MY PRELIMINARY EXCERSISE

Eqipment List

- CAMERA
- TRI-POD
- FILM
- BATTERIES FOR THE CAMERA X2
- CAMERA CHARGER
- SCRIPT
- SHOOTING PLAN
- PROPS

CAST..
- 4 actors(men in their teens)

LOCATION...
ARA hall in Hampstead

A film is nothing without the music. Once we had placed all of our clips in the correct order and edited them we decided to add in our music seeing as this makes the audience far more aware of what genre it is. To upload music onto our footage we went to 1) 1) import
2) files
3) music
4) itunes
5) desktop
then the name of the music which you have chosen...all along the watch tower by Jimmy Hendrix and then drag it down onto the clip which you want it under or even the entire film.

A film is nothing without the music. Once we had placed all of our clips in the correct order and edited them we decided to add in our music seeing as this makes the audience far more aware of what genre it is. To upload music onto our footage we went to 1) 1) import
2) files
3) music
4) itunes
5) desktop
then the name of the music which you have chosen...all along the watch tower by Jimmy Hendrix and then drag it down onto the clip which you want it under or even the entire film.

Power point presentation

I made a powerpoint presentation on my mac and added symbols and icons to make it look more fancy. We put in notes on the bottom so we can read it as we are presenting. We have to burn out power point on to a dvd and give it in to the examiner.

sub genres

biographical films
chick - flicks films
detective and mystery
disaster films
fantasy films
film noir
guy films
melodramas/women's/weeper films
road films
romance films
sport films
supernatural films

Final thoughts

It has been a bumpy ride having done 3 attempts and editing them all. Now we have a final piece to be proud of and we are hoping for a good grade. Today is the deadline and we have met it (thankfully)

Making our DVD menu and final movie script

We went on the programme IDVD and made a DVD menu where we have our final film, and our 2 attempts along with our preliminary excersise and took pictures from stills of the film and put that as our background. We also converted the song 'Along the watchtower' by Jimmy Hendrix and put is as the background music

We made a final script for out final movie (Outlaw) which can be seen below:

Officer 1: Name



Faisel: Faisel Al Hamden, and what do you call yourself?



Officer 2: How did you learn to speak English Faisel?



Faisel: In school, and my Father was originally from here… he looked a bit like you. He used to take me a lot to the movies and I learned… I always know one day I would live here



Officer 2: And where is you Father now?



Faisel: Dead, he died



Officer 2: Mother?



Faisel: Dead too



Officer 1: What kind of work did you do in Iran Faisel?



Faisel: I was in the, you know… construction business; I used my hands a lot. I was also in the army.



Officer 2: Any family over here, cousins, siblings?



Faisel: No all dead



Officer 2: Ever been to jail Faisel?



Faisel: Jail, me? No!!



Officer 2: Ever been in a mental hospital?



Faisel: Yea, the ride over here!



Officer 1: What about homosexuality, you like man Faisel, you like to dress up like a woman?



Faisel: What kind of question is that?



Officer 2: Just answer the question!



Faisel: Ok… NO!



Officer 1: Ever been arrested Faisel?



Faisel: No



Officer 1: You do drugs Faisel, Marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine?



Faisel: No



Officer 1 where did you get the beauty scar Faisel?



Faisel: Ohhh, that was from when I was a kid…you should see the other kid!



Officer 1: And this? (Lifts up hand with tattoo)



Faisel: That was from my childhood sweetheart



Officer 2: Sweetheart my ass! I’ve seen more and more guys coming in with these, its some kind of code these guys used in the can…pitchfork means assassin!



Officer 1! You want to tell us about it Al Hamden or are we going to have to take you on a little trip to the detention centre?



Faisel: Ok…you got me; I was in the can one time for practicing my religion



Officer 1: (LAUGHS) Pretty funny Faisel



Faisel: Well its true!



Officer 1: Ok, ive heard enough, get this guy out of here



Officer 2: Ok let’s go



Faisel: Wait holds on; let me tell you something…are you religious? Huh?? How would you like it if your government told you what to do, who to believe in, how to live your life. You wanna be a sheep like the rest of them (BAAAAA BAAAAA)



Officer 1: Ok, that’s it! Get him out!



