one as in this one they were not able to include any reviews the film got. However, this doesn't mean one is any better than the other. As a whole, I think this poster is extremely effective as it is eye catching as the colours used work well together and the information they wanted their audience members to get does in fact stand out. 

Shank: Trailer Analysis

Shank is an action packed film within the social realism genre which is set in a future London which is decaying. The targeted audience are people within the same age groups of the protagonists ( 15-22 year olds) most likely those who live in Britain as they will be able to identify with the issues captured and it will therefore be easier for them to  be attracted to watch such a film. 

The very first thing we see is a quick paced jump cut of  a male character in a boxing attire in a gym. Already this gives us as an audience an idea of what this film will be like, creating a sense of urgency due to the fast pace of footage and aggression shown from the character. It then cuts from that shot and goes to three continuous shots of a black screen which have inter-titles on them of both the distribution and production companies of this film. This is effective as it enables viewers to further gain an idea (or even support the one they had) as to what type of film this will be as these companies are well known for their involvement of such films. After the three shots of the distribution and production companies, there is another quick paced shot of a character jumping over a fence suggesting that this character may be in trouble as he is running away from something. The music at this moment increases in pace to further create tension and make the audience read between the lines as it makes them wonder what is going on that isn't being shown to us. After that shot there is again another inter-title which says "from the distributor that brought you Kidulthood" which is Revolver Entertainment. The inter-titles used in these first couple of second of the trailer are very effective as they draw in an already established audience (those who have watched Kidulthood, as they now know that Shank will also be a good film covering some very similar issues) and perhaps a new one which enjoy films like this but has not seen a film like Kidulthood. 

It then quickly cuts of a series of shots of what appears to be the same character as previously jumping over the fence and running away and then transitions to an over the shoulder shot of an older character and a younger one talking where there is dialogue added of "you know I love you right" over some shots of them boxing together in a gym, suggesting that as an audience we might witness a relationship through tough and happy times as it looks like they have a sibling bond and this idea is supported by the pace and mood the music creates. It then cuts to a shot of a red bus driving past fast, this is helpful as it sets the scene for the audience members letting us know that we will be set in London for most of the film if not all of it. We then see a group of young boys walking and the lighting then gets darker suggesting that they are perhaps trouble makers or they take up roles of villains throughout the film. An inter-title which says "London 2015" is shown which makes the audience wonder what will happen next as it is set in a futuristic time to when the film was actually released, again creating tension and suspense as it makes the audience members feel uneasy perhaps because it is an issue projected which is close to home, making them worried as already only one minute into the trailer we have been shown themes of gang culture. After that inter-title there are a variety of quick paced jump cuts which show London in a chaotic state adding to the suspense. 

We are then shown another inter-title which says "the gangs have taken over" and cuts to a series of other fast paced shots again of London in a rough and chaotic state as we are shown quick glimpses of characters dressed in all black with bandanas and other clothing such as hoodies which are often linked, stereotypically with clothing associated with gang members and some of these people shown have paint on their faces. These characters further add to the suspense as they then create a sense of fear. A variety of very fast paced shots are presented of some characters fighting where we then see one of the characters which we were introduced to at the very beginning on the floor and we see a part of a knife being held by another character in an aggressive manner and it then cuts to a scene where that same character has been stabbed and the character doing this is smiling while he is inflicting pain to the protagonists brother. We are then shown a shot of the protagonist against a wall with facial expressions which connote both anger and sadness and this could suggest to us that this could be a turning point for the protagonist in the film, especially as the films title seems so far to be revolving around this act and how this character will deal with the loss (the blood in the background could foreshadow the blood loss which will occur later on). 

 There are then four inter-titles presented to us in between a variety of quick paced shots which capture gang culture and everything which those who are a part of it go through or are involved with. The first inter-title we see in this series of shots says "this March" this is effective as it lets audience members know when the film will be released. The next three are those which say "there is one rule", "kill", "or be killed" which is clever as it makes it sound as though all of this will actually happen and that the audience members will have to go through this similarly to the characters (in 2015) creating interest as they will want to see how these characters will deal with these events and what we might be lead to do if we go through this in the future. The shots that we see in between each inter-title are captured to give us further insight into that sort of life and seem to portray aggressive, angry, violent and dangerous characters and this is shown through series of shots which capture fights and arguments. 

The next series of shots slightly lighten the mood and are put in place to introduce the main characters featured in this film. For example, after the inter-title "Adam Deacon", there are a couple of shots of his character within the film and the same occurs for the other three characters. This is effective, as it attracts audience members which like and appreciate their previous films, especially as Adam Deacon was in Kidulthood and Adulthood. As Bashy is one of the actors, the music used in some parts of the film such as the clubbing scene include his songs as he is a UK grime artist, further adding to the authenticity of the film and attracting a wider audience. 

The shot after that is of an inter-title which includes the title of the film and it then transitions to another two inter-titles which say "if you're not one of us" and "you're a victim". This is suggesting that through this film we will see numerous characters which perhaps were forced to take part in something they didn't want to in order to survive. This is supported by the next shot we see of the protagonist throwing a punch (in the background there is a character dressed in the same clothing as the previous gang members we were shown) making it look as though he is going to punch the camera and it then goes from a black screen to one with an inter-title which has the release date and their website link on it giving the audience members additional information of the film. The very last thing we see is of billing blocks and this is effective as it includes credits of everyone involved in the production and distribution of this film. 

As a whole I think that this trailer is very effective and successful as it manages to captivate and keep the audience interested through out. Even while I was watching it, although it is my type of film due to the heavy feature of violence, the quick paced editing and music had me interested the whole time. So far, out of all the film trailers I have analysed, Shank's film trailer is the only one which includes so many inter-titles and this is because it hasn't used a huge amount of dialogue so they have relied on inter-titles to deliver and make the narrative clearer to the audience members.