Faisel: You wanna work 10 hours a day and have nothing, earn nothing! You know I eat octopus 3 times a day, I have octopus coming out of my ears man. I got such big holes in my shoes you can see my toes, how would you like that? What do you want me to do, stand there like everybody else and do nothing! Im not an animal, my name is Faisel Al Hamden and I am a political prisoner from Iran AND I WANT MY HUMAN RIGHTS NOW!



Officer 1: Ok I don’t believe a word he is saying, take him to freedom town!



Faisel: You know you can send me anywhere, there’s nothing that you can do to me that my government hasn’t already done!

What i have learned since my preliminary exercise

It was before Xmas where we filmed our preliminary task which i shot with another member of my group. There we learned about the camera we used (SONY PD170) and we learned the standard shots and panning. Now we have shown a vary of shots in our attempted and final films.

Editing

We found some footage of London in the 1970's and added it to our movie over the titles for background knowledge for the audience. We made loads of sub-clips and eventually put it all together to make (in my opinion and i hope your too) a great movie. We added the song 'along the watch tower' by Jimmy Hendrix as that was a 70's hit and also the lyrics relate to the movie. The chorus 'we need to some kind of way out of here' relates to our main character (Faisel) as he wants to get out of his country and in to England or he wants to get out of being interrogated by the officers.

Our mise en scene

We made our hall look like an Immigration office in England during the 70's by putting a picture of Maggie Thatcher on the wall, as she was the Prime Minister at the time. We also made our detectives look English and spoke with an English accent even though half the cast in American. We also put a pot of tea on the desk as that is typically English.

Shooting our final piece

We woke up early to shoot and dressed the set. We made the hall look like an interviewing room by putting a desk in the middle and putting a cup of tea on it, files, pens, paper and a photo of Maggie Thatcher. We all dressed up in police like cloths and i wore a admirals jacket to show that i was a superior, and our main character dressed like an immigrant from Iran.

AUDIENCE

As]If our film were to be a full length film, it would be targeted at 18+ as there would be violence, drugs and use of strong language which are all conventions of the gangster genre. People who like violent video games and crime fiction novels because the godfather video game has had millions of copies sold. Also the novel by Mario Puzo is one of the best selling books of all time. As the Godfather belongs to the same genre as our film we can only assume that those who like violent video games and crime fiction novels would like our film. Of course hip hop fans would also like our film because lots of songs quote lyrics from Scarface and Goodfellas.

e.g...

Scarface - 'stay in your place i reccomend or say hello to my little friend' - 50 cent (platinum selling artist)
Goodfellas - 'One day some of the local kids took my mothers groceries all the way to the door....do you knOW why? IT WAS OUT OF RESPECT!' - SHY FX (platinum selling artist'

The new film

As the last film didn't go to plan we have to re-shoot. I watched the beginning of SCARFACE as we are taking the interviewing scene and changing the script around. Instead of a communist coming over from Cuba, we are making the main character an immigrant from Iran coming to England. We are going to be shooting very soon as we have re-written the script and done the shot list so we are going to be shooting very soon. We have our actors and they are currently memorizing the script. Hopefully the 3rd time will be the charm!

Filming out final piece part 2

We filmed our final piece a second time today and we used a classroom and made it look like an interviewing room in a police station. I acted as one character and my friend was the other. Now we are in the edit suite putting the sub-clips together and it is looking good. Now we need to add music and the library footage that can be seen on my blog.

My first film

We thought that we might aswell edit the original footage we had as we would gain extra marks and to make the best out of what we had, it turns out that the footage when put together isn't so bad, but the problem is that it is too dark! It was good we edited it as now we can film and edit quickly as we are now familiar with how to do everything.

Preliminary task - editing

I thought i had lost the footage for my preliminary task luckily i found it and edited it on final cut pro.

Filming date

We have chosen Monday 26th to film our final piece, we have picked our cast and have got our costumes ready. Lets hope it goes better than last time. The date that the coursework has to be handed in is on the 2nd February. I hope we have enough time to edit it all by then!

Costume for our film

We are marked on Mise en scene in our coursework so i thought it would be a good idea to look at the fashion of the 1970's and dress our cast in the same way, i went on to google and typed in 'fashion of the 1970's' I have found a few images and I have understood the sterio-type for the 70's fashion. Flared trousers, patform shoes, open shirt, tight t-shirt and a leather jacket also tight.

/Users/tobykay/Desktop/mens-fashion-70s.jpg

/Users/tobykay/Desktop/fashion.jpg

Now i have a vague idea of how i am going to dress my main character.

Background research

Edward Heath was the Prime Minister in the early 1970's, and there was a big problem with the miners striking and something called the 3 day week. I have found really good footage to put in the beginning of our movie like the footage of Fidel Castra in the beginning of Scarface. Library footage is a really good way to start a movie as it allows you to go back to the times of the film and understand what was happening in the world then. I went on youtube and found this footage.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=koaLMOREqSg

Background research

As our movie is set in the 1970's, it is only right that the music to go with the scene is a 70's anthem so i researched 'the top of the pops 1970's' and i found some really good music to go with the film.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CvzmdyZFH0o

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqKvfS3Xtk

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=J5sc94xaqaM

Ways to keep your crew motivated

There is a few tricks in the filming world that can keep the moral of the crew up therefore creating a better atmosphere and better performances. The first trick is by putting food and drinks out, if the crew are well fed then they can concentrate more on the movie than on their stomachs. Also resting your crew, when a scene doesn't involve some members of the crew then sit them down and keep them relaxed as the less tired they are the more focused they are.

Recent progress

Today i looked at the beginning of the movie Scarface and analysed it even closer than before. The things that i thought we could imitate is the interviewing room scene but instead of setting it in Florida, we make it about a young boy (13 years old) who is in a police station interviewing room. As the time period is the 1970's the cloths that he needs to wear is traditional 70's such as a tight t-shirt with flared jeans, platform shoes and a leather jacket. As the last shoot was too dark, we have chosen to shoot inside this time for a few reasons. The first being that it will not be dark as the lights will be on, secondly it is not so cold so the moral of the crew will be higher, thirdly the crew will have somewhere warm to relax when they are not needed.

Recent progress

We took the film and uploaded it on to Final cut pro. There was a problem though, the footage was too dark! We edited it and put it together and there was a group decision to re-film the whole thing again. We have a direction as to where the film is going but we have written a new script, changed the location and the actors. Although it is a huge inconvenience filming again, it is not the end of the world as we know exactly what we are up against. We have scheduled to re-shoot on Monday 26th and hope we can have it all completed by the deadline. This weekend the group have tasks to do, my job is to find costume, check over the script and write up the story board.

With the film Scarface as the new template as opposed to Goodfella's we have new direction with the film and there will be no problem with lighting on the set as we are filming indoors.

Problems with filming

There were a few problems on set that we had to work around. It got very dark very quickly to the extent that we didn't have enough lighting. We had to use the lights from the car and also the headlights, BUT... as we had the inside lights on for hours at a time the battery's on both the cars died so we really had no light. Also after a while the crew got a bit tired and as it was so cold outside we had to jeep stopping to warm up in the cars. It is finished now and i am curious to see what it looks like in the editing suite.

The props for the final film

The props i used for my film:

- 2 cars
- 2 bags
- 1 gun
- 5 bags of flour (to look like cocaine)
- 1 knife

Filming my main film

Today i filmed my final piece. I got some friends together and went to a near by alley and filmed it. 2 of my friends had cars so we used them in the film, we had toy guns that looked really realistic and also kitchen knives to make it look professional. We were filming for about four hours in the freezing cold but we got it done in the end. Now i need to edit my film in the edit suit and add music to go with the scene. The song i have chosen for the beginning scene is 'wheres my money' by casper. The date the coursework is due is on the 2nd February, so i have 11 days left!

How to upload on to final cut pro

When filming I uploaded the film onto a programe called 'Final Cut Pro'. This allows me to upload and edit films that have been shot. Firstly firstly i made sure that the tape is in the camera and rewind it to the beginning so the footage is at the start. I then attached the firewire cable from the camera to the back of the computer. Before i did this i made sure that the camera was on 'VCR' mode. I then opened 'Final Cut Pro', started a new project (if the project already exists then file>open recent) if not you should go to file > log > capture clip settings (choose aud & vid) then i clicked 'capture now' and pressed play on the camera. Once the footage was uploaded I pressed 'esc' and close 'log & capture' window.

Planning

Today i came up with some ideas for my final piece. This one idea i like is of a car driving down a dark road (the one near my house) and pulling over by a parked car. Two men get out of each car, both men exchange briefcases one containing money and the other containing drugs. I have written up a story board to go with it and am now working on a script. I hope to have the whole thing shot by this weekend.

Costume

In the 3 films i am using for inspiration, i looked at the costume that the gangsters wear. As the films are set in 1970's America they wear traditional clothing such as suits. The classic outfit is a pin stripped suit in various colours, shiny shoes, trilby hat and pointed collar shirts. So for my movie i will dress my cast in the same way.

Research for my final film

For my final piece i researched three movies as they were of the genre i wanted mine to be... Action/gangster. The three most famous and also my favorite movies of that genre are Casino, Goodfella's and Scarface. I looked at the first 2 minutes of each movie and i saw some similarities so i noted them down so i could use the same in my film.

Casino
- Man walks through door
- Walks to car with cigar in mouth
- Car blows up
- Music is classical opera which intensifies the scene
- Credits roll in fire background
- Set in Las vegas

Goodfella's
- Credits pass through quickly in white on black background
- Car driving down road with 3 men inside
- They hear a bashing from the trunk
- They pull over and pop the trunk
- Man in back almost dead
- One stabs the man and another shoots him
- Freeze frame on one mans face then movie starts
- Music is uplifting

Scarface
- Writing introduces the scene
- Refugees on boat arriving to Miami from Cuba
- Music is uplifting
- Credits come up interrupting the scene every 10 seconds
- A man is being interviewed in an office for his green card
- Then he is put in to a refugee home and we see him playing basketball

From this i can analyse how i will base my film. As Action/Gangster is my favourite genre of film i chose to use it in my film as i know the most about it and also will be able to get more in to the film.

I like enjoy Action/Gangster films and i am intrigued by the behaviour of the criminal mafia underworld. I am interested in fact that through their violent, corrupt and criminal ways they manage to fight their way to the top and do it in style aswell.

Filming my Peliminary excercise

When I shot my preliminary task, it gave me an idea of how to use the camera and the shots i would be using in my film. The shots i learned e.g (shot reverse shot, match on action, the rule of thirds and the 180 degree rule). I shot my peliminary task in and outside of my classroom.

Shot Reverse Shot - Conventional technique of cinematography and editing for the filming of dialogue. In the classic shot/reverse shot sequence, the camera frames each speaker (usually 2-4) in medium close-up as he or she recites a line of dialogue. The shoulder or profile of the listener can often be seen, slightly out of focus on the edge of the frame, while the camera is focused on the face of the speaker.

Point-of-View

Shot/Reverse Shot allows the spectator ("you") to occupy the listener's point of view. However, because both characters alternate between speaking and listening, the spectator is omniscient, an outside observer. There is visual logic in this design: character A speaks in frame - cut - character B speaks in frame.

The Affect of Speech

Directors may also use Shot/Reverse Shot to observe the way in which a speaker's words affect the listener. To accomplish this, the camera will first alternate between speakers. If, for instance, one speaker communicates a negative statement ("Our relationship is over"), the camera will turn to frame the listener, not the speaker. As the speaker talks, the listener visually responds through (perhaps) tears, frowns, or more subtle variations. http://cinemaspace.berkeley.edu/Papers/CityOfSadness/axes.gif


The rule of Thirds - This is not necessarily a rule, as much as it is a suggestion that tends to add more tension, energy, and interest into your photo. It works like this: when you look through your viewfinder, divide the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. We call the points where the lines cross The Sweet Spots. When we look at a big blank area, our eyes do not automatically focus on the very center of the image. Instead, our eyes naturally drift toward one of these points.






Match on Action - A cut which splices two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted. Quite logically, these characteristics make it one of the most common transitions in the continuity style. A match on action adds variety and dinamism to a scene, since it conveys two movements: the one that actually takes place on screen, and an implied one by the viewer, since her/his position is shifted.


The 180 degree rule - This is when the camera has to stay on one side of a make believe line which is perpendicular to the view point of the camera from which the shot is taken. Two objects or people should always move or face the same way to avoid confusing the viewer.

I found this information and diagram (below) on the internet and thought it would be relevant.

This schematic shows the axis between two characters and the 180° arc on which cameras may be positioned (green). When cutting from the green arc to the red arc, the characters switch places on the screen